Auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s reveal totals for 2025

Sotheby’s annual results were boosted by the most valuable collection of the year – the Leonard A Lauder Collection, which it secured after offering a guarantee to the vendor. The collection, which sold in November, featured the top lot of the year: Gustav Klimt’s (1862-1918) Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer which made $205m (£155.6m).

Charles F Stewart, Sotheby’s chief executive officer, said: “We are very pleased with our 2025 results, which reflect a return to growth. Our strong performance in the second half of the year demonstrates clear momentum in our markets, driven by more high-quality, major collections." 

Sotheby’s projected $7bn in global sales was a 17% increase versus 2024. Last year was a particularly weak year with consolidated sales of $6bn, down from $7.9bn in 2023 and down from $8bn in 2022.

Both auction houses only publish their turnover figures, not profit. Earlier this year it was revealed that Sotheby’s, through its parent company BidFair Luxembourg, published a pre-tax loss of $248m in 2024, more than double the previous year, according to a report in the Financial Times.

International clientele

Sotheby’s results came from more than 450 auctions held in nine countries with bidding activity from 123 countries.

During the year Sotheby’s opened its new global headquarters at the Breuer (pictured top) in New York ahead of its flagship New York autumn sales and expanded its presence in the Middle East during the year.

It hosted the first ever international auction in Saudi Arabia and held its first Abu Dhabi Collectors’ Week. The Abu Dhabi initiative brought in sales of $133.4m from a series of cross-category sales, including cars, real estate, watches, jewellery and handbags.                      

Sotheby’s figures include art, collectables and luxury as well as classic and collectors’ cars and real estate sales. Its car business, RM Sotheby’s saw its turnover surpass $1bn this year.

For Christie’s, annual sales were up 6% on 2024 ($5.7bn) which was a fall of 6% compared to $6.1bn in 2023.

Bonnie Brennan, chief executive officer at Christie’s said: “The energy has returned to the saleroom, online, and across the market. We’ve seen renewed confidence worldwide, reflected in these outstanding results. Our selling performance has remained consistently strong throughout the year: a solid first half followed by an even more competitive second half, delivering exceptional, market-leading outcomes for our clients.”

Christie’s results also included results for its automobiles business through Gooding Christie’s which reported sales of $234m for the year.

Both auction houses said after a slower start to the year, business rapidly picked up in the second half. For Sotheby’s the second half was up 59% versus the second half of 2024 while for Christie’s it was up 26%.

Next generation

The growth in younger clients and the luxury sector were important for both auction houses. Sotheby’s said 35% of bidders were first-time participants while bidders under 40 years old comprised 17% of bidders across fine art and 29% in the luxury division.

Christie’s said 33% of bidders were Millennial and Gen Z clients and 46% of new bidders and buyers were millennials or younger (up 5%).

Sotheby’s In Numbers 2025

$7bn (£5.25bn) in global sales (up 17%)

$5.7bn auction sales (up 26%)

$1.2bn private sales (down 14%)

$2.7bn luxury sales (up 22%)

$1.8bn Sotheby’s Financial Services

87% sell-through rate (up 2%)

Christie’s In Numbers 2025

$6.2bn (£4.65bn) global sales (up 6%)  

$4.7bn auction sales (up 8%)   

$1.5bn private sales (flat)   

$75m luxury sales (up 17%)                                                

88% sell-through rate (up 2%)            

81% bids placed online