10:53 AM PT -- Indianapolis Colts owner, Jim Irsay, has revealed that he is the buyer of the baseball ... tweeting about the purchase on Thursday morning.
"Added to my @IrsayCollection yesterday at auction," Irsay said, "the only known baseball signed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a visit to NY in 2019. A portion of proceeds going to Ukrainian relief."
Irsay added a flexing emoji as well.
An incredibly rare baseball signed by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky just sold at auction ... and a portion of the proceeds are going to a relief fund for the country.
The winning bid for the autographed baseball came in at $50,103 ... according to Boston-based RR Auction, which will be donating their cut of more than $15k to relief efforts in Zelensky's war-torn country.
The sale price is higher than expected ... remember, the ball was projected to go for $15k, and now that's the figure that's being donated.
Zelensky signed his last name on the baseball in two different languages ... Ukrainian cursive and English print ... with his signature underneath an MLB logo.
The ball comes with a letter signed by Volodymyr Yelchenko, Ukraine's Ambassador to the United Nations in September 2019, when Zelensky left his John Hancock during a visit to New York.
Randy L. Kaplan, a government affairs specialist in the Big Apple, got the ball as a gift from Yelchenko ... and he's been collecting signed Major League baseballs from world leaders and heads of state dating all the way back to 1996 with Bill Clinton.
We're told there were 35 bids entered and the buyer wishes to remain anonymous.
Originally Published -- 8:49 AM PT