Bloomberg- U.S. hedge-fund managers Steven Cohen, Kenneth Griffin, Adam Sender, David Ganek and Daniel Loeb are among the world’s 200 most active art collectors, according to a list compiled by the magazine ARTnews.
Griffin, who runs the $14 billion Citadel Investment Group LLC, also joined Cohen in the ranks of the 10 most active art buyers, as did buyout king Henry Kravis of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Charles Schwab, who runs the biggest discount brokerage. They displaced Leon Black, Stephen Wynn and Leslie Wexner from last year’s list of the top 10 collectors, according to the New York-based magazine’s Web site.
Hedge-fund managers in the art market “combine the means, the aggression, the enthusiasm, and access,” Michael Findlay, a director of Acquavella Galleries in New York, told ARTnews. “It’s another forum to demonstrate the same kind of acumen” as they display in business.
While ARTnews doesn’t say how much buyers spent, the alphabetical lists of the top 10 and top 200 include many U.S. fund managers and real-estate developers such as Aby Rosen who purchase art at contemporary auctions and fairs. The publication’s 17th annual ranking was compiled after interviewing collectors, dealers and other art professionals.
Top U.K. art buyers include Web gallery owner Charles Saatchi, jeweler Laurence Graff and Islamic art collector Nasser Khalili. Collectors are listed alphabetically and are identified on the top 200 list only by the cities they’re based in as well as their focus — contemporary or modern or other areas of art.
