Sotheby’s longtime chairman, president, and CEO, William Ruprecht, is stepping down, months after an activist slate took seats on the company’s board.
Ruprecht has headed the company for 14 years and worked there for 34. He will remain in his posts until a search committee finds a replacement.
Daniel Loeb, whose company, Third Point, is the company’s largest shareholder, had called on Ruprecht to resign in his lengthy proxy battle to win a directorship. In May, Loeb and Sotheby’s struck an agreement to give Loeb and two handpicked associates seats on the company’s board. This came after months of often-bitter battles with the auctioner’s management.
A statement said that Ruprecht’s departure was by “mutual agreement” with the board. Directors voted unanimously to oust him this week, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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