Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Adam Chinn Out at Sotheby’s

December 3, 2018 by Marion Maneker

The auction house is eliminating the Chief Operating Officer's role

This commentary by Marion Maneker is available to AMMpro subscribers. (The first month of AMMpro is free and subscribers are welcome to sign up for the first month and cancel before they are billed.)

Sotheby’s Chief Operating Officer to Leave at Year’s End

The news today that Adam Chinn’s role of Chief Operating Officer was being eliminated with his duties to be divided between art lawyer John Cahill assuming the Chief Commercial Officer’s role and Ken Citron coming in as head of operations gave many in the art market a shock. Chinn had joined the auction house three years ago when Sotheby’s paid $50m (+ a $35m bonus) for Art Agency, Partners, the consultancy he formed with Allan Schwartzman and Amy Cappellazzo. The acquisition was seen as a way to diversify Sotheby’s business while adding to the bench of senior management.

A year later that strategy seemed to be validated when Chinn was promoted to Chief Operating Officer. Not terribly long after, AAP hit its performance targets earning the APP principals the full $85m acquisition fee. Chinn’s 20% share of AAP would have yielded him $17m upon which he would pay tax at the capital gains rate, as one former Sotheby’s employee points out.

Chinn had only joined AAP a year before the acquisition and had no formal role in the art market prior to that. He came to the art business from investment banking and corporate law, two fields where self-confidence is not in short supply and aggressive behavior is rewarded.

Chinn’s primary role running Sotheby’s guarantee book and signing off on the firm’s major deals requires someone who is a “street-fighting killer.” By all accounts, Chinn was that … and more.


Sign up to Art Market Monitor Premium today

You need a membership to AMMpro to view this article and other exclusive content daily.

You can register today for $90 per month—with your first month free!—or for $756 per year (no free trial period.)

Screenshot 2016-08-05 16.28.45

If you already have an account, sign in here:

 
 
Forgot Password

Filed Under: Premium

About Marion Maneker

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

Top Posts

  • After Pandemic’s Rapid Change, Sotheby’s Has 8 Predictions for 2021
  • For 2020, Phillips Brought in Total of $760.4 million, Down 16 Percent from 2019; Asia Sales Up 24 Percent
  • Keith Haring’s 1989 Retrospect Comes to Sotheby’s London Prints Sale
  • A Season of Resilience: Fall 2020 Hong Kong Auction Analysis
  • Tony Podesta's Secret Art Buying
  • Soulages First Owned by Senegalese Poet-Politician Léopold Sédar Senghor Sells in France
  • A Season of Improvisation: Fall 2020 New York Modern and Contemporary Art Auction Analysis
  • Four of Picasso's Women Valued at $28m Come to Christie's from Rose-Walters Collection
  • Norman Rockwell's Not Gay. But Is He a Great Artist?
  • Christie's Announces $70m Picasso Self Portrait
  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor