
Sotheby’s has insisted its finances are fine following claims that the world’s oldest auction house was experiencing cashflow problems and had even issued IOUs to senior executives.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Sotheby’s auction business had lost more than $100 million in the first six months of the year and that the wider company was carrying debts of $1.8 billion.
The newspaper also claimed that at a meeting this month Sotheby’s executives raised their worries about being able to pay employees on time. The auction house, founded in London 280 years ago and one of the “big two” in the global art market alongside Christie’s, denied any such meeting had taken place.

David Hockney’s 1972 painting Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) fetched $90 million at auction
DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Putting its debts at $1.65 billion, Sotheby’s reported “an upswing in great