Billionaire Art Collector Buys Phaidon

It just can’t seem anything but good that high-end art press, Phaidon, has a new boss. The new owner is Leon D. Black and his family, and Black is the same billionaire art collector who was rumored to have purchased Munch’s Scream for $120 million last year. It would seem to follow that anyone willing to drop an extreme fortune for some paint and canvas will do the right thing by a respected publishing outfit. Not everyone would.

Richard Schlagman, who has owned Phaidon since 1990, seems to agree.

“The decision for me to part with Phaidon was not an easy one,” Schlagman said in a statement. “Once taken, however, the profile of the ideal buyer in my mind was exceeded in reality by Leon Black and his family.” 

According to GalleristNY, Black is “the founder of the New York–based Apollo Global Management private equity firm and is worth around $3.5 billion, according to Forbes. That makes him the 330th richest person in the world, by the magazine’s calculations.”

Black has said he anticipates future growth for Phaidon, “including through the ongoing development of its publishing program, further geographic expansion, and the launch of digital products.”