So said Sotheby’s CFO upon departing the end of last week, adding his name to the chorus of Sotheby’s employees, 5% of its workforce, cashiered out in the last few days to allow them to pursue ‘other opportunities.’ This year, the jollity of their traditional holiday greeting has been modified by an added intensifier, the gerund form of the slang term that begins with the letter ‘f’.
With all that, I do feel slightly wistful about the prospects of the venerable house. Over the years I had established some fine professional relationships with select members of their staff- none of whom, I might add, are employed there any longer.
Will Sotheby’s survive? It will be interesting to see what becomes of its beleaguered stock price following the last round of sales of the collection of its late chairman, Alfred Taubman. Supported by a guarantee of something just to the north of $500million, Sotheby’s current chairman Tad Smith now admits the hammer might just allow the house to break even on the guarantee. Hmmm… Perhaps he, too, may wish early in the new year to brace himself for the consideration of other opportunities.