Business

Sports teams have evolved beyond trophy assets as media rights deals and sponsorships continue to buoy valuations, according to a new survey of billionaire families by J.P. Morgan.
Twenty percent of family office principals reported owning controlling stakes in sports teams, up from 6% in 2022 and overtaking other luxury assets like art and cars.
Even ultra-wealthy investors are getting priced out of bidding wars for teams, but there are other ways to get a piece of the action.

The New Jersey Devils celebrate after Simon Nemec #17 scores the game-winning-goal in double overtime of Game Three of the First Round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Carolina Hurricanes at Prudential Center on April 25, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey.
Andrew Maclean | National Hockey League | Getty Images

A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
For the ultra-wealthy, sports teams have evolved from status symbols to mainstream investment assets, according to a new survey by J.P. Morgan Private Bank.

The bank’s 23 Wall division, which caters to the 0.01%, polled 111 billionaire principals of private family investment firms, representing more than $500 billion in combined wealth, between March and August. Twenty percent of family office principals reported owning controlling stakes in sports teams, up from 6% in 2022.
Sports assets have also overtaken traditional trophy assets like art and cars, with 34% of principals investing in teams and arenas, compared with 23% for art and 10% for cars, the bank said.

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Andrew Cohen, executive chairman of J.P. Morgan’s global private bank, told Inside Wealth that he expects this trajectory to continue. Sports team valuations continue to rise, buoyed by media rights deals and sponsorships, offering strong returns, he said. The bank values U.S. and European franchises at about $400 billion combined, estimating the total value of sports mergers and acquisitions and investment has increased eightfold over the past five years.
Cohen added that sports team ownership scratches an entrepreneurial itch in a way that other hobbies cannot. Many principals take on board seats or are active in franchise operations, he said.
“Unlike art or cars, sports ownership offers principals a platform for active involvement,” he said. “This hands-on approach aligns with the broader trend of families seeking to be ‘active architects’ rather than passive investors.”

While the growth of the sports industry has drawn investors beyond passionate fans, Cohen said many principals reported motivations beyond financial returns. He cited the desire to bring a family together as a key driver for sports team owners. Female team owners were also likely to say that they backed women’s sports to “help level the playing field,” according to the report.
As valuations continue to soar, even ultra-high-net-worth individuals are getting priced out of bidding wars for controlling stakes, he said. However, there are ways investors can get a piece of the action at lower price points, according to Cohen, such as joining an ownership group or syndicate to acquire minority stakes, investing in arenas, and making “sports adjacent” investments in data analytics or merchandising.
Heavy-hitter family offices frequently take multiple tacks when investing in sports. For instance, Blackstone’s David Blitzer, who is the first person to own equity in all five major men’s U.S. sports leagues, has backed at least six sports firms this year, including a padel club chain and a betting app, through his family office Bolt Ventures. More

D.R. Horton announced that it will work with a Portland, Oregon-based startup called Prophetic.
Prophetic has developed an AI-native platform for land acquisition and development analysis.
The system looks at minimum lot size and minimum or maximum density setbacks, which differ by municipality and zone. It updates those quarterly. 

D.R. Horton signage stands in front of homes under construction at the Eastridge Woods development in Cottage Grove, Minnesota.
Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images

A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Property Play newsletter with Diana Olick. Property Play covers new and evolving opportunities for the real estate investor, from individuals to venture capitalists, private equity funds, family offices, institutional investors and large public companies. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
D.R. Horton, the nation’s largest homebuilder, is tapping an artificial intelligence tool from Portland, Oregon-based startup Prophetic to build more homes and address the country’s housing shortage.

Chronic underbuilding since the Great Recession has caused a deficit of roughly 4 million homes, according to analyses from several sources, including Zillow. The supply-demand imbalance has caused prices to rise over 50% from pre-pandemic levels.
Homebuilders are trying to respond but say that the cost of construction, along with the difficult and costly process for acquiring and developing buildable lots, is making that difficult.
“One of the largest challenges to providing affordable housing is the identification, acquisition and entitlement of land suitable for development. We are confident the insights provided by Prophetic are going to help us expand homeownership opportunities for hard-working American individuals and families,” said Jason Jones, VP data analytics at D.R. Horton, in a release.
Prophetic has developed an AI-native platform for land acquisition and development analysis. For any potential parcel of land, Prophetic’s software will pull every single zoning manual from every city and county in a state. It is currently operational in 25 states and expects to be in all 50 by June.
“It’s an incredibly large, tedious, detail-oriented process to take tens of thousands of these zoning documents and extract the rules, not only efficiently, but correctly,” said Oliver Alexander, founder and CEO of Prophetic.

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Among other things, the system looks at minimum lot size and minimum or maximum density setbacks, which differ by municipality and zone. It updates those quarterly. 
“Then it tells you where that information came from, which is the key differentiator,” Alexander explained. “When you have that section title and the page that it came from, that builds trust, and then it becomes ultra-efficient, where you can analyze development potential in 30 seconds instead of two to three hours.”
Alexander said there are a little over 440,000 different ways to describe what you’re allowed to do on a piece of dirt in the states Prophetic has analyzed. Developers need to go through all of that information to figure out if they can build a single- or multifamily housing development on it. 
The AI’s large language model-based analysis of these documents at scale can answer the questions and then feed that into search AI, which Alexander calls “the major unlock” – search plus the zone AI information together. At the ground level, with this AI, builders can figure out what they can build, where and how much at a much faster pace, making them more competitive with landowners.
“If you have that much of an edge in your speed to decision, you effectively control your entire market, because before anyone else can decide, you’ve tied it up,” said Alexander. More

From McDonald’s to Savers Value Village, companies are reporting that high-income shoppers are turning into deal hunters.
Younger consumers are also spending less, hurt by a tough labor market and the resumption of student loan collection.
But there are exceptions, as Coach’s parent Tapestry, Dutch Bros. and Ralph Lauren manage to win over customers despite the gloomier consumer climate.
Investors will be watching whether those trends continue as Walmart, Target and other major retailers post earnings in the coming weeks.

Shoppers walk through Manhattan on Nov. 7, 2025, in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images

High-income consumers are trading down, Gen Z is spending less, and low-income shoppers are still struggling, according to many consumer companies that shared their latest quarterly results in recent weeks.
Those trends may not bode well for the big-box and mall retailers that have yet to report their earnings. That is, unless the strength of their brands — or high-income consumers who see their products as a good deal — help them transcend the gloomier consumer climate.

While the Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow tracker is projecting 4% U.S. GDP growth in the third quarter, there are cracks showing in the economy. Earlier this month, U.S. consumer sentiment slipped to near record lows, fueled by concerns about higher prices and the federal government shutdown. Plus, private data sources show that the U.S. economy was losing jobs through late October.
Investors will get a wider snapshot in the coming week. Some of the biggest names in retail, including Walmart, Target, Gap and Home Depot, will report their latest earnings and provide insights into how spending during the critical holiday season is shaping up.
According to credit card data from equity research firm and bank Truist, sales have softened in recent weeks across many of the retailers that it watches. Sales trends slowed at Walmart, Home Depot and Lowe’s in October after after they saw solid sales in August and September, according to Truist.
Wall Street has noticed slower spending, too. Michael Baker, a retail analyst for D.A. Davidson, said he now expects weaker holiday spending than he did before as consumers face a challenging mix of higher tariffs, slower job growth and pressure on lower-income households.
He expects holiday sales to grow in the high 3% range year over year, down from the firm’s previous view that holiday sales growth would accelerate from last year’s 4.3% increase.

“There’s just a lot of headwinds building for the consumer and a lot of the data we track [at retailers] was just really bad in September and even worse in October,” he said.

