Sotheby's projects 2025 Consolidated Sales of $7 Billion

Auction sales rose 26% year-over-year to $5.7 billion, with sales accelerating significantly in the second half of the year, up 59% versus the second half of 2024. Private sales reached $1.2 billion, down slightly from the prior year. Both the Global Fine Art and Luxury categories posted strong gains, with Global Fine Art sales increasing 15% to $4.3 billion and Luxury sales up 22% to $2.7 billion, the division’s fourth consecutive year above $2 billion. Sotheby’s Financial Services delivered outstanding results, reaching a record high portfolio balance in excess of $1.8 billion.

Sotheby's also raised $129 million for museums and charitable organizations through benefit auctions, private sales and direct donations. 

Across more than 450 auctions held in nine countries, Sotheby's delivered record demand metrics, reflecting strong collector confidence. Sotheby’s saw robust bidding activity from 123 countries, with an 87% sell-through rate, 4.5 bidders per lot and 161% aggregate versus low estimate – all an increase from 2024.

Sotheby’s also saw demand from new and younger bidders, with 35% of bidders first-time participants at a Sotheby's auction. Bidders under 40 years old comprised 17% of bidders in Global Fine Art and 29% in Luxury.

In November, Sotheby’s opened its new global headquarters at the Breuer building in New York, completing a trifecta of new flagship gallery openings, including Paris in October 2024 and Hong Kong in June 2024. Sotheby’s also opened its new gallery in Zurich, which has received 7x the number of visitors as the prior year since opening in June. The Breuer marks a new chapter for Sotheby’s, and its impact was evident in the historic results from the November Fine Art Marquee Week and December Luxury and Design Week. During its opening exhibition, a record 25,000 visitors viewed the auction preview. That momentum continued into Luxury Week in December with nearly twice the number of visitors as the prior year.

Sotheby’s also expanded its presence in the Middle East in 2025. In February, the company hosted the first ever international auction in Saudi Arabia, with participants from 45 countries and almost one third of buyers coming from Saudi Arabia. In December, Sotheby’s held its first ever Abu Dhabi Collectors’ Week, the first auctions ever staged by an international auction house in Abu Dhabi. Collectors’ Week marked the company’s largest market entrance in history with sales totaling $133.4 million from a series of cross-category sales, including cars, real estate, watches, jewelry and handbags. These exhibitions and auctions lay the foundation to support future growth in the Middle East.

Sotheby’s set a number of records this year in its Global Fine Art division as more high-quality supply came to market to meet the company’s record level of demand. Sotheby’s led the market in important categories, such as Impressionist & Modern, Design, Old Masters, Chinese Works of Art and Single-Owner Sales. The company sold the most valuable collection of the year for the sixth time in the last seven years – the Leonard A. Lauder Collection – and sold seven of the year’s top ten auction works globally. 

The company inaugurated its new global headquarters at the Breuer with six white-glove (100% sold) sales totaling $1.17 billion, including the highest total for Modern art sold in one week at Sotheby’s ($843 million), the highest value work of art ever sold at Sotheby’s (Gustav Klimt’s Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer (Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer) for $236.4 million) and the largest Contemporary Day sale ever.

Sotheby’s executed its most valuable single-owner sale ever staged by Sotheby’s in London and in Europe with Pauline Karpidas: The London Collection realizing a combined total of $137 million, double the low estimate for the sales. In Asia, the company set 13 records in Asian Arts, led by the $32 million sale of Rao Jie’s Calligraphy in Cursive Script in Hong Kong (more than 20x the presale estimate), a white-glove result for Masterpieces of Asian Art from the Okada Museum of Art and a 99% sell-through rate with The Ise Collection.

Sotheby’s also led the market with Surrealist art, as client demand and interest in Surrealism continues to grow. This fall, the Pauline Karpidas Evening sale included 23 Surrealist works and was followed by Surrealism and Its Legacy in Paris, which achieved one of the highest-ever totals in France for Surrealist art at 65% above its low estimate. At the New York Marquee sales, Sotheby’s achieved the highest total for Surrealist art sold in a single night with Exquisite Corpus, with the collection fetching $103 million and breaking four artist records.

The company’s Design category had a record-breaking year, up 65% versus last year across its sales in New York and Paris. The December Important Design sale achieved more than double the high estimate, the highest total ever for the Important Design series worldwide. Sotheby’s sold all five top Design pieces globally and achieved the highest price ever for a work of design at auction with Lalanne’s Hippopotame Bar, pièce unique, reaching $31.4 million, 3x its high estimate.  

Sotheby’s Luxury business recorded $2.7 billion in sales, its best year in company history, driven by standout trophy lots, outstanding property and market expansion. Sotheby’s ability to offer global clients the highest-quality objects in their regional markets, combined with highly engaged collector communities across the globe, drives client loyalty and engagement. This was evident at the inaugural Collectors’ Week in Abu Dhabi. Collectors from 35 countries participated in the auctions, with 23% of buyers from the UAE, as well as 28% of bidders new to Sotheby’s and nearly a third under the age of 40.

The Watches business achieved its best overall year in company history, driven by December Luxury Week sales and Collectors’ Week. The company executed its best watch sale ever in December, achieving a $42.8 million white-glove result with eight lots sold over $1 million and 16 bidders per lot. At Collectors’ Week, the complete four-piece set of the Patek Philippe Star Caliber 2000 sold for $11.9 million, becoming the second most valuable watch ever sold at Sotheby’s. Jewelry also had a standout year, up approximately 18% versus last year.

Sotheby’s sold the most valuable handbag ever at auction – Jane Birkin’s Original Hermès Birkin sold for $10.1 million – followed by Jane Birkin’s Le Voyageur, which became the second most valuable.

RM Sotheby’s sales surpassed $1 billion for the first time, setting multiple records, including for a McLaren F1 road car, the most expensive Grand Prix car ever sold, and the highest-priced new Ferrari ever sold at auction. Three bidders also vied for the chance to become an honorary member of the McLaren Formula 1 Team as the 2026 McLaren MCL40A sold for an astounding $11.5 million.

Sotheby’s also continues to deliver strong results in Sports and Collectibles and lead the market in Science and Natural History, selling a juvenile Ceratosaurus that achieved $30.5 million, more than 7x its low estimate. 

Top 10 lots sold by Sotheby’s globally: 

1. Gustav Klimt, Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer (Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer) – $236.4m
2. Gustav Klimt, Blumenwiese (Blooming Meadow) – $86.9m 
3. Gustav Klimt, Waldabhang bei Unterach am Attersee (Forest Slope in Unterach on the Attersee) – $70.8m 
4. Vincent Van Gogh, Piles de romans parisiens et roses dans une verre (Romans parisiens) – $62.7m 
5. Frida Kahlo, El sueño (La cama) – $54.7m 
6. 1954 Mercedes-Benz W 196 R Stromlinienwagen – $53.9m  
7. Jean-Michel Basquiat, Crowns (Peso Neto) – $48.3m 
8. 1964 Ferrari 250 LM by Scaglietti – $36.1m  
9. Edvard Munch, Sankthansnatt (Midsummer Night) – $35.1m 
10. Rao Jie, Calligraphy in Cursive Script – $32.2m