Sotheby’s losses more than double to $248m as art market slumps

Losses at Sotheby’s auction house more than doubled last year, as the company owned by billionaire Patrick Drahi suffered from a continued slump in the art market and high severance costs.

Filings from its parent company, Bidfair Luxembourg, showed losses widened significantly to $248m (£184m) over the 12 months to 2024, following losses of $106m (£78m) a year earlier.

Revenues from commissions and fees tumbled 18% to $813m in 2024, as Sotheby’s felt the pinch of a drop off in demand. It follows a fall in spending by wealth collectors, who have pulled back amid growing geopolitical and trade tensions in recent years.

Sotheby’s also took a hit from hefty payouts for what appeared to be the departure of just a handful of staff. Severance costs last year jumped to $29.2m (£21.6m), compared with $11.4m (£8.4m) in 2023, despite its headcount only dropping by 24 employees to 2,218, according to findings first reported by the Financial Times.

The company, which operates in 40 countries, was founded as a rare book dealer in 1744 by London bookseller Samuel Baker and did not enter the world of fine arts until the early 20th century, opening an office in New York in 1955 as the US market became increasingly important.

As well as auctions of art and books, it has expanded into areas including wine, diamonds and also a financial services arm that funds art deals and makes loans secured against collections.

It was later snapped up by Drahi, who took the company private in a £3.7bn deal in 2019. The French-Israeli businessman, a keen art collector, has since struck a deal with Abu Dhabi’s third biggest sovereign wealth fund, ADQ, to help raise around $1bn for the company’s turnaround, in exchange for a 24% stake.

While Drahi has come to greater public prominence through his interest in the art world, the bulk of his wealth derives from his founding of the Amsterdam-listed telecoms firm Altice, which he built via a string of acquisitions of smaller companies.

Altice previously held a 24.5% stake in the UK’s BT’s group, but sold off its shareholding to Indian conglomerate Bharti Enterprises last year.