High-income shoppers trade down

For roughly two years, executives have warned investors that low-income consumers were spending less, dining out less frequently and growing picky about their shopping.
Now there are more signs that high-income shoppers are watching their budgets, too. That trend could help some of the retailers reporting in the weeks ahead, such as Walmart, Dollar General and Dollar Tree, while hurting others like Target and Best Buy.
The fast-food industry saw traffic from high-income diners climb by nearly double digits in the third quarter, according to McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski. McDonald’s, often seen as bellwether for the economy, is gaining share with high-income consumers, thanks to deals like its Extra Value Meals, he said on the company’s conference call earlier this month.
“I think sometimes there’s this idea that value only matters to low-income [consumers],” Kempczinski said. “But value matters to everybody, whether you’re upper income, middle income, lower income, feeling like you’re getting good value for your dollar is important.”

Sign at the entrance to an Applebee’s in Midtown Manhattan.
Erik McGregor | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Fast-food chains aren’t the only ones benefitting from higher-income diners trading down.
Dine Brands, which owns Applebee’s and IHOP, is seeing a similar trend. With a 2 for $25 promotion at Applebee’s and a $6 value menu at IHOP, the casual-dining chains are pulling customers away from higher-priced options.
“We’re seeing a greater increase of higher-income guests joining us this year,” Dine CEO John Peyton told CNBC, adding that the jump in traffic from that cohort is offsetting the decline in visits from low-income diners.
High-income shoppers are also hunting for deals at retailers. Savers Value Village, which runs a chain of thrift stores across the U.S., Canada and Australia, said during its fiscal 2025 third-quarter earnings call that it’s seeing growth in both its “younger and more affluent” customer groups.
“High household income cohort continues to become a larger portion of our consumer mix. It’s trade down for sure and our younger cohort also continues to grow in numbers,” CEO Mark Walsh said on a call with analysts in October. “We couldn’t ask for a better outcome.”
Consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal recently conducted a consumer sentiment survey that polled over 2,000 shoppers and found 24% of respondents earning $100,000 or more a year are planning to spend less this holiday season.
Joanna Rangarajan, a partner and managing director with the firm’s consumer and retail group, said that could partially be because they plan to trade down — or already are.
“They’re going to pull back spending in a variety of ways. They may do that by buying fewer things, they may switch to less expensive brands, or they may switch to lower cost retailers overall, or it could be a combination of any of those things,” said Rangarajan.

People shop at a clothing store in Manhattan on Nov. 7, 2025, in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images

While lower-cost brands and retailers could be seeing their core consumers spend less, it might not matter as much if they’re winning over new, higher-income shoppers.
Walmart, in particular, has spoken about its gains among customers with an annual household income of more than $100,000. That dynamic has boosted the big-box retailer’s business for more than two years, especially as shoppers across all incomes have felt pinched by higher grocery prices. The company has also made some strategic moves to woo wealthier shoppers, such as remodeling stores, launching a new grocery brand and speeding up home deliveries.
Even the dollar stores have attracted higher-income shoppers.
Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos said on the company’s earnings call in late August that the retailer saw increased spending among its core customers, who tend to be lower income, despite “worsening sentiment” in the quarter that ended Aug. 1. But he added Dollar General also saw growth among middle- and high-income consumers, which “has been accelerating over the last few quarters.”
At an investor day in mid-October, Dollar Tree CEO Michael Creedon said higher-income households are the retailer’s “fastest growing cohort.”
Value-oriented companies, such as Walmart and warehouse clubs, are best positioned to post strong results in the coming weeks as they attract deal-hunting customers across incomes, D.A. Davidson’s Baker said.
On the other hand, he said Target and Best Buy are in a tougher spot as they lose market share. For example, Baker said Best Buy customers are trading down to big-box stores like Walmart and club players like Costco for lower-priced TVs.

