After much speculation about who would purchase Frieze, one of the world’s premiere art fairs, it turned out that the call was coming from inside the house.
Ari Emanuel, 64, the former chief executive behind the sports and entertainment conglomerate Endeavor, which currently owns the Frieze fair and its signature magazine, announced on Thursday that he was setting up a new company, as yet unnamed, to purchase Frieze.
Endeavor recently announced a similar deal for its basketball representation business — all part of the complicated hurdles to completing a take-private deal with the investment company Silver Lake, a longtime financial backer of Endeavor. At its acquisition, Endeavor, including its debt, was valued at $13 billion in April 2024. (Endeavor was taken private this past March.)
“Frieze has always been a source of inspiration for me — both professionally and personally,” Emanuel, who currently holds the title of executive chairman at WME Group, said in a statement. “Having worked with the team for nearly a decade, I’ve seen firsthand the strength of their community and the ambition driving their mission to expand the reach and understanding of contemporary art.”
The announcement comes just a week before the company’s flagship event, Frieze New York, returns to The Shed with nearly 70 participating galleries. The show draws tens of thousands of visitors each year, including ultrawealthy collectors who might spend upward of $1 million on a single painting there.
Despite changes in the company’s structure, the Frieze leadership team will stay intact, including its chief executive, Simon Fox, according to a spokeswoman. She said the deal also included Frieze’s magazine and retinue of seven international fairs, including EXPO Chicago, the Armory Show in New York, Frieze Los Angeles and Frieze Seoul.
Given the downturn in the art market, which has experienced a 12 percent year-on-year decline in global sales, some industry experts had worried that Frieze’s sale to an outside buyer could have disastrous implications for the business. Some gallerists are now breathing a sigh of relief, knowing that Emanuel has a long history with Frieze; his company first purchased a stake in Frieze nine years ago before gaining full ownership in 2023.
“This is a stabilizing buyer,” said Alexander Gray, a Manhattan gallerist who also sits on the selection committee for Frieze London. “The model of the art fair is one that some disrupters might think is disruptable, but this is not the market climate for any disruption.”
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