A three-page contract that established Apple Computer Co. sold for $1.59 million at Sotheby’s in New York today, soaring past the presale estimate of $100,000 to $150,000.
The bidding started at $70,000 in a half-empty room attended by about 20 people and almost as many Sotheby’s staffers manning the phones. Six telephone and online bidders competed for the lot, which finally went to Eduardo Cisneros, chief executive officer of Cisneros Corp., according to Sotheby’s.