It is, by huge margin, the highest price ever paid for a work by a living artist and ranks Hirst alongside Pollock, Klimt and Picasso in the $100m club.
The sum dwarfs the £8.6m million paid for his 2002 polychrome pill cabinet piece Lullaby Spring at Sothebys in June - a record for a living artist's work at auction.
For the Love of God, the diamond-studded skull, was first displayed at the White Cube Gallery in Mayfair in June where thousands queued for a two-minute viewing.
Hirst's own role in the creation of the object was conceptual - the Hatton Garden jewellers Bentley & Skinner created the skull from 32 hand-lasered platinum plates and 8601 conflict-free stones - but he is thought to have financed most of the £15m needed to purchase the diamonds out of his personal fortune and could receive 75 per cent of the proceeds of the sale.
Despite speculation that it had struggled to make its asking price, Frank Dunphy, Hirst's business manager, said that the full $100m (£50m) price of the artwork would be paid in cash.
As part of the deal, the buyers will show the skull in museums around the world.
