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In 1989, Sotheby's, the world-famous auction house, had a banner year. Auction sales hit an all-time high of $2.9 billion, and overall net income was $112 million. This success was due partly to the efforts of real estate developer A. Alfred Taubman, who bought Sotheby's in 1983, soon after the auction house suffered the first loss in its 251-year history. Taubman's team cleaned up Sotheby's act and took the company public in 1988--just in time to enjoy a boom that sweetened not only Sotheby's pot but also that of its arch-rival, Christie's.
But the boom was short-lived. By 1992, Sotheby's auction sales were down to $1.1 billion and overall net income to $4 million. It was time for some radical rethinking.
Much of that rethinking has been done by Diana D. Brooks, 45, a Long Island-raised Yale graduate who joined Sotheby's as a part-time assistant 16 years ago, and whose Sotheby's portfolio includes stints as chief financial officer, chief operating officer, head of North and South American operations, and chief of the worldwide auction...