Christie’s breaks in 2025 with a major leadership shakeup. Guillaume Cerutti will be replaced at the British auction house, having served as its CEO since 1 January 2017. The 58-year-old will become the President of the Pinault Collection while remaining as the Chairman of Christie’s board, thus remaining within the umbrella of the Artemis Group owned by the Pinault family, of which Christie’s is a component.
Cerutti will be replaced by Christie’s President of the Americas, Bonnie Brennan, who has served in that role since early 2021. Brennan is a seasoned veteran of the auction world, having worked in it for over 28 years, the last 12 years at Christie’s. She previously worked to enhance the auction house’s business development and client engagement across two continents and brings that experience to the auction house’s top job; her tenure will officially begin on 1 February 2025.
With this announcement, Christie's joins Bonhams and Phillips, who made changes to their CEO positions in 2024. In August 2024 Bonhams announced Chabi Nouri as its new Global CEO, while in December 2024 Phillips announced their Chief Legal Officer Martin Wilson, would be taking over as CEO from industry veteran Ed Dolman.
Christie's outgoing CEO Guillaume Cerutti
Incoming Christie’s CEO Bonnie Brennan
Since taking up his post in 2017, Guillaume Cerutti has been a steady hand in a difficult period for the auction industry. Between COVID-19, a declining global economy, and US-Chinese trade disputes, Cerutti has overseen Christie’s through a transformative period for the sector.
In Christie’s press release, they described Cerutti as having presided over various “celebrated auction moments.” This includes the auction house’s sale of Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi painting for US$450 million, which continues to be the most expensive painting ever sold at auction, not even a year into Cerutti’s tenure. He was also in charge during the sale of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s art collection, which totaled US$1.5 billion in sales, the single largest sale of a collection in auction history.
His tenure was also transformative for Christie’s as an auctioning institution. Under his leadership, Christie’s has increased its slate of online auctions and what it offers for sale. Cerutti was bullish on NFTs and luxury goods that fell outside the realm of fine art. He also presided over Christie’s largest acquisition in over twenty years when, in September 2024, Christie’s acquired the car auction house Gooding & Company, returning Christie’s to the car auction market for the first time in 17 years.
The Palazzo Grassi in Venice, Italy the first museum established by the Pinault Collection
Cerutti will now become the President of the Pinault Collection while still serving as the Chairman of Christie’s board. Founded in 1999, the Pinault Collection is the consolidated legal holding of the Pinault family’s art, which manages its art collection, art partnerships, art loans, and artist-in-residence programs.
It also owns three museums, two in Venice and a third in Paris that opened in 2021. The organization has also run 17 exhibitions across the world showcasing the fine collection of works owned by the Pinault family, including paintings by Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, and Jeff Koons.
This marks a shift in Cerutti’s 16 years and 5 months in the auction industry, which he started in 2007 when he was President Directeur General of Sotheby’s before joining Christe’s as President of Europe, the Middle East, Russia, and India, and then becoming the company’s CEO.
The new incoming Christie’s CEO Bonnie Brennan at a conference in May 2022
Cerutti will pass the torch to Christie’s current President of the Americas, Bonnie Brennan, who has over 26 years of experience in the auction world within its two largest juggernauts. She graduated from Northwestern University in 1995 with a degree in Art History and Communications. She originally worked in museums and advertising before ending up at Sotheby's in 1997, writing proposals to help acquire consignments.
When she joined Christie’s in 2012, she worked primarily in various key senior supporting office roles, including Chairman of Business Development. A key role of Brennan's was within the house’s asset management office, where she coordinated the auction house with estate lawyers and financial advisors. In March 2021 Brennan replaced Jennifer Zatorski as President of the Americas.
While still focused primarily on the development of business in the region, Brennan presided over a highly successful auction period in her area of leadership. Examples include the sale of the Ann and Gordon Getty collection in 2022 and 2023, which saw 15 sales totaling over US$200 million, and the Anne H. Bass sale, which saw just 12 lots earn just over US$363 million. Brennan herself is a noted fan of 19th and 20th-century American art.
Overall, Brennan oversaw a highly successful period for the auction region, which grew materially to account for 48% of all Christie’s auction sales. She will take over on 1 February and has the full confidence of Christie’s owners, the Pinault family, and the recommendation of Cerutti.
In a Zoom conference, Brennan stated that she aims to preserve Christie's heritage while also moving to incorporate innovation into the auction house, including through the usage of AI, supplementing, and enhancing the role of specialists, according to Artnews. Additionally, Christie's has not yet announced who will replace Brennan as their President of the Americas.