Today, January 24th 2025, international auction house Sotheby’s released its financial results for 2024. In a market where lot volume was reduced, Sotheby’s increased its sell-through rate and had standout years in Private Sales, Luxury and Financial divisions.
In the statement, Charles F. Stewart, Chief Executive Officer, Sotheby’s
(@charlesfstewart), said:
“Dear clients and friends,
Today we released our 2024 financial results. We’d like to share those with you now and give you some insight into our plans for 2025. It’s going to be an exciting year.
Results
In 2024, Sotheby’s achieved consolidated sales of $6 billion – leading the industry once again.
We delivered this result in a market constrained by fewer objects and collections coming up for sale (lot volume was down by 14%). When we brought work to market, it sold excellently – our sell-through rate was 85%, an increase on last year and, in fact, our highest in the past decade. We simply had far more demand than supply.
Beyond fine art auctions, our Private Sales, Luxury division and Sotheby’s Financial Services divisions had standout years. Private Sales achieved $1.4 billion, its second-best year ever. Luxury delivered over $2 billion in sales for the third year in a row. SFS issued $1.3 billion in loans and completed a groundbreaking $700 million securitization financing to propel its growth. Audience growth exploded in 2024 as we almost doubled the number of visitors to Sotheby’s galleries, and we added nearly a million new followers on social media. The following highlight reel captures some of our most crowd-pleasing moments.
We also secured $1 billion in long-term equity investment from the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ alongside the Drahi family. This capital puts our balance sheet in a position of strength, creates room for additional investment in our business, and also deepens our connection to the Middle East, an important growth region for us and a place where we have several initiatives planned for 2025 and beyond.
The Year Ahead
In our core business, we will use our physical and digital platforms around the world to grow and engage our client base, which will result in more bidders, buyers and sellers.
We will also continue to invest in our physical spaces to welcome growing audiences into Sotheby’s. You will recall that, last year, we opened our spectacular new premises in Paris and Hong Kong and promptly welcomed record numbers of visitors in both locations. Along the way we completed our acquisition of the Breuer building, one of the world’s most important examples of Brutalist architecture, and we’re on track to reopen it in the fourth quarter of this year as our New York headquarters at 945 Madison Avenue.
We have a lot in store for the next few weeks and months. Our second installment of Visions of America, a week-long showcase of American art, objects and innovation from prominent private collections and institutions opened this week. We will hold our first auction in Saudi Arabia. We will bring to market a 1954 Mercedes-Benz W 196 R Stromlinienwagen with an estimate in excess of €50m. We’ll sell a 1930 Bugatti, a 1993 Lamborghini LM002 “Rambo Lambo” and multiple red 1990s Ferraris at ModaMiami. And the Joachim-Ma Stradivarius (estimate: $12-18 million) will be among the most valuable musical instruments ever sold, with proceeds going to the New England Conservatory scholarship fund, when it goes under the hammer during Masters Week in New York.
Philanthropy remains central to our mission. Last year Sotheby’s raised $120 million for museums and charitable organizations through benefit auctions and direct donations. And already this year, our team on the ground in Los Angeles has been helping collectors affected by the devastating wildfires to protect, move and store their precious art and valuable objects.
Wherever you are in the world, we wish you a safe and prosperous 2025. We look forward to seeing you. And we invite you to view our 2025 Sale Calendar Highlights to explore “another world” of art and luxury at Sotheby’s and begin planning your next acquisition.”
Sincerely yours,
Charles F. Stewart
Chief Executive Officer, Sotheby’s
@charlesfstewart
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