Younger consumers pull back

Gen Z and millennials are not spending the way that they used to as they contend with a slowing job market, rising unemployment and the resumption of student loan collection, which the federal government restarted in May.
The generational trend is particularly bad news for fast-casual restaurants, which skew toward younger diners. Fast-casual favorites like Chipotle Mexican Grill, Cava and Sweetgreen reported that consumers aged 25 to 35 years old aren’t visiting as frequently anymore. All three chains cut their full-year forecast following disappointing third-quarter results.
At Chipotle, the 25- to 35-year old cohort typically accounts for about a quarter of sales. However, those diners haven’t been visiting the burrito chain’s restaurants as frequently, instead opting to cook at home, according to CEO Scott Boatwright.
“This group is facing several headwinds, including unemployment, increased student loan repayment and slower real wage growth,” he said on the company’s conference call last month.
Beyond their fast-casual meals — known colloquially by some as “slop bowls” — younger consumers are also trying to spend less on necessities, like new glasses or contacts.
The younger shoppers that glasses maker Warby Parker serves have been feeling “increasingly… uncertain about their future” and “more selective in their purchasing behavior,” said Warby’s co-founder and co-CEO Dave Gilboa on the company’s 2025 third quarter earnings call earlier this month.
“We’ve seen a moderation in average order value or basket size in categories that skew younger,” said Gilboa. For example, the company has seen shoppers pull back on its higher priced frames in favor of its $95 option.
In weakening economies, younger people can start to feel distressed earlier than older groups because they tend to earn less and have less money in savings, and are more likely to be unemployed, according to economists.
To add to the issues, companies across the U.S. have paused hiring, which puts younger consumers who have just graduated high school or college at a particular disadvantage, according to Allison Shrivastava, a senior economist for Indeed. Plus, a stream of recent job cuts has targeted many entry-level employees, worsening employment prospects for younger workers.
The difference in unemployment rates between younger and older people is now starker than usual, Shrivastava said. The unemployment rate for workers between 25 and 34 years old hit 4.4% in August, higher than the 3.5% rate for the 35- to 44-year old cohort and the 2.9% rates for the 45- to 54-year old and 55 years and older segments. (More recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is unavailable due to the federal government shutdown.)
Shrivastava sees the pullback in spending as largely a response to the frozen labor market.
“We’re starting to get some frostbite in the form of declining consumer spending,” Shrivastava said, adding that “significant” layoffs could push the economy into a recession.

