The head of “Gus,” one of the largest Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons ever found, is displayed during a media preview at Sotheby’s Breuer Building in New York, July 1, 2026.
Timothy A. Clary | Afp | Getty Images
A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high net worth investor and consumer. sign up to receive upcoming programs, straight to your inbox.
Major auction houses generated nearly $10 billion in sales in the first quarter, marking one of the strongest starts to the year as the wealthy gain confidence from rising financial markets.
Sotheby’s reported its best ever first half, with sales of $4.4 billion, up 58% from last year and marking a 282-year-old auction house record. Christie’s had its first best quarter since 2021, reporting sales of $4.5 billion, up 71%. Phillips, Heritage and other auctioneers also started the year.
Eight lots sold for more than $50 million in the first half, compared to one in 2024 and 2025, according to Artnet. Auctioneers and dealers say the boom in the art market, following a nearly three-year slump, is largely due to wealth creation from advances in artificial intelligence, IPOs and rising stocks.
“The numbers mean there is confidence in the market,” Christie’s CEO Bonnie Brennan said at Christie’s Art + Tech Summit last week. “There are people who are willing to sell big things and there are people who spend a lot of money to get those special jobs alone.”
Suthu’s chief executive Charles Stewart said: “Wealth creation is the number one factor in our business right now. It’s very obvious when you sit here in New York and talk about the issue. SpaceX The IPO and these different tech IPOs are coming along with the AI fever.”
While the dollar amount is largely driven by a select group of high-value transactions at the top of the market, the strength is there across the board, at almost every price point and almost every category. Fine art, classic cars, watches, handbags, diamonds, whiskey and dinosaur bones all see new records.
Leading the first half was a Jackson Pollock drip painting, titled “Number 7A, 1948,” which sold for $181 million at Christie’s. This work, considered one of Pollock’s most important and defining works, was previously owned by media executive and collector SI Newhouse, which added to its appeal. A Brancusi sculpture formerly owned by Newhouse went for $107.6 million.
A new wave of new collectors, many from the tech world, is also redefining collectibles.
In classic cars, 1950s and 1960s sports cars used to dominate the price charts. Now the supercars of the 1990s and 2000s are the best sellers.
Watches are gaining popularity among the tech bros. Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo reported $235 million in watch sales in the first quarter, marking the largest ever. Strong bidding reached its auctions in New York, Geneva and Hong Kong. While Patek Philippe is still going strong, new collectors are vying for pieces from unknown, independent brands.
The most expensive watch sold in the first half was the FP Journe Souscription Résonance, which fetched $13.9 million. Mark Zuckerberg has become one of the most devoted to FP Journe in recent years, and has publicly played seven-figure FP Journes.
Brennan said 30% of buyers in the first quarter were new to Christie’s, and 47% of them were millennials or younger, and that 85% of bids were placed online.
“What we show people and how they interact with Christie is improving,” he said.
One of the hottest new categories is also the oldest – dinosaur bones. Sotheby’s sold a Tyrannosaurus rex fossil this month for $50.1 million, making it the most expensive fossil ever sold. IT. rex, named “Gus,” was excavated in the badlands of South Dakota and is estimated to be 67 million years old.
Gus’ new owner has not been identified. But the sale followed a stegosaurus sold by Sotheby’s in 2024 to fund billionaire Ken Griffin for $44.6 million. The stegosaurus, named “Apex,” is on loan from the Natural History Museum.
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang speaks at the COMPUTEX conference in Taipei, Taiwan May 29, 2023.
Ann Wang | Reuters
Stewart said institutions as well as individuals buy dinosaur fossils. Seven bidders battled for Gus for 10 minutes, as a new treasure vied for a piece of prehistoric history. At 38 feet tall, Gus will need a museum or a very large living room for his new home.
“I say ‘SpaceX to T. rex,'” Stewart said. “It’s not just that these people make money. They look at the market prices and make a decision about the price shop.”
New technology money is also driving up the prices of sports memorabilia and pop culture. A few weeks after the New York Knicks won the NBA championship, the jersey worn by Jalen Brunson in Game 1 of the series against the Spurs was sold at Suthoni for $1.024 million.
Even Jensen Huang’s leather jackets have become collectibles. A black leather jacket worn by Nvidia CEO Tom Ford at the 2023 Foxconn event in Taiwan sold for $960,000, beating its original estimate of $40,000 to $60,000. The proceeds went to the needy.
“People spend money on fun, collectible things that they want to own,” said Jeffrey Yin, CEO of Artsy and Artnet.
