Inside Sotheby’s
As far back as 1997, when I sold my offices to Sotheby’s, I felt the future of real estate brokerage in the Hamptons belonged to the really big players. It turns out ironically that even Sotheby’s wasn’t big enough. After the price fixing scandals at Sotheby’s and Christie’s in 2000, the departure of Alfred Taubman and Dede Brooks, and the settlement of class-action suits, the logic became clear to many of us. Cash hungry Sotheby’s Holdings would have to spin off Sotheby’s International Realty in order to save the auction house.
It took a couple of years, but Cendant Corporation, which has for years been gobbling up small agencies for breakfast and larger ones for shareholders’ meetings, stepped in with one hundred million dollars for the gilt-edged luxury brand to complement its less patrician franchise names.
Will there be a new, less haute, corporate culture at Sotheby’s? Most definitely. Administrative power has already shifted from zip code 10021 to Parsippany, New Jersey, where the NRT division of Cendant is headquartered. Tom Anderson, who headed Sotheby’s affiliate operations, has jumped ship. Frank Newbold has left the corporate office, but maintains his association with the East Hampton brokerage where he reels in the big listings. And questions are in the air about how long Stuart Siegel, former president of Sotheby’s realty branch, will stick around in his now diminished position. His contract runs for two-years.
Cendant is a smart company. If Sotheby’s snob appeal pumps up Cendant’s bottom line, they will be franchising that elite brand all over the place. If not, a new bourgeois Sotheby’s, every bit as accessible as Century 21, may be just around the corner.