Sotheby's Is Cutting Jobs

Auction house Sotheby's said in a securities filing that it will reduce its headcount in the U.S. and U.K. as part of a restructuring plan.

"The restructuring plan is the result of a strategic review conducted by management and will result in the reallocation of resources to collecting categories and regions with the highest growth opportunity in the future. The restructuring plan is expected to result in employee-related restructuring charges in the range of approximately $13 million recognized in the third quarter of 2014 and the corresponding headcount reductions are expected to be fully implemented by the end of 2014," the company said in an 8-K filing.

Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Sotheby's said it will cut a "modest" number of employees globally. The cuts are expected to come from the back-office, the report said citing unnamed Sotheby's insiders.

The stock was last trading up about 3%.

This news also comes just over two months after Daniel Loeb, who runs $14 billion Third Point LLC, joined Sotheby's board. The activist investor owns 6.65 million shares, or a 9.65% stake in the auction house.

Meanwhile, back in April, famed short-seller Jim Chanos, the founder of Kynikos Associates, recommended shorting Sotheby's. At the time, he shared a chart about how the company's stock price peaks with stock market bubbles.