Brands bucking the trends

A shopper carries a Coach bag at an outlet mall in Commerce, California, US, on Thursday, June 27, 2024. 
Eric Thayer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Though consumers have cut their spending in key areas, some companies have proved resilient because of their brand strength or the perceived quality of their products.
Even as some younger shoppers bought fewer Chipotle burritos and Cava bowls, Coach parent Tapestry said it saw strong handbag sales in recent months — with Gen Z customers driving much of the growth.
Tapestry, which also owns Kate Spade, raised its full-year forecast after beating quarterly sales and profit expectations.
In an interview with CNBC, Tapestry Joanne Crevoiserat attributed that to both the popularity of the Coach brand and younger shoppers who are spending on fashion rather than other areas. She said the company’s research shows “the Gen Z consumer specifically is highly fashion engaged, spending slightly more of their budget on fashion.”
She said the company has seen no difference in sales performance by income bracket, as it attracts shoppers from other generations as well as Gen Z.
Coach and Kate Spade’s price points provide an edge, too, according to a note from Telsey Advisory Group. Their handbags have a significant price gap with European luxury brands — even as Tapestry brands raise price points.
Even so, Tapestry disappointed Wall Street with a more conservative holiday-quarter outlook.
Tapestry isn’t alone. Swiss sportswear company On and Ralph Lauren are also finding growth across all consumer segments despite a choppy economy.
On, which reported fiscal 2025 third-quarter earnings on Wednesday, raised its full-year guidance for the third quarter in a row after seeing sales grow about 25%, bucking a slowdown in the sneaker market. 
The company’s performance stands in stark contrast to competitors like Nike and Hoka, which are planning for either a sales decline or slowdown in growth. In late September, Nike said it was expecting sales in its holiday quarter to fall by a low single-digit percentage. Deckers, the parent company of On’s fellow buzzy footwear brand Hoka, trimmed its sales guidance for Hoka in October. 
Meanwhile, Ralph Lauren raised its full-year outlook earlier this month after seeing sales rise 17% in its fiscal 2026 second quarter. During a call with analysts, CEO Patrice Jean Louis Louvet said it saw “balanced growth across men, women and younger cohorts.”
Ralph Lauren is benefiting because it has a higher-income core consumer, but the company has also worked to ensure its assortment is landing with shoppers and its brand is still relevant. One of the biggest holiday trends currently hitting TikTok is a “Ralph Lauren Christmas,” which combines the brand’s old-money aesthetic with decor for those looking for a traditional holiday feel.
“This cultural strength has also been instrumental in attracting younger consumers,” said GlobalData managing director and retail analyst Neil Saunders in a note. “Our data indicate that the brand’s penetration among younger demographics has increased. This is aided by designs such as the limited-edition Morehouse and Spelman College vintage collections, which resonate with younger consumers and play on their desire for nostalgia and heritage.”
Dutch Bros., the fast-growing drink chain, also saw growth from younger consumers in its latest quarter. The company’s wide-ranging menu, from protein lattes to vibrant energy drinks, can be heavily customized, a feature that has proved popular with Gen Z consumers.
“We’re seeing really incredible performance of those younger cohorts,” CEO Christine Barone said during the company’s conference call earlier this month. “I think that during times like this, customers are choosing the brands that they love most and really deciding to spend their dollars there.”
Dutch Bros. reported quarterly same-store sales growth of 7.4%, fueled by a nearly 7% increase in traffic to its stores.
Chili’s, which is owned by Brinker International, also saw traffic to its restaurants jump in its most recent quarter. The casual dining chain has won over diners through a turnaround strategy focused on improving the in-restaurant experience, plus savvy marketing that pitted its prices against those of fast-food chains.
“Our customer base is very representative of the U.S. consumer across all income cohorts, but our cohort growing the fastest is actually now households with income under $60,000,” Brinker CEO Kevin Hochman said on the company’s conference call in late October.
Others in the retail industry aren’t worried about slow spending during the holidays.
At the malls, buzzy companies like Vuori and Alo, digitally native brands like Princess Polly and popular retailers like Abercrombie & Fitch are drawing bigger crowds as the holidays approach, said Kevin McCrain, CEO of the retail business at Brookfield Properties, one of the largest U.S. mall owners.
Even as the economy shows blemishes, he said the company hasn’t seen a change in shopping patterns or landlord demand. And he said he still expects spending across November and December to increase from last year.
So does the National Retail Federation. The trade group expects overall holiday spending in November and December to grow by 3.7% to 4.2% year over year and to top $1 trillion for the first time, even as shoppers scout for deals and make tradeoffs.
Mark Mathews, chief economist at NRF, said the group’s consumer survey shows a larger percentage of shoppers are “holding off” for Black Friday and Thanksgiving weekend sales than a year ago. He added consumers are trimming back in other areas, like eating out, so they have money set aside for gifts.
“At the end of the day, it’s the holiday season,” Brookfield’s McCrain said. “People get caught up in the lights and Santa Claus, and everyone wants to be positive and hopeful and just have a great time.” More

Sports Media

Major League Soccer is getting a new TV home through its media rights partner, Apple.
Beginning next season, all MLS games will be available on the Apple TV streaming service, broadening the league’s reach after only being available for a separate subscription via Apple’s Season Pass.
Apple will sunset the Season Pass package beginning next season.
On Thursday MLS also announced it would be shifting its calendar to align with global soccer leagues.

Inter Miami CF forward Lionel Messi (10) scores a goal during the first half against the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium.
Paul Rutherford | Imagn Images Via Reuters Connect

Major League Soccer is stepping onto a bigger stage next year, when all of its matches will find a new home on Apple TV.
Beginning in the 2026 season, MLS games will be available on Apple’s flagship streaming platform, which currently includes Major League Baseball games as well as scripted series like “Severance.”

