Sotheby’s — one of the world’s largest and most storied brokers of art, jewelry, and other collectibles — could be in trouble. A weakened art market and controversial business decisions by billionaire owner Patrick Drahi have left the auction house mired in debt, the Wall Street Journal reported. The dual pressures of American political volatility and Chinese economic decline have slowed art sales in recent years: In 2022, the combined value of the top-10 art pieces sold at the bellwether May auctions was $760 million.
Last year, it was $403 million. This year, the total was $312 million, according to Bloomberg . At Sotheby’s, the situation is so dire that some executives questioned whether the auction house would be able to continue paying employees on time.
Their alarm was not entirely unfounded: In the spring, some staffers received promissory notes in place of incentive pay. The auction house is also as much as six months behind on payments to art shippers and conservators, according to the Wall Street Journal report. Since Drahi first purchased Sotheby’s in 2019, the auction house’s debt has nearly doubled — it ballooned from $1 billion to $1.
8 billion. Drahi has long relied on accruing debt to grow his businesses. Before the art market slowed, he invested in RM Sotheby’s and Concierge to expand the auction house’s sales of luxury cars and real estate.
Sotheby’s has also spent millions updating retail spaces in Europe, Asia, and North America, the W.