Masterworks

Last updated
Masterworks Advisers, LLC
Company typePrivately held company
Industry
Founded2017;7 years ago (2017)
FoundersScott Lynn
Headquarters Brookfield Place,
New York City
,
U.S.
Area served
United States + 100 other countries
Key people
Scott Lynn (CEO)

Allen Sukholitsky (CIO) [1]
Nigel Glenday (CFO)
Josh Goldstein (General council)
Hai Tran (CPO)

Jennifer Moxon (CCO)
AUM
  • Increase2.svg US$900 million (2023)
Members800,000 (2023)
Number of employees
~200 (2024)
Website Official website

Masterworks Advisers LLC is an American financial services company that specializes in the Art Investment market. Traditionally, Masterworks will buy a piece of art and file it to the SEC as a Public offering, the company will then sell shares of the art on their website for varying costs. [2] Rather than selling art as an aesthetic or personal investment, the company sells art purely as a financial commodity. [3] [4] [ unreliable source? ] As of December 2023, Masterworks has 800,000 members and $900 million in assets under its management. [5] The company has notably sold artworks by Banksy, George Condo, Cecily Brown, Simone Leigh, Claude Monet, and Andy Warhol. [5] [1]

History

Masterworks was founded in 2017 by Scott Lynn to make the art market more accessible to investors. [2] However, the company has since strayed from this business model and has begun to prioritize wealthy clients. [6] [1]

In 2021, Masterworks raised $110 million in Series A funding, led by Left Lane Capital. The backing valued the company at more than $1 billion. By February 2022, the company had bought more than 100 paintings, worth nearly $450 million [6] [7] [8]

In June 2023, it was reported that only 5% of the sites registered users had actually made an investment. [6] The company is also known for its large marketing push, as the company nearly doubled its marketing from $5 million to $9 million. Several employees have also reported "unethical" tactics to get better Ad placements on websites. [6]

Scott Lynn was quoted as saying, "They know who Basquiat is, or Kaws...They don’t know the other artists. Out of 150,000 investors, very few are art world people." [3]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Masterworks: The $1bn company selling paintings as stocks and changing art forever". The Independent. 2022-02-17. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  2. 1 2 Gravier, Elizabeth. "Masterworks: The platform that allows nearly anyone to invest in multimillion-dollar art". CNBC. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  3. 1 2 Salmon, Felix (Oct 7, 2021). "Why Masterworks is worth $1 billion". Axios . Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  4. Shaya, Rickie Houston, Tessa Campbell, Elias. "Masterworks Review 2024". Business Insider. Retrieved 2024-01-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. 1 2 "Masterworks Review 2024". Time. 2023-12-13. ISSN   0040-781X . Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Villa, Angelica (2022-12-27). "Rising Startup Masterworks Beset by Internal Rifts, Alleged Recklessness, and Staff Cuts". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  7. Primack, Dan (Oct 5, 2021). "Art investment platform Masterworks raises $110 million" . Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  8. Matney, Lucas (2021-10-05). "Masterworks raises $110M to sell fractional shares of physical art – not NFTs". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2024-01-26.