The move marks a big shift for both the league and Apple’s media strategy, as the tech giant will end Season Pass — the separate subscription service for MLS games provided by Apple.
Apple and MLS had inked a 10-year media rights deal in 2022 that saw Apple become the exclusive global home to the U.S. professional soccer league. However, rather than feature matches on the fledgling streaming service, Apple instead launched Season Pass for an additional subscription solely for MLS games.
“This idea that you could watch all of our matches in one place with a push of the button globally was unprecedented. We really, really liked that concept with Season Pass, and it worked because people reacted really well to the product,” MLS Deputy Commissioner Gary Stevenson said in an interview.
Season Pass — which costs $14.99 a month, compared to the $12.99 charged for the separate monthly Apple TV subscription — kicked off in 2023. Apple doesn’t provide subscriber metrics for its streaming services.
Stevenson said that conversations about moving the league to Apple TV started as Apple’s main streaming platform grew.

“They came to us and said, ‘Let’s put it on Apple TV,’ and we said, ‘We’re all in,'” said Stevenson. “So this was good news for us.”
While Stevenson didn’t go into specifics, some terms of the deal changed as part of the move to Apple TV.
“But it’s not like it was a big renegotiation because what we’ve been focused on is the distribution, and how to make it a better and more accessible experience for the fans,” said Stevenson.
Since jumping into the streaming game, Apple has methodically added sports to its platform and has secured exclusive rights in an increasingly fragmented sports viewing ecosystem.
Most recently Apple and Formula 1 inked a five-year exclusive media rights deal, meaning all races will stream on Apple TV in the U.S. beginning next year. Apple is paying roughly $140 million annually for the F1 rights, CNBC previously reported.
Apple has been looking to change the current sports viewing experience. While live sports garners huge audiences in the pay TV bundle, the rise of streaming has led to a fractured market in which consumers often require multiple subscriptions to watch one sport.
At a recent event, Apple Senior Vice President of Services Eddy Cue said the market has “gone backwards,” when it comes to sports viewership.
“You used to buy one subscription, your cable subscription, and you got pretty much everything they had. Now, there’s so many different subscriptions, so I think that needs to be fixed,” Cue said during a panel in October.
Since MLS kicked off its media rights deal with Apple, there has been little information about how Season Pass has performed — and some skepticism about its success.
However, MLS Commissioner Don Garber told CNBC Sport in an interview last year that Apple Season Pass subscriptions had exceeded expectations, though he declined to provide specific numbers.
“We have more subscribers than we and Apple thought we would have,” Garber told CNBC at the time, adding that there would be more transparency at a later date.
Apple also doesn’t release numbers for Apple TV, but Cue has reportedly said that the platform has “significantly more than 45 million” viewers.
The broader reach for the league will come after the MLS completed its 30th season. It has been working to capitalize on the growth of soccer’s popularity in the U.S., particularly ahead of the World Cup, which will take place in North America next year.
The league, which pales in comparison to the popularity of the NFL, NBA and other U.S. pro sports that have existed for decades before the MLS, has also seen fandom increase in recent years after global superstar Lionel Messi started playing for Inter Miami CF.

Changing the clocks

On Thursday, the MLS made another big change when it announced that it would shift its calendar to align with the schedule of global soccer leagues.
MLS’s postseason during the fall has coincided with one of the busiest times in U.S. — the start of the NFL, NBA and NHL seasons and the heart of MLB’s postseason, which recently garnered high viewership.
The shift will also allow MLS teams to more seamlessly take part in the worldwide player transfer window during the summer.
“Participation in the most active transfer window will now enhance, rather than disrupt, a team’s ambitions for the season,” according to a news release.
Currently, MLS’s regular season schedule runs from February through October, followed by playoffs and then the championship game taking place in December. Beginning in the summer of 2027, the MLS will adopt the new calendar. More

The fall auction sales in New York next week are expected to top $1.4 billion, marking a 50% increase from last year, according to art experts.
That would be a rebound from three years of declines.
A generational divide has led to two different art markets — a multimillion-dollar high-end that’s been declining and a vibrant lower-priced market that’s attracting younger collectors.

