Ethical Issues at Christie's

However, the DoJ later learnt that the roots of the 2000 scandal dated back to February 1993 when the first of a series of meetings between Sir Anthony Tennant (Tennant), former Chairman, Christie's and Alfred Taubman (Taubman), former Chairman, Sotheby's was arranged in Tennant's apartment in London. Both of them went to the meeting alone. The first meeting was followed by one in New York and another in London. Each time, they met in a private apartment and were not accompanied by anyone else. The chairmen implemented the price-fixing deal through their CEOs. Taubman supposedly instructed Diana D. Brooks (Brooks), former President, Sotheby's to fix the deal with Christopher Davidge (Davidge), the then CEO, Christie's but to leave his name out of it...

Though the controversy affected the reputation and profitability of the auction house, the firm's ability to attract record prices for its sales was still intact. Considering the economic gloom in the early 2000s and the price-fixing controversy, analysts feared that Christie's' business would be ruined.

But surprisingly, in the first major auction after the scandal, held in May 2000, Christie's was able to get good prices for its sales. It sold surrealist and modern art assembled by René Gaffé, a Belgian perfume mogul, for US$ 73.3 million, almost twice its estimated value. Even Sotheby's was able to get record prices for the Impressionist and modern art it sold in New York...