SOTHEBY'S ANNOUNCES 1999 AUCTION SALES SUMMARY -Worldwide Auction Sales Increase 16% to $2.3 billion - Full Year Net Income in 1999 of $32.9 Million - 1999 Total Revenues of $442.6 Million -Dividend EliminatedMarch 2, 2000 New York -- Sotheby’s Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: BID; LSE), the parent company of Sotheby’s worldwide live and Internet auction businesses, art-related financing and real estate activities, today announced results for the full year and fourth quarter ended December 31, 1999. For the full year 1999 the Company reported total revenues of $442.6 million, compared to $447.1 million for the previous year. Net income for the full year 1999 was $32.9 million ($0.56 per diluted share) compared to net income of $45.0 million ($0.79 per diluted share including non-recurring charges) for 1998. Full year net income of $32.9 million was impacted by approximately $42.1 million of Internet related expenses ($0.45 per diluted share). For the quarter ended December 31, 1999, the Company reported total revenues of $188.1 million, compared to $180.6 million for the corresponding period of 1998. The Company’s net income for the fourth quarter of 1999 was $34.4 million ($0.57 per diluted share) compared to net income for the fourth quarter of 1998 of $38.5 million ($0.66 per diluted share).1 Total revenues were $442.6 million, down 1%, due to significantly reduced Financial Services revenues. In addition, the sales mix moved to higher-end, single-owner sales, which resulted in margin pressure on auction revenues. On February 21, 2000, the Board of Directors of Sotheby’s Holdings, Inc. announced the appointment of Michael Sovern, former President of Columbia University, as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sotheby’s Holdings. The Board also announced the appointment of Bill Ruprecht, former Managing Director of Sotheby’s North and South America, as President and Chief Executive Officer of Sotheby’s Holdings. Joining Mr. Ruprecht in the Office of the Chief Executive are Robin Woodhead, Chief Executive of Sotheby’s Europe and Asia and an Executive Vice President of Sotheby’s Holdings, and Deborah Zoullas, Executive Vice President of Sotheby’s Holdings. Mr. Ruprecht, Mr. Woodhead and Ms. Zoullas were elected to the Board of Sotheby’s Holdings, effective immediately. “1999 was a year of significant achievement for Sotheby’s,” said Mr. Ruprecht. “Our worldwide auction sales increased 16% to $2.3 billion in 1999 -- the highest sales total achieved by the Company since 1990; we made a major commitment to the Internet through the launch of sothebys.amazon.com and the launch of SOTHEBYS.COM in early January; and we completed the first phase of the expansion of our York Avenue headquarters and opened two new salesrooms in Europe, in Amsterdam and in Zurich. “Sotheby’s sales were up substantially in every geographic location in 1999. Major single owner sales as well as the best Impressionist and Modern and Contemporary auctions in both London and in New York in nine years; a recordbreaking American paintings sale, as well as many other notable auctions, contributed to these improved results. Broad-based market strength in North America, as well as the sale of several highly successful single-owner collections resulted in an 18% increase in North American auction sales, which totaled $1,264.5 million. Our European auction sales increased 13% to $904.5 million, also due in part to single owner sales. In Asia, which represented 4% of our worldwide auction sales in 1999, increased economic strength led auction sales to rise by 46% to $89.8 million. FALL SALES HIGHLIGHTS “Among the many highlights during the season were the sale of Picasso’s Femme Assise dans un Jardin from the Saidenberg Collection, which brought $49,502,500, the second highest price ever paid for a work by the artist at auction. The 46 works from the Collection formed by Eleanore and Daniel Saidenberg, Picasso’s American dealers for more than 20 years, were sold alongside other Impressionist and Modern Art in New York in November in a series of sales which brought $242,688,925. One month later, in London, a Cézanne still life, recovered by the Art Loss Register, sold for $29,319,170 (£18,151,500), an ink drawing by Vincent van Gogh sold for $8,530,930

(£5,281,500) and a collection of 25 works by Picasso from the Collection of Gianni Versace sold for a total of $17.5 million (£10.8 million). “In the record sale of American Paintings which brought $67,709,475, George Bellows’ Polo Crowd, consigned by the Museum of Modern Art in New York and previously from the Whitney Collection, was sold for $27,502,500, breaking a world record for an American painting sold at auction. In the same sale, a record was also set for Winslow Homer when his Red Canoe sold for $4,842,500. “Strong results were also seen in the Fall Contemporary Art sales. The November sales in New York totaled $70,201,175 and set records for Rothko, Calder, Duchamp and Sam Francis and in London one of Damien Hirst’s Butterfly Paintings sold for $287,550 (£177,500) setting a new auction record. Earlier in the Fall, Franz Marc’s Der Wasserfall, sold for $8,378,580 (£5,061,500) and from the Rolf Deyhle Collection, Otto Dix’s Bildnis Rechtsanwalt Dr. Fritz Glaser sold for $6,011,420 (£3,631,500), both setting auction records for the artist. Both were highlights of the German and Austrian Art sale held in London in October. “Another major highpoint of the 1999 Autumn Season in New York was the sale of 81 masterpieces from The Time Museum, which made $28,285,050, the world record for an auction of watches and clocks. The centerpiece of the sale was the Henry Graves Pocketwatch made by Patek Philippe in 1933 which sold for $11,002,500, making it a record for any timepiece sold at auction. This extraordinary timepiece featured 24 complications including timings for time of sunset and sunrise and the night sky of New York City. (For a more detailed list of autumn highlights, see below) INTERNET INITIATIVES “Sotheby’s made a major commitment to the Internet in 1999,” said Mr. Ruprecht. “We launched sothebys.amazon.com on November 19 with Amazon.com, the world’s premier e-commerce retailer, and in early January we launched SOTHEBYS.COM. We see our Internet auctions complementing our live auctions, and believe that, over time, the Internet has enormous potential for enhancing and expanding our business around the world, introducing many thousands of new clients who have never before bought or sold at Sotheby’s. “To head our Sotheby’s Internet Division we appointed Craig Moffett, who has extensive experience in e-commerce and was formerly head of the Worldwide Telecommunications Practice at The Boston Consulting Group. Mr. Moffett works very closely with David Redden, Executive Vice President of Sotheby’s North and South America, who has played a key role in developing Sotheby’s Internet strategy and in launching Sotheby’s online auction businesses. Another senior appointment to our Internet business has been Chris Jussel, known to many as the host of the Public Broadcasting Service television series, “The Antiques Roadshow”, as Senior Vice President of Sotheby’s Online Auctions Associate Program, the program which oversees the relationships Sotheby’s has with its dealer partners from around the world. In addition to Sotheby’s, our Associates post property that has been guaranteed for authenticity and condition, to Sotheby’s online auction sites. “Since its launch in November, sothebys.amazon.com has achieved unprecedented success as an online auction venue for authenticated property. While our partners at Amazon have a policy not to disclose statistics on their individual Internet businesses, we are very pleased with both the level of sales and traffic on sothebys.amazon.com. Successful close rates have exceeded 50%. The sale of Barry Halper’s Collection of Baseball Memorabilia alone totaled more than $3.4 million, with all but 3 of the more than 5,000 lots closing successfully. “Early results on SOTHEBYS.COM have also been extremely promising. Since the first lots began closing on January 25, 2000, sales have topped $4.7 million. Special theme sales, including sales of Americana, Asian Art, Valentine’s Day Jewelry and Old Master Paintings, have performed particularly well with more than 80% of the lots closing successfully. Over the course of the year we anticipate significantly expanding our calendar of special sales. Traffic to SOTHEBYS.COM has been strong, suggesting a good return on the marketing investments we have made to date. For the month of February, traffic on SOTHEBYS.COM has exceeded 6 million page views. “We are particularly pleased with the participation of our Internet Associates, those art and antiques dealers who have signed up to sell at auction exclusively on our sites. On SOTHEBYS.COM, Associates are posting an average of 1,000 lots per week, a number that has increased every week since launch. More than 500 dealers of our network of 4,800 Associates have already offered property on SOTHEBYS.COM.”

EXPANSION OF NEW YORK HEADQUARTERS Mr. Ruprecht continued: “In October we officially opened the new six floors of our New York headquarters. On the top floor, a dramatic 22,000 square-foot roof-top gallery, designed by architect Richard Gluckman, has set new standards in auction exhibition space and has been extremely well-received. When completed later this year, the new ten-story state-of-the-art auction and art services building will become a major art and cultural destination for New York. NEW EUROPEAN SALESROOMS IN ZURICH AND AMSTERDAM “In March 1999 we opened new offices and a major salesroom located in the heart of Zurich’s emerging cultural center. With these new premises, Sotheby’s Zurich becomes the largest auction center in Switzerland, and Sotheby’s third largest in Continental Europe. The new salesroom will serve not only Switzerland, but also the neighboring European countries. We also opened new premises in Amsterdam in October as part of our European strategy of developing key selling centres. The opening sale, the Jan des Bouvrie Collection of Contemporary Art, fetched a total of NLG. 1.471.379 ($735,000) nearly double the estimate. The new facility has already hosted several significant single owner sales and in the first eight weeks, twenty specialised auctions were held in the new space, including the first sale of Belgian Art which made $2.8 million (Nlg. 5,6 million).” ANTITRUST INVESTIGATION As previously reported, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice began an investigation in 1997 of dealers and auction houses, including Sotheby’s and its principal competitor, Christie’s. Among other matters, the investigation has reviewed whether Sotheby’s and Christie’s had any agreement regarding the amounts charged for commissions in connection with auctions. Sotheby’s has recently met with the Department of Justice in order to discuss a prompt and appropriate resolution of this investigation, which will allow the Company to put this difficult matter behind it. The European Commission and the Australian Competition Commission each have inquiries underway as well, and a number of private civil complaints, styled as class action complaints, have been filed against Christie’s and Sotheby’s alleging violation of the federal antitrust laws based upon alleged agreements between Christie’s and Sotheby’s regarding commission pricing. In addition, several shareholder class action complaints have been filed against Sotheby’s and certain of its officers, alleging failure to disclose the alleged agreements and their impact on Sotheby’s financial condition and results of operations. Although the outcome of the investigation by the Department of Justice, other governmental inquiries and these lawsuits cannot presently be determined, these matters could well have a material impact on Sotheby’s financial condition and/or results of operations. Mr. Ruprecht commented: “Sotheby’s is now going through a period of great challenge. We are determined to meet this challenge and we are equally determined to build on the significant achievements of the past year. Our commitment to our clients, to our shareholders and to our staff around the world who have contributed so significantly to the successes of 1999, remains unwavering.” DIVIDEND Due to the significant cash needs required for the funding of the SOTHEBYS.COM Internet initiative, the completion of the York Avenue expansion project as well as uncertainties surrounding the Department of Justice investigation the Board of Directors has not declared a dividend for the first quarter. Management believes this is an appropriate decision due to the Company’s present and anticipated cash needs. Management will continue to discuss the dividend in conjunction with operating results, capital spending needs, Internet business requirements and developments in the Department of Justice investigation and related matters. FIRST HALF OUTLOOK FOR 2000 LIVE AUCTIONS Mr. Ruprecht continued: “Our sales in January performed extremely well. The Old Master Paintings sale in New York achieved $47,482,575, with an average lot value of around $400,000 and with 62% of the lots selling above the high estimate. In this sale, one of the greatest paintings by Rubens to come on the market for many years, Portrait of a

Man as the God Mars sold for $8,252,500, a new auction record for the artist. “Americana Week at Sotheby’s totaled $24,274,624, and the three-day series of sales included The Waterfowl Decoy Collection of Dr. James M. McCleery, which totaled $10,965,935. Highlighting the sale of the McCleery Collection was an outstanding decoy of a sleeping Canada goose carved by Elmer Crowell which sold for sold for $684,500, establishing a new record for an American waterfowl decoy at auction. A highlight from the section of American Furniture was an important pair of Chippendale Games tables made by James Beekman which more than doubled their pre-sale low estimate and set a new auction record for any piece of New York Furniture at auction, when they sold for $910,000. “In Sotheby’s Asia Week in March in New York, a spectacular group of Nepalese sculpture, dating from the 10th through to the 14th Century, will highlight Sotheby’s sale of Indian and South East Asian Art. The collection of master printer Kenneth Tyler and Tyler Graphics will be sold in New York in May. Ken Tyler collaborated in making prints with some of the greatest Contemporary American artists, including Frank Stella, Helen Frankenthaler, David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Motherwell and James Rosenquist amongst others. The sale will be the most comprehensive offering of Post War Prints to come to auction and the first to focus exclusively on the work of a single master printer. “While we have a number of highlights in our Impressionist and Modern Sales, and we are still collecting property, we do not expect that they will match the spring and fall sales of last year, given the scarcity of estate property on the market, such as the Whitney, Saidenberg and Versace estates, which helped to contribute to our sales totals last year. Among these highlights are an American Private collection estimated at between $10/15 million which includes a portrait of a woman by Modigliani, entitled La Rousse au Pendantif, painted in 1918, estimated at $5.5-7.5 million and a Picasso portrait of Francoise Gilot, entitled Femme dans un Fauteuil expected to sell for $3/4 million. A second private collection, again consigned from an American family and estimated at around $10 million, includes a very beautiful Cézanne landscape from 1898, Eglise à Montgeroult which reveals the increasingly abstract pictorial language he developed (est: $5/7 million). From a European collection is a beautiful painting by Toulouse-Lautrec of two women in an interior, L’Abandon ou Les deux Amies painted in 1895 and estimated at $6/8 million. A Bonnard of a nude in an interior, estimated at $4/6 million, is also included. “The New York Contemporary Art sale includes a beautiful group of works, among them Bruce Nauman’s Light Trap for Henry Moore estimated at $250/350,000; Brice Marden’s Rainforest, estimated at $1.5/2 million; and Andy Warhol’s portrait of Natalie Wood estimated at $1/1.5 million. Young artists are also represented in the sale by works such as Jeff Koons’ Wall Relief, estimated at $500/700,000. Works by Gilbert and George, Willem de Kooning and Alexander Calder are also included. “In London, a perfectly preserved painting by the great Italian Baroque painter Orazio Gentileschi has been discovered by a Sotheby’s specialist. Previously unrecorded, The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist is an important addition to the artist’s known oeuvre and will be included in Sotheby’s major summer sale of Old Master Paintings in London in July estimated at £1.5 - 2 million. In the same sale a beautifully preserved panel of The Madonna and Child enthroned with Angels by the Italian master Cimabue is expected to sell for in excess of £2 million. The painting, dating from the 13th Century, was discovered by Sotheby’s specialists during preparations for a house contents sale at Benacre Hall, near Lowestoft, Suffolk.” ONLINE AUCTIONS ON sothebys.amazon.com In January, the sale of memorabilia from the famed Secretariat, America’s most beloved Triple Crown Winner, was 100% sold with a total of $336,675. One of the highlights of the sale was Secretariat’s Winner’s Blanket from the 1973 Belmont Stakes selling for $43,010. Other highlights on sothebys.amazon.com include a Walt Disney Celluloid from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” which sold for $20,075, and $54,411 paid for The Shagmobile from ‘Austin Powers: The Spy who Shagged Me’. Early this February, a sale of Contemporary Folk Art sold to benefit the High Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, totaled $89,295, with a number of the top lots doubling their pre-sale estimates. February 23, 2000 saw the end sale of the finest and largest private collection of baseball memorabilia in the world when the online portion of the Barry Halper Collection, closed totaling $3,357,527, well above its presale high estimate of $2 million. With all but three of the 5,481 selling, the online auction total, combined with the results of the seven-day live auction held at Sotheby’s, New York in September, brought the Halper Collection grand total to a record $25.2 million.

Currently up for bid on sothebys.amazon.com is Mark McGwire’s Game Worn 70th Home Run T-shirt from his remarkable, record-setting season in 1998. Estimated to fetch between $200,000 and $300,000, McGwire’s shirt is offered among items relating to Babe Ruth, Roger Maris and Mark McGwire. Planned for March on sothebys.amazon.com is a Celebration of Hollywood Glamour which includes an Edith Head sketch of a gown made for Elizabeth Taylor in A Place in the Sun, and a “Madame X” Gown made for Mrs. Milton Greene for Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball in November 1966. Additional upcoming special sales include photographs from the Daily News Archive, a Wedding Sale and an Election 2000 sale. ONLINE AUCTIONS ON SOTHEBYS.COM The highest value lot sold so far is a very rare illustrated edition of The Boke of Hawkynge and huntynge and fysshynge made around 1518. Offered for sale by New York book dealer H.P. Kraus, Inc, it was purchased for $88,000 by a private collector who had never been a Sotheby’s client. Other successful selling lots include a print of Ansel Adams’ Moonrise, Hernandez New Mexico offered for sale online by Associate Ronald Johnson of Time Past which sold for $31,900 against an estimate to $15/25,000 and a wonderful seascape by American artist William Trost Richards painted in 1886 which sold for $31,900. This oil on canvas which was offered for sale online by Scott Nussbaum Antiques of Louisville, Kentucky, had been estimated at $8/12,000. SOTHEBYS.COM has experienced an enthusiastic response to its special theme sales. An outstanding collection of Americana achieved strong results, more than doubling the low estimate with sales of $462,660. The top lot from this sale was a tall case clock made by Daniel Balch of Newbury, Massachusetts in 1760. The unusually well preserved clock was estimated at $8/12,000 and sold for $57,750. In addition, an unprecedented sale of Old Masters on the Internet achieved a total of $213,950. A Flemish School painting of a Madonna and Child, circa 1530, was estimated at $3/4,000 and sold for $12,650. The highlight of upcoming sales on SOTHEBYS.COM will be the sale of a rare copy of the Declaration of Independence, printed on the evening of July 4, 1776, and rediscovered inside the frame of an old torn painting bought at a flea market for $4. The document was sold at Sotheby’s in 1991 and this same copy will now be offered for sale over the Internet with an estimate of $4/6 million. Other special theme sales planned for this spring on SOTHEBYS.COM include American Paintings, Art Nouveau, Orientalist Art, American Indian Art and POP Art, among others. WORLD WIDE HIGHLIGHTS FROM FALL 1999 FINE ART The highlight of the Fall auction season in 1999 – which saw the highest totals for Impressionist and Contemporary sales in New York and London since 1990 and 1989 respectively - was undoubtedly the sale of Picasso’s Femme Assise dans un Jardin from the Saidenberg Collection for $49,502,500. This was the second highest price ever for the artist at auction. The private collection of Eleanore and Daniel Saidenberg, Picasso’s American dealers for more than 20 years, was sold alongside other Impressionist and Modern Art which brought $242,688,925. Auction records were also set for works by Modigliani and Degas. A month later the results in London mirrored the successes in New York when a Cézanne still life, recovered by the Art Loss Register, sold for $29,319,170 million (£18,151,500); an ink drawing by Vincent van Gogh sold for $8,530,930 (£5,281,500) and a collection of 25 works by Picasso from the Collection of Gianni Versace sold for a total of $17.5 million (£10.8 million). Contemporary Art sales in New York totaled $70,201,175 and set records for Rothko, Calder, Duchamp and Sam Francis. In the London Contemporary sales, one of Damien Hirst’s Butterfly Paintings sold for $291,100 (£177,500), setting a new auction record for the artist at auction. Earlier in the Fall, Franz Marc’s Der Wasserfall (Frauen Unter Einem Wasserfal), 1912, sold for $8,378,580 (£5,061,500) and, from the Rolf Deyhle Collection, Otto Dix’s, Bildnis Rechtsanwalt Dr. Fritz Glaser sold for $6,011,420 (£3,631,500), both setting auction records for the artist. Both were highlights of the German and Austrian Art sale held in London in October. A record-breaking sale of American Paintings was held in New York in December and totaled $67,709,475 - the highest sale total ever for the category. The sale included George Bellows’ Polo Crowd, consigned by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, which sold for $27,502,500, breaking the world record for an American painting sold at auction. In the same sale an auction record was also set for a painting by Winslow Homer when his Red Canoe sold

for $4,842,500. The Old Master Paintings sale in London in December made $22,393,335 (£13,794,295) with strong results for Dutch and Flemish pictures. 19th century European paintings performed very well in New York when 145 paintings which had decorated the walls of Baltimore’s celebrated restaurant, Haussner’s, made $10,127,325. The collection represented one of the great private collections of 19th century European paintings left in America. In London a painting by George Stubbs of a Newfoundland dog, commissioned by HRH The Duke of York, sold for $3,695,550 (£2,256,500) and an iconic portrait of Joan of Arc by Sir John Everett Millais sold for $2,166,390 (£1,312,500), the second highest price for a work by the artist at auction in November. The annual round of sales held in Scotland concluded in Glasgow, when 1999 became the most successful year for Sotheby’s in Scotland. The Modern British and Irish Paintings sale held in London in December included Laurence Stephen Lowry’s, Going to the Match, 1953, an evocative oil painting depicting crowds streaming into Bolton Wanderers’ football ground. When it sold for $3,108,760 (£1,926,500) it set a new world auction record for the artist and became the most expensive modern British painting ever sold at auction. The Latin American paintings sale in New York in December made $13,020,150 and set an auction record for a work by Matta when The Disasters of Mysticism sold for $2,642,500. JEWELRY AND PRECIOUS OBJECTS ‘The Merena Diamond’, a 55.11 carat Diamond Ring, the third largest emerald-cut diamond to be offered at auction, sold for $4,041,940 million (SF6,273,500), in Geneva in November, making it the highest selling jewelry lot sold by Sotheby’s this Fall. In the same sale a fancy purplish pink diamond ring of 15.07 carats, sold for $2,978,870 (SF4,623,500). In New York the star of the Fall sales was ‘The Star of Sierra Leone’, a 30.15 carat diamond mounted by Harry Winston, which sold for $1,872,500. A special theme sale - A Century of American Style – which celebrated the splendor and glamour of 20th Century American jewelry, was held in conjunction with a sister sale in Geneva entitled, A Century of European Style held in November. The sales in New York were dominated by private American collectors, a trend which was repeated in the Important Jewels sale held in New York in December. Another major highpoint of the 1999 Autumn Season was the sale of 81 masterpieces from The Time Museum in New York in December, which made $28,285,050, the world record for an auction of watches and clocks. The centerpiece of the sale was the Henry Graves Pocketwatch made by Patek Philippe in 1933 which sold for $11,002,500, making it the highest selling lot for the division this Fall, and the most expensive timepiece ever sold at auction. This extraordinary timepiece featured 24 complications including timings for time of sunset and sunrise and the night sky of New York City. The Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite sale held during the Hong Kong sales at the beginning of November included a stunning Jadeite bead necklace with ruby and diamond clips mounted by Cartier. The necklace sold for $1,418,460 (HK$11,020,000) to an Asian private collector. Treasure belonging to one of Germany’s oldest royal families which was buried in a forest to save it from being looted by the advancing Russian army was sold at Sotheby’s in London in December. Known as ‘The Moritzburg Treasure’, the most important piece was a unique and dramatically sculpted 17th Century German heraldic marriage cup in the form of a moor’s head made around 1615. It sold for $2,289,580 (£1,761,500), making it the most expensive piece of silver ever sold at auction in the UK. As a whole the treasure sold for $3,713,239 (£2,287,355). DECORATIVE ARTS Sotheby’s broke the world auction record for a photograph four times this fall. Firstly in October in New York when Alfred Stieglitz’s view of New York City at night, From the Back Window—‘291’—N. Y. January—1915, sold for $420,500, and fifteen minutes later, when Charles Sheeler’s Criss-Crossed Conveyors, Ford Plant in Detroit, surpassed the Stieglitz selling for $607,500. Later in the month, during the course of the hugely successful London sale of the Collection of André Jammes and his wife Marie-Thérèse, the record was again broken by a photograph by Gustave Le Gray and, a few moments later, the same buyer purchased another Le Gray print entitled ‘Grande Vague – Sete’, considered to be the most dynamic of the photographer’s seascapes, for $840,370 (£507,500). The

Collection, assembled by the Jammes’ over 40 years, featured French photography of the 19th century and raised $12,304,509 (£7,430,693). During the Asia Week sales held in Hong Kong at the end of October, the highest price of the series was for an extremely large and rare blue and white Ming Dynasty vase from the Yongle period. Setting an auction record for blue and white porcelain, the flask sold for $2,766,752 (HK$21,470,000). The books and manuscripts department had a remarkably successful season on both sides of the Atlantic, with the second and final part of the sale of the Frank T. Siebert sale of the North American Indian and the American Frontier selling for a total of $12,591,870. The sale results proved that comparisons of the Siebert Library to the great libraries Sotheby’s have sold since it was founded as a book seller in 1744 were entirely warranted. The extraordinary discoveries made by Sotheby’s specialists in the library at Pencarrow, a country house in Cornwall, England, included an exceptional rarity -- an unpublished Ludwig van Beethoven autograph manuscript of a hitherto unknown and undocumented movement for a string quartet, which set a world auction record for a single leaf of Beethoven when it sold in London in December for $273,440 (£166,500). In the same month, two extraordinary unpublished letters discussing slavery, one written by Frederick Douglass, the influential African-American leader and former slave, the other by the great founding father, Benjamin Franklin, were sold at Sotheby’s in New York, the Franklin letter for $305,000 and the unpublished Douglass letters for $46,000. The sale of The Millennium Wine Cellar in New York in November, the greatest private wine cellar in the world, made auction history in November with a remarkable two-day total of $14,414,805. It was the highest grossing wine sale ever and included a Superlot containing the most inspiring and revered wines of the 20th century, which sold for $123,500. In the October Americana sales, a William and Mary jappanned highboy made in Boston between 1712-25, set a record for a piece of American furniture of the period when it sold for $1,597,500. In the Americana Indian Art sale in November, a rare and important Tsimshian wooden face mask sold for $684,500, setting the record for an American Indian work of art at auction. The John and Rebecca Moores Collection of Highly Important United States Coins, the finest collection of United States coins ever to be offered at Sotheby’s, was sold in New York in November and made $3,893,836. The collection was donated by the Moores to The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California who gave the sale proceeds to benefit The Institute for Childhood and Neglected Diseases at Scripps. In addition to the live sale, coins from the Moores’ Collection were also offered on the Internet. Raising a total of $17,618,059 (£10,677,612), Sotheby’s Islamic week held in London in October, which included the sale of Persian art, Oriental rugs and Indian paintings, was the company’s most successful to date. Highlights included The Library of Robert Burrell, which raised almost £2 million, more than four times its pre-sale estimate. In December in New York Antiquities from the Collection of the late Christos G. Bastis, one of the most important sales to be held in the field for many years, sold for $9,248,745, the second highest total for a sale of Antiquities. Included in the sale was a Polychrome Sandstone Head of King Amenhotep I, dating from the king’s reign (15141493 B.C.) during the 18th Dynasty which sold for $1,157,500 – establishing a new world auction record for Ancient Egyptian art. On December 11th the Sporting d’Hiver in Monaco of Fine French Furniture and Important European Silver fetched $9,244,798 (59,486,585FF). The sale included, an important commode attributed to Weisweiler which sold for $1,130,220 (7,275,500FF) and the ‘Rubens ewer’ and basin, a silver masterpiece made in Antwerp in 1635-36, which sold for $1,027,650 (6,612,500FF) a record price for any Belgian silver piece at auction. Sotheby’s Chicago had a strong Fall auction schedule including Furniture, Decorations, Wine, Jewels, Fine Art, and a prominent single-owner estate, coupled with the inaugural sale of Motorcycles and Bicycles. This auction drew cycle enthusiasts from throughout the U.S. during exhibition week culminating with Giro di Chicago, a scenic 45-mile ride through the city that inspired more than 300 participants. The auction itself drew an enthusiastic crowd and propelled names such as Schwinn, Indian and Harley-Davidson into the spotlight. The following month Sotheby’s Chicago was called upon by the City of Chicago to conduct the live auction of the city’s loveable Cows on Parade TM public art exhibition, raising more than $2 million for charitable causes. Chicago celebrated the turn of the century with the presentation of

the unique Krug “Luxury Lot”, including a 1979 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II delivery sedan (property of Krug) and four cases of rare magnums of Krug Champagne. This outstanding package sold to a client from Greenwich, Connecticut for $68,500. OTHER HIGHLIGHTS The sale which dominated September in New York was the seven-day, 2,481 lot sale of the Barry Halper Collection – the finest and largest private collection of baseball memorabilia in the world. Every one of the 2,481 lots sold, 85% of them selling above the high estimate. The final sale total of $21,812,577, does not include the 5,481 lots offered on sothebys.amazon.com which brought $3,357,527. Perhaps the most memorable moment of the week-long live auction was for the sale of Mickey Mantle’s c. 1960 Game-Used Glove, which sold for $239,000. Actor Billy Crystal was the successful buyer and at the end of the bidding he emerged from the window of a sky-box above the saleroom floor brandishing his bidding paddle and asked: “Can I jump from here?” The annual Rock ‘N’ Roll Memorabilia sale held each year in September in London’s Hard Rock Café was the venue for the sale of John Lennon’s Gallotone ‘Champion’ acoustic guitar, the earliest Beatles guitar to be offered at auction. It sold for $251,700, (£155,500). Celebrity sales continued later on in the month in New York when, during the ‘Cocktails’ sale, Marilyn Monroe’s wedding suit, worn when she married Joe DiMaggio, sold for $33,350, (£20,230). The very last Checker cab in service on the streets of New York was hailed at Sotheby’s in December for $134,500--becoming one of the most expensive cabfares ever paid! The cab was consigned by its previous owner and driver Earl Johnson, who retired on July 26th, 1999. The cab was affectionately known as Janie, named after a past sweetheart of Mr. Johnson. ABOUT SOTHEBY’S Sotheby’s Holdings, Inc., the parent company of Sotheby’s worldwide live and Internet auction businesses, art-related financing and real estate activities, operates in 38 countries, with principal salesrooms located in New York and London. The Company also regularly conducts auctions in 15 other salesrooms around the world, including Australia, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Monaco, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Taiwan. Sotheby’s Holdings, Inc. is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange. *** FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This release contains certain “forward-looking statements” (as such term is defined in the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) relating to future events and the financial performance of the Company. Such statements are only predictions and involve risks and uncertainties, resulting in the possibility that the actual events or performance will differ materially from such predictions. Major factors which the Company believes could cause the actual results to differ materially from the predicted results in the “forward-looking statements” include the overall strength of the international economy and financial markets, competition with other auctioneers and art dealers, the volume of consigned property and the marketability at auction of such property, and the Company’s success in developing and implementing its Internet auction strategy. All Sotheby’s Press Releases are published on our website at www.sothebys.com