The fall auction sales in New York next week are expected to top $1.4 billion, marking a 50% increase from last year and a potential rebound for the art market after three years of declines, according to art experts.
A star-studded lineup of famous trophy works — from a $150 million Gustav Klimt portrait to a multimillion-dollar gold toilet — will lead the auctions at Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips next week. Often the most important week of the year for the art market, the sales follow stronger-than-expected results for recent sales in Paris and London and could restore confidence in the art market.

Dealers and auction executives said the improvement is being driven by stronger demand as well as better supply. Falling interest rates, soaring stock prices and trillions of dollars in wealth creation in both public and private markets in recent months are fueling greater confidence by wealthy buyers.
At the same time, a parade of ultra-rare masterpieces are starting to come cross the auction block as sellers become more confident in prices and bidding.
“All year long we’ve seen very strong demand in the art market,” said Charles Stewart, Sotheby’s CEO. “Our demand levels have been setting records, whether that’s bidders per lot or our hammer [prices] versus our low estimate or our sell-through rates. What we’ve seen more recently, though, is the supply catching up with the demand. Something’s definitely shifted in the last two months.”
The big headliners for the week come from the estates of Leonard Lauder — the billionaire heir to the Estée Lauder Companies — and Jay and Cindy Pritzker, of the Pritzker real estate dynasty. Sotheby’s is selling 55 works from the Lauder collection for a total of over $400 million. The works include Klimt’s colorful “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer,” estimated at over $150 million, as well as two Klimt landscapes, one estimated at over $70 million and the other over $80 million. It also features six bronze Matisse sculptures and one of Edvard Munch’s famous “Midsummer Night” paintings.

This David Hockney work at Christie’s, “Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy,″ is estimated to go for $40 million to $60 million.
Crystal Lau | CNBC

The Pritzker collection includes 37 works estimated at over $120 million, including a Van Gogh still life estimated at more than $40 million.

Christie’s has several sought-after works estimated at between $40 million and $60 million, including Monet’s “Nymphéas” water lily painting, David Hockney’s “Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy.” It’s also offering Mark Rothko’s “No. 31 (Yellow Stripe)” for more than $50 million.
“I think next week will be a giant sigh of relief that we’ve gotten over the worst,” said Andrew Fabricant, the veteran art advisor. “The mood is better, and given the quality of what they’ve got, I think they’ll do well. You don’t need 20 years of art history to understand the appeal of those Klimt paintings.”
Sotheby’s will benefit in part from the opening last week of its new global headquarters at the famous Breuer Building in Manhattan. The building — considered a masterpiece of brutalist architecture, strategically located on the Madison Avenue luxury shopping corridor — is already packed with crowds, with more than 10,000 visiting the exhibit as of Wednesday. The buzz and visibility is core to Sotheby’s strategy of attracting new collectors and educating the next generation of bidders about about art and culture.
“This is a tremendously important moment for us,” Stewart said of the building’s opening. “I think a number of our consigners [sellers] were also excited by the opportunity.”

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Still, after three years of declines in auction sales, some dealers and art experts wonder whether next week’s rebound will have staying power. As older collectors fade from the auction scene, the next generation of buyers and collectors is showing different priorities and tastes.
While older collectors often sought status trophies and “wall power” by well-recognized artists, younger collectors are leaning toward emerging artists and lower-priced works. The generational divide has led to two different art markets — a multimillion-dollar high-end that’s been declining and a vibrant lower-priced market that’s attracting younger collectors.
Sales for works priced over $10 million fell 44% in the first half of the year compared to 2024, and plunged 72% from the post-pandemic peak of 2022, according to the Bank of America Private Bank “Art Market Update.” No works sold at auction for more than $50 million in the first half of this year, compared with 13 sales at that price point in the same period in 2022.  
In 2024, dealers with sales of less than $250,000 reported a 17% increase in sales, compared with a 9% decline for those in the $10 million-plus segment.
“The more mature collectors are aging out and the next cohort may come with different motivations or tastes,” said Drew Watson, head of art services at Bank of America. “Many of that older generation of collectors over the past 30 years — the hedge fund principals, the private equity investors — are getting to the point where they are not as focused on accumulation and more focused on succession and transition.”
Watson said the declines in auction market totals, due largely to weakness at the very high end, has obscured an increasingly thriving gallery and art fair scene filled with younger collectors buying and learning about new artists. Younger collectors are also more interested in forging direct connections with artists rather than buying in the secondary market or auctions.
“Collecting as a lifestyle seems to be on the rise,” he said. “The art fairs are packed.”

