Sotheby’s

"In late October 1987, as fortunes were crashing all around him, Stokes was reported to be one of the few millionaires buying art at Christie’s first post–financial crash art sale. He paid $8000 for a rare letter relating to Australia’s discovery and $6000 for an early map of the country, as well as record prices at auction for works by William Dargie, Leonard French and Albert Namatjira. A week later at Sotheby’s he bought another Leonard French work, and one by Arthur Boyd. Stokes had arrived on the other side of the crash with his fortune, and his reputation, intact, cashed up and ready to benefit by picking over the wreckage of others’ empires. In January 1988, he bought a St Georges Terrace building from the West Australian State Superannuation Fund for $20 million. On 20 October he moved offshore, buying a $212 million office block in Dallas, Texas, and announcing plans to build another, each the size of the premium properties in Sydney. The next year he bought the Perth Entertainment Centre and 40 per cent of the Perth Wildcats basketball team."

"Introduction xi wealthy—wealthier than I could have ever imagined. Equally im¬ portant, it opened up a similarly unimaginable range of opportuni¬ ties for me: to travel and see the world; to pursue my passion of collecting fine art; to meet and work with many of our time’s leading entrepreneurs, businesspeople, artists, and civic leaders; to own a champion professional sports team; to get involved in businesses ranging from A&W Restaurants to Sotheby’s; to contribute to the well-being of institutions and communities that made my career possible; and to create entities—buildings, companies, educational organizations—that will last far beyond my lifetime."

"perspective and relationships to the table. I put up $38.5 million for 60 percent of the stock, while my fellow investors contributed around $30 million, and we borrowed $70 million from Chase Manhattan Bank. Members of the art press, especially Rita Reif of the New York Times, were apoplectic over the $139 million purchase price, which they considered far too high. Their analysis of the deal reminded me of the early reviews of my Irvine Ranch acquisition. For the record, as I write this book (October 2006), I sold a portion of my Sotheby’s stock in 1992 for about $100 million, received dividends over the years the company has been public of $100 million, received $168 million in September 2005 for hall my remaining stock, in April 2006 sold 3.98 million shares for $110 million, and still own a 4.9 percent stake valued at more than $100 million (based on the company’s share price as of January 16, 2007). Even when you lactor in inflation, that’s not a bad performance for an initial investment of $38.5 million. I re¬ spect Rita anci her art journalist colleagues very much, but rarely consult with them for stock tips."

"proach to space planning. Author Robert Lacey in Sotheby's: Bidding for Class writes: Graham Llewellyn [Sotheby’s UK CEO], knew that Alfred Taubman had taken control of Sotheby’s when he glanced out of his office win¬ dow one day and saw the considerable bulk of his new American boss teetering precariously on the roof. Taubman was looking down at the jumble of chimneys and roof extensions that reflected the auction house’s growth over the years. Flow had been the secret of his success in the mall business, and he made the redesign and reordering of New Bond Street’s rabbit warrens one of his first priorities."

"From now on, Sotheby’s was going to embrace a service mental¬ ity and treat everyone with respect. We were going to introduce the auction experience to a broader audience of consumers around the world and encourage the development of new collectors and con¬ noisseurs. Together we were going to open up and make more trans¬ parent what had been traditionally a closed and unnecessarily intimidating business. In short, we were going to break down the threshold resistance that had been holding us back and stifling the art market for as long as I could remember."

"States of America, there was a Sotheby’s. In fact, when I learned that my responsibility tonight would be the toast to Sotheby’s, a story came to mind that is told about Sir Winston Churchill.” I don’t think there is a historic figure I admire more than Winston Churchill, and I incorporate his quotes in my public speaking when¬ ever it makes sense. I hoped this anecdote would effectively communi¬ cate the positive aspects of Sotheby’s Anglo-American personality. “In 1942, while reviewing a joint command of British and Ameri¬ can troops in North Africa, Sir Winston was warned that the two cultures often clashed most dramatically in, of all places, the officers’ mess. The Americans, who religiously drank their whiskey highballs before dinner, forbade alcohol during the meal. The British, on the other hand, allowed no drinking before dinner, but always served claret and burgundy at the table.” I continued: “Faced with the task of toasting the officers that eve¬ ning, Churchill arrived early and announced, ‘Before dinner we Brits will have to defer to the American rules. But at the table, you Yanks must abide by the British regulations.’ ” (Enthusiastic laughter and applause from the assembled lords and ladies.) “Churchill raised his glass and added, ‘I hope this arrangement for the fraternity of Anglo- American relationships will be accepted in good spirits by all!’ ”"

"Cookie Jars and Irises 99 room off the lobby. Although it had a very low ceiling, the space was perfect for a cafe to enliven the lobby and create a more welcoming feel to Sotheby’s historic front door. We raised the ceiling, added a kitchen on the level below the lobby, and installed a motorized dumbwaiter to deliver orders to the cafe. A simple video system al¬ lowed the kitchen and waitstaff to communicate effectively. Shortly before we opened for business, I received a call from a se¬ nior Sotheby’s executive in London. He was nearly hysterical and was concerned that our cafe looked too much like—perish the thought—a French cafe, one you might see on the streets of Paris! That was exactly the look we were after, and I assured him that our cafe would fit right in and be attractive to people from all over the world. And that’s precisely what happened. The Cafe (which is what we unimaginatively named it) was an instant hit. Clients stayed lon¬ ger, staff held small meetings over lunch, visitors stopped in for tea and discovered Sotheby’s for the first time. We introduced a lobster sandwich on brioche bread (a London first) that put our simple but distinctive cuisine on the map."

"Here’s where serial vision came in. We didn’t simply want to make existing auctions better. We wanted to change the nature of a hide¬ bound and inefficient business, and make it better. Without turning off our critical dealer customers, we wanted to add some competi¬ tion in the salesroom. After all, just as was the case in our centers, Sotheby’s primary responsibility was to the person selling the goods. It was our job to create the most vibrant and exciting market possible in which they could showcase their merchandise. Passionate individ¬ ual buyers would drive higher auction results and make it more diffi¬ cult for dealers to control the process."