How Celebrities Lost Millions on Bored Apes

Someone paid $3.4 million for a cartoon monkey JPEG in January 2022. Three years later, that same ape is worth $35,000. That's a $3.36 million loss, or 99% down from peak.

For those unfamiliar with the collection, Bored Ape Yacht Club launched in April 2021 as a set of 10,000 unique NFT avatars that quickly became the most recognizable name in digital collectibles. But what started as a $240 mint turned into a multi-million dollar casino for celebrities.

Welcome to the wildest wealth transfer in NFT history.

The Record-Breaking $3.4 Million Sale

Bored Ape #8817 sold at Sotheby's Metaverse auction for 1,080.69 ETH in January 2022. That was $3.4 million at the time. The ape features solid gold fur, ranking in the top 1% for rarity, plus heart sunglasses and a bored unshaven mouth.

The sale made international news. Forbes covered it. Bloomberg covered it. Everyone covered the $3.4 million monkey. It validated the entire BAYC phenomenon at absolute peak mania.

November 2025? That same ape is worth $35,000. The anonymous buyer lost $3.36 million on a single JPEG. That's more money than most people earn in a lifetime.

Justin Bieber's $1.3 Million Mistake

Justin Bieber paid $1.3 million for Bored Ape #3001 in January 2022. He announced it to his 114 million Twitter followers. The crypto community's reaction was immediate: "Did he really just do that?"

The problem? #3001 has relatively common traits. Blue background, striped tee, bored unshaven mouth. Similar apes with comparable rarity were selling for $200,000-$300,000 at the time. Bieber paid $1.3 million. That's 4-6x what the ape was actually worth even at peak prices.

Prominent NFT collectors immediately called it out. The theory? MoonPay, the crypto payment platform that facilitated celebrity purchases, inflated prices for promotional purposes. Bieber's purchase generated massive headlines worth far more than the overpay in marketing value.

Bieber posted it to Instagram with the caption "Lonely" from his song. Today, #3001 is worth $45,000. Bieber lost $1.255 million, a 96.5% decline. He no longer uses it as his profile picture.

Eminem and the Ape That Looked Exactly Like Him

This story is actually kind of perfect. Before Eminem bought Bored Ape #9055, the previous owner noticed something weird: the ape looked exactly like Eminem. Same vibe, same energy, wearing a hat similar to what Em wears in real life.

The owner tweeted about it. Crypto Twitter had fun with it. "Someone should tell Eminem" became a running joke. Weeks later, Eminem's team reached out.

December 31, 2021. Eminem purchases #9055 for 123.45 ETH, worth $452,000. The wallet address is "Shady_Holdings," referencing his Shady Records label.

The ape features an army hat (0.38% rarity), blue beams eyes (1.62%), and an unshaven mouth. The army hat is what sells the resemblance. Eminem frequently wears similar hats in photos and music videos.

Of all the celebrity purchases, this one made the most sense. The ape genuinely looks like him. The traits are actually rare. The price wasn't as egregiously overpriced as Bieber's.

But the ending is the same. That ape is now worth $40,000. Eminem lost $412,000, or 91%. He no longer uses it as his profile picture either.

Top 10 Most Expensive Bored Ape Sales

Here's the brutal reality of peak NFT mania captured in a single table:

Rank	Ape #	Purchase Price	Date	Current Value	Loss	Loss %
1	#8817	$3.4M	Jan 2022	$35K	$3.36M	99%
2	#3001	$1.3M	Jan 2022	$45K	$1.25M	96.5%
3	#232	$2.8M	Sep 2021	$40K	$2.76M	98.6%
4	#9055	$452K	Dec 2021	$40K	$412K	91%
5	#6633	$600K	Jan 2022	$40K	$560K	93%
6	#5269	$500K	Jan 2022	$40K	$460K	92%
7	#5797	$414K	Jan 2022	$40K	$374K	90%
8	#3749	$2.9M	Oct 2021	$45K	$2.85M	98.4%
9	#8585	$2.7M	Oct 2021	$38K	$2.66M	98.6%
10	#7090	$2.3M	Sep 2021	$42K	$2.25M	98.2%

Combined purchase price: $20.4 million. Combined current value: $400,000. Total losses: $20 million.

These aren't just numbers. These are real people who paid life-changing amounts of money at the absolute peak of a speculative bubble.

Other Celebrity Losses

Neymar bought two apes in January 2022 for over $1 million combined. Both featured laser eyes. Today, both are worth roughly $80,000 total. He lost over $920,000, or 92%.

Serena Williams received #5797 as a gift from husband Alexis Ohanian in January 2022. He paid $414,000. Current value: $40,000. Loss: $374,000 (90%). At least she didn't pay for it herself.

Paris Hilton bought her ape in early 2022 for an estimated $300,000. She went on Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show to promote it. That appearance aged poorly. Current value: $38,000.

Stephen Curry paid $180,000 for his ape in August 2021. He's actually one of the least underwater celebrity buyers. Current value: $40,000. Loss: $140,000 (78%).

Every celebrity who paid over $100,000 lost at least 75%. Most lost 90%+. The ones who paid over $400,000? All down 95%+.

Celebrity Bored Ape Purchases Comparison

Celebrity	Purchase Price	Purchase Date	Current Value	Total Loss	Loss %
Justin Bieber	$1,300,000	Jan 2022	$45,000	$1,255,000	96.5%
Neymar (2 apes)	$1,000,000+	Jan 2022	$80,000	$920,000	92%
Eminem	$452,000	Dec 2021	$40,000	$412,000	91%
Serena Williams	$414,000	Jan 2022	$40,000	$374,000	90%
Paris Hilton	$300,000	Early 2022	$38,000	$262,000	87%
Jimmy Fallon	$224,000	Nov 2021	$40,000	$184,000	82%
Stephen Curry	$180,000	Aug 2021	$40,000	$140,000	78%

The Real Winners: Early Minters

The real winners? The people who minted Bored Apes in April 2021. Minting cost 0.08 ETH, roughly $240. If you minted 10 apes and sold them in September 2021 at 80-100 ETH each ($300K-$400K per ape), you turned $2,400 into $3-4 million.

That's a 1,500x return in five months. Some wallets minted dozens. A few minted 100+. These are the actual winners. Everyone who bought from them? Not so much.

The Brutal Reality of Current Prices

If you bought a single ape for $1 million in early 2022, you could buy 28 floor apes today for the same money. That's how dramatic the crash has been.

The $3.4 million sale lost 99%. Justin Bieber's $1.3 million purchase lost 96.5%. Eminem's $452,000 buy lost 91%. The documented losses on just the top 20 most expensive sales exceed $30 million.

In May 2022, all these buyers were being congratulated. Crypto Twitter celebrated their purchases. The narrative was "smart money accumulating." Three years later, it looks like one of the biggest wealth transfers from celebrities to crypto early adopters in history.

Frequently Asked Questions About Expensive Bored Ape Sales

What This Means for NFT Collectors

The most expensive Bored Ape sales tell the story of peak NFT mania. Record $3.4 million auctions. Celebrities competing to spend more. Influencers pumping harder. Everyone convinced digital monkeys were the future.

Then reality hit. Floor prices crashed 92%. Those "expensive" rare apes worth millions? Now worth tens of thousands. Every celebrity who paid over $400,000 lost at least 90%. Many lost 95%+.

The real winners were the people who minted for $240 in April 2021 and sold to celebrities for $400,000+ at peak. They turned thousands into millions in months. The losers? Everyone who thought "this time is different" and bought JPEGs for life-changing money at the absolute peak.

In investing, timing isn't everything. But in NFTs at peak mania? Timing was literally everything. And the celebrities got the timing catastrophically wrong.