Rudy Giuliani holds four Yankee World Series rings, one of which came from each of his victories as mayor of New York City. He and his family are now battling to retain them.
Giuliani is now facing bankruptcy and a federal court defamation case, two of which he lost last season. In the latter, the former Donald Trump lawyer was ordered to pay$ 148 million to a pair of Georgia election workers who he claimed, without evidence, helped steal the 2020 presidential election. And the defendants want those bands.
Last month, Giuliani was ordered to turn over a number of resources toward that$ 148 million. They included his New York apartment, a 1980 Mercedes once owned by actress Lauren Bacall, a number of pieces and some other sports paraphernalia. Giuliani and his legal team had fought to keep the Yankees rings and his Florida condo in the public domain. His brother, Andrew, claimed in an October court filing that the jewels had been gifted to him by his parents in May of 2018, near 12: 30 a. m. following the previous president’s 74th birthday celebration.

The equity of the jewelry is still a mystery. Giuliani’s new attorney filed a motion with the court this week to postpone his approaching trial, which is scheduled for January 16 to decide whether his client can keep the rings and the condo. The prosecutor refused. Giuliani has now turned over 90 % of the necessary resources, his attorney said. ” I ca n’t pay my bills”, Giuliani reportedly told the judge.
For many New Yorkers, the bracelets are a warning of the close relation between Giuliani and sport’s most important company. He was a Yankees fan growing up in Brooklyn when the Dodgers were still active, but the tie became even more tense after the terrorist attacks, when sports became the city’s and its mayor’s main rallying point. Giuliani usually donned Yankee hats and coats, participated in final marches, and helped negotiate deals that led to the construction of new Yankee Stadium in his last weeks. During his unsuccessful campaign for president in 2008, he donned one of his World Series bands.
Giuliani listed the jewelry in a court registration earlier this year along with a number of pieces and various pieces of jewelry totaling$ 30,000. According to Newsweek, Giuliani’s attorney claimed in a lawsuit that the plaintiffs had given “egregiously lower principles to his goods, including Yankee World Series bracelets.” Ken Goldin, chairman of Goldin Auctions, said in an email that the four bracelets combined would probably be for a combined$ 200, 000 in a items bid. That’s” a considerable advanced” over what they would fetch if they were originally owned by a lesser-known Yankee employee, he said.

The history of the jewels itself is lengthy and hazy. The Yankees ‘ Clean-Up Gentleman, a 2007 article in the Village Voice examined the sources and dates of Giuliani’s acquisitions, questions that are more important than what some enthusiasts might initially think. Anyone who conducts business with New York is prohibited from giving gifts of major financial value. The Yankees, of course, do considerable company with the area, and Giuliani previously reported the jewelry as gifts with the state’s Conflict of Interest Board.
A representative for the MLB team told the newspaper that Giuliani paid$ 16, 000 total for them —$ 13, 500 for the 1998, 1999 and 2000 rings paid in 2003, and$ 2, 500 for his 1996 ring paid in 2004. The rep told the newspaper that it could be “reasonably deduced” that he did n’t receive the rings until after he left office, and that all of those payments were made after that time. Other sources, however, told the paper that he received the 1996 band decades earlier —in 1996 or 1997—while he was still in business. Each of those bills, regardless of schedule, would have been well below the market value of the jewels themselves, let alone the sale value of the items as souvenirs.
The Yankees did n’t sell rings to other non-team members during that run, according to the Village Voice. ( Giuliani and the Yankees ‘ representatives did n’t respond to requests for comment right away. )
Regardless of the potential problems, Giuliani’s expenditure has paid off nicely. A 1996 circle, 10-karat metal and made by Balfour, is currently for sale for$ 34, 000. A 1999 version, 14-karat gold also made by Balfour, was recently listed at Sotheby’s with an estimate of$ 26, 000-$ 35, 000.
Not least of all because contemporary championship rings are rife with stones, they continue to be among sport ‘ most prized possessions. The Kansas City Chiefs ‘ 2024 jewelry apparently cost$ 40, 000 each, before factoring in symbolic price. In August, a pair of rings commemorating the Chiefs ‘ 2019 and 2022 triumphs each sold for more than$ 80, 000 at Heritage Auctions.

In 2018, Robert Kraft, the owner of New England, sold off his Super Bowl LI rings for more than$ 1 million as a fundraiser for COVID-19, while a fraudulently acquired 2017 Patriots Super Bowl ring sold for more than$ 337, 000 at auction in 2018. Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Kobe Bryant bracelets have all struck the wall in recent years, fueling the jewel bubble. Teams have started offering enthusiasts slightly less expensive versions in recent years. Following tournaments in recent years, established jewelers have even sold replicas of rings to Chiefs and Dodgers followers.