According to an internal document reviewed by the Financial Times, the renowned auction house Sotheby’s reported an 88% decline in core earnings and a 25% drop in auction sales for the first half of 2024. The earnings, which fell to $18.1 million, are measured before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). When adjusted for costs such as severance pay and lawsuits, the EBITDA decline was still a significant 60%, dropping to $67.4 million. Revenue for the first half of the year decreased by 22%, totaling $558.5 million.

This financial report was issued ahead of a $1 billion investment by Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund (ADQ), announced in August and expected to be completed by the last quarter of 2024. In June, Sotheby’s reported over $1.8 billion in net long-term debt and plans to use approximately $700 million of the ADQ investment to reduce its debt load. Sotheby’s, which went private in 2019 after being acquired by French telecom billionaire Patrick Drahi for $3.7 billion, currently holds $4.3 billion in liabilities. 

Sayart / Kelly.K pittou8181@gmail.com