Sotheby's star auctioneer to leave

Sotheby’s star auctioneer and worldwide head of contemporary art Tobias Meyer is leaving the auction house. His departure comes nine days after overseeing the highest grossing sale in the company’s history but being trumped by a world record sale at Christie's. Sotheby's is seen as losing ground to its arch rival in acquiring high-profile consignments for sale. The auction house has been under pressure from activist investor Daniel Loeb to improve its financial performance with Loeb identifying contemporary and modern art sales as critical to the auctioneer's future growth.