Why Jeff Bezos invests millions in contemporary art | Ben Spain

3 minutes of reading

In the 1987 film “Wall Street,” Michael Douglas played the role of Gordon Gekko, a ruthless and powerful corporate raider. Charlie Sheen played Bud Fox, an up-and-coming running back bag from Wall Street who eventually became one of Gordon Gekko’s stockbrokers. There is a scene in the film where Gekko talks about his work by the Spanish painter Joan Miro (1893-1983). The painting is “Paysage”, an oil on canvas from 1974. Referring to the Miro, Gekko told Fox:

“This painting here. I bought it ten years ago for $60,000. I could sell it today for $600,000. The illusion has become real and the more real it becomes, the more desperate they want it. Capitalism at its finest.”

Image Source: Source: 20th Century Fox

Fine art can be seen throughout the film on the walls of the rich. Some notable artists represented on “Wall Street” were:

• Jean Dubuffet
• Lucas Samaras
• Jim Dine
• Robert Mirmelin
• Keith Haring
• julian schnabell
• James Rosenquist

But it’s not just the fictional super-rich of the 1980s who invest in fine arts. Two notable characters in real life today are Robert Soros and the founder of Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Jeff Bezos. Soros is the founder of Soros Capital Management and the eldest son of the billionaire investor george soroswho became known for shorting the British pound in 1992. Jeff Bezos has been making his fortune with the company he founded, Amazon.

artnews.com reported that the same year Bezos became the first person worth over $200 billion, he was also revealed to have been an art collector. An Ed Ruscha painting titled “Hurting the Word Radio #2” (1964) sold for $52.5 million at a Christie’s auction in November 2019 to an anonymous telephone bidder, setting a record for the artist. The anonymous buyer turned out to be Bezos, according to the Baer Faxt newsletter, which reported that the billionaire also bought Kerry James Marshall’s “Vignette 19” (2014) at a Sotheby’s auction for $18.5 million.

So why has there been so much interest in the beautiful Arts among the super rich, like George Soros and Jeff Bezos, just to name a couple?

Contemporary art prices actually outperformed the S&P 500 nearly three times between 1995 and 2020. Contemporary art has also appreciated faster than stocks, real estate mutual funds, and even gold during periods of high inflation. So it makes perfect sense that those with the means to invest in multi-million dollar works of art are doing just that.

However, the average investor can find it difficult, if not impossible, to invest in works of art valued at millions of dollars. To alleviate this challenge, there are new startups that allow investors buy fine art “stocks” for a minimal investment. These works are safely stored while they increase in value, then they are sold and Profits are distributed to shareholders.

Ordinary people can now invest in fine art, along with billionaires like George Soros and Jeff Bezos.

Picture of Hayk_Shalunts on Shutterstock

doYou want to do trading as a professional? Proof FREE the Premium Newsletter 4 in 1 from Benzinga Spain with actions, breakouts, cryptocurrencies and options.