Businessweek
What Going Private Under Patrick Drahi Might Mean for Sotheby’s
The $3.7 billion acquisition could lead to big changes at the storied auction house.
President of French telecoms and media group Altice Patrick Drahi.
Photographer: ERIC PIERMONT/AFP
On Sept. 5 shareholders of publicly traded Sotheby’s approved a $3.7 billion acquisition offer from French telecommunications tycoon Patrick Drahi. Come this November during the auctions in New York, clients bidding on treasures like Claude Monet’s Charing Cross Bridge will likely be raising their paddles inside the halls of a private company.
While the news sent shock waves through the art world, Drahi, not known as a major collector, declined to speak publicly.