SAC Capital's Steve Cohen Is Trying To Sell Two Of His Awesome Warhol Paintings
Flickr/jerkalertproductionsAnother "Liz" by Andy WarholFacing mounting legal charges, SAC Capital's billionaire manager Steve Cohen will auction a handful of famous pieces of art from his storied collection, the New York Times' Peter Lattman and Carol Vogel report.
Cohen - who has seen redemptions from his fund as his lawyers reportedly broker a $2 billion deal with the SEC over a years-long insider trading investigation - will put up two major Andy Warhol paintings and an "abstract canvas" by Gerhard Richter, sources told the Times.
The two Warhols, both painted in 1963, are "Liz #1 (early Colored Liz)," an image of Elizabeth Taylor on a bright yellow background estimated to sell for $20 million to $30 million, and "5 Deaths on Turquoise (Turquoise Disaster)," thought to bring in $7 million to $10 million. Sotheby's featured the Warhols last week at the Katara Art Center in Doha, Qatar, where it was showing upcoming highlights from next month's event.
People familiar with Mr. Cohen's collection said that these paintings were part of a larger group of his works being put up for auction.
In April, Cohen purchased Picasso's "Le Rêve" for $150 million from casino magnate Stephen Wynn. "When you stand in front of it, you're blown away," Cohen told the Times then in a rare interview.
Cohen's fund - which stood at $15 billion at the beginning of the year - could become just a family office once investor money is returned, a process already underway. About $9 billion of assets under management is Cohen's fortune.