Sotheby’s will be auctioning off Maurizio Cattelan’s solid gold toilet, called “America” as part of its fall auction.
Crystal Lau | CNBC

The sales next week will also feature a work that’s already sparked global debate over wealth and art. Sotheby’s will be auctioning off “America,” a solid gold toilet made by the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, who also created the infamous duct-taped banana (titled “Comedian”) that sold at Sotheby’s for $6.2 million.
“America” is one of two toilets that Cattelan made from 100 kilograms (about 220 pounds) of solid 18-karat gold. One version went on exhibit at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2016, where it was installed in a bathroom and attracted long lines of visitors.  
It later went on display at the Blenheim Palace in England, where it was stolen and assumed to have been melted down for the gold.
The second one, which is the work being sold, went to a private collector. The New York Times reported that Steve Cohen, the hedge fund billionaire and New York Mets owner, is the seller.
While Sotheby’s hasn’t given a sales estimate for “America,” the gold itself would be worth about $13 million with today’s prices, which have soared over the past year.
Stewart said “America,” like “Comedian,” is a true cultural phenomena.
“What I loved about the banana last year was how it stirred discussion,” he said. “Everywhere I went around the world, people had a point of view on it, whatever it might be, and it prompted so much animated debate. I think ‘America’ will be much the same, because there’s so many different threads of the work that are fascinating — whether it is the object itself, whether it is the title, whether it is the gold, whether it is the art-historical references. When you put it all together, it’s just something that’s tremendously exciting.”
Many dealers and art experts take a different view, saying “America” is pure spectacle rather than art, and says little about serious collectors or artists.
“It’s a headline grabber that has nothing to do with art whatsoever,” Fabricant said. More

Roughly 3,200 Boeing defense workers have been on strike since Aug. 4, their first stoppage since 1996.
Boeing’s latest contract offer includes a $6,000 ratification bonus, as well as a 24% general wage increase the manufacturer previously pitched.
The workers assemble and maintain F-15 fighter jets as well as missile systems.

FILE PHOTO: A Boeing logo is seen before the opening of the 55th International Paris Airshow at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France, June 13, 2025.
Benoit Tessier | Reuters

Boeing defense workers approved on Thursday on a new contract that will end a more than three-month strike that has delayed the manufacturer’s production of F-15 fighter jets and other programs.
The workers rejected previous offers, with their union saying the proposals failed to address concerns.

The contract proposal the roughly 3,200 workers voted on Thursday includes 24% wage increases over five years as well as a $6,000 up-front bonus, up from $3,000, though it gets rid of a previous Boeing proposal for $4,000 in payments later on. That will bring average base pay from $75,000 to $109,000 over the contract, Boeing had said.
The mostly St. Louis-based workers, represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 837, went on strike on Aug. 4, their first stoppage since 1996.
“We’re proud of what our members have fought for together and are ready to get back to building the world’s most advanced military aircraft,” IAM District 837 said in a statement Thursday.

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Boeing’s defense unit accounted for about 30% of the $65.5 billion in sales the company brought in during the first nine months of 2025.
“We’re pleased with the results and look forward to bringing our full team back together on Nov. 17 to support our customers,” Boeing said.

“The strike impacted our fighter production, so F-15, F-18 mods as well as some of our munitions work,” CEO Kelly Ortberg said at a Morgