CNN
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A pair of ruby ​​slippers belonging to Judy Garland from “The Wizard of Oz,” stolen from a Minnesota museum nearly 20 years ago, sold at auction Saturday for $28 million.

The pair — one of four surviving pairs worn by Garland in the film — is the most valuable piece of movie memorabilia ever sold at auction, according to a news release from Heritage Auctions.

“There is simply no comparison between Judy Garland’s ruby ​​slippers and other Hollywood memorabilia,” Joe Maddalena, executive vice president of Heritage Auctions, said in the press release. “The stunning result reflects how important films and film memorabilia are to our culture and to collectors.”

With the auction house’s commissions, the total price of the slippers was a staggering $32.5 million, nearly 11 times the auction house’s pre-auction estimate of $3 million.

“At $32.5 million, the Slippers are the most valuable cinema treasures in the world and helped make this the most successful entertainment auction of all time,” said Robert Wilonsky, vice president of public relations for Heritage Auctions.

Other pairs have been auctioned before, but none sold for nearly as much as the ones sold Saturday.

According to the press release, in 2000, a pair of ruby ​​red slippers from the film sold at auction for $666,000. Years later, Steven Spielberg and Leonardo DiCaprio purchased another pair for $2 million and donated them to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, the press release said.

On Saturday, bidding started at $1.55 million and quickly escalated. According to the lottery page, 25 bidders took part.

Towards the end, only two bidders remained and the slippers were sold to a bidder who participated by telephone.

The shoes are one of the most popular artifacts from the legendary 1939 film.

The slippers “were much more than just a piece of Hollywood memorabilia, much more than a valuable piece of industrial history,” said Rhys Thomas, the author of “The Ruby Slipper of Oz.”

“They transcended Hollywood and represented the powerful image of innocence across America,” he said, according to the ticket page.

The slippers auctioned Saturday had been loaned to the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, by collector Michael Shaw, but were stolen from the museum in 2005. They were recovered during an investigative operation in Minneapolis in 2018, CNN previously reported.

FBI agents reunited the Slippers this year with Shaw, who “likened the experience to a warm reunion with a long-lost friend.”

Terry Martin and Jerry Hal Saliterman, both in their 70s, were charged separately with theft. Martin pleaded guilty in 2023, while Saliterman, who was charged in 2024, maintains his innocence, CNN previously reported.

According to Heritage Auctions and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for North Dakota, only four pairs of the slippers used in the film are still known to exist. A pair is in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, although they didn’t originally match.

Other items from the iconic film were sold during Saturday’s auction, including a Wicked Witch hat (more than $2 million); the screen door ($37,500) from Dorothy’s Kansas home; the MGM contract signed by the “Over the Rainbow” songwriters ($23,125); and Judy Garland’s “Dorothy Gale” wig ($30,000), which she wore during the first week of filming, the press release said.

CNN’s Scottie Andrew contributed to this report.