4 American billionaires with outstanding art collections

Looming taxes and inflation may push investors toward art investments.

The Wallace collection museum in London. Red room

@allatsy via Twenty20

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By Dana Sitar, CEPF® Nov. 04, 2022

One of the many battles fought out in the United States Senate around social spending bills last year focused on how the government would pay for the proposed services.

One proposed rule raised a red flag for America’s billionaires.

The so-called billionaires’ tax, which the Associated Press estimated would affect less than 1,000 people, requires investors with more than $1 billion in assets to pay taxes on gains in stocks and other assets even before the holdings are sold.

The tax ultimately wasn’t included in the Build Back Better Act passed in November 2021. But suggestions from several representatives in Congress to raise taxes through other moves — including increasing the corporate tax rate, rolling back tax cuts from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act or increasing the capital gains tax — are raising red flags for the richest Americans.

It may be affecting where they’re putting their money.

Between the looming possibility of higher taxes and pervasive predictions of a stock market downturn instigated by inflation and interest rates, some investors are turning to alternatives to help hedge their investments.

Here are a few examples of investors and business owners in the U.S. putting their money into contemporary fine art.

1. David Geffen: $2.3 billion

David Geffen’s prowess spans art genres: The native New Yorker made his riches co-founding Asylum Records, Geffen Records and DreamWorks.

And he owns the largest art collection of any American (second-largest in the world), according to The Collector.

Geffen’s an avid collector of post-war American art in particular.

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2. Edythe and Eli Broad: $2.2 billion

Along with her husband Eli, art collector and philanthropist Edythe “Edye” Broad has collected about 2,000 pieces of art, according to the LA Times . Edye is an art lover, supporting arts initiatives through The Broad Foundations and opening The Broad art museum in 2015 to offer free admission to folks in Los Angeles to its collection of contemporary art.

3. Steven Cohen: $1 billion

Steven Cohen is a legendary hedge-fund manager who only started seriously investing in contemporary art about 20 years ago.

He’s famous for buying art by the biggest-name artists, including Jackson Pollock, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol.

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4. J. Tomilson Hill: Unknown

J. Tomilson Hill’s art collection is one of the top in the world, reports CNBC.

Though the billionaire hedge fund manager doesn’t believe in buying art with the expectation of a return, he nonetheless had a keen eye for artworks that have appreciated over time.

Hill’s top secret for buying great art? Buy what you love.

Invest in fine art — without spending billions

Fine art collecting used to be a pastime reserved for the ultra-rich. That’s not true anymore.

Yes, individual works of art are still selling for hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars on the market. But you don’t have to fork over that much to get in on this asset class.

With a new platform called Masterworks, you can access this growing asset class.

Masterworks is an investment platform designed specifically for investing in contemporary artwork.

That’s not surprising, given that, between 1995 and 2020, contemporary art outperformed the S&P 500 by 174% — that’s nearly three times the returns — according to the Citi Global Art Market chart.

Masterworks founder and CEO Scott Lynn, a recognized art collector and tech entrepreneur, wanted to simplify the process and make investing in contemporary artwork available to everyone — not just billionaires.

Through the platform, you can buy shares representing an investment in contemporary artwork the Masterworks team has acquired. You can join billionaires in this exciting asset class by signing up today.

Paid for by Masterworks.io. See important information.

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About the Author

Dana Sitar, CEPF®

Freelance Contributor

Dana Sitar has been writing and editing since 2011, covering personal finance, careers and digital media. She’s written about work and money for The New York Times, Forbes, CNBC, The Motley Fool, a column for Inc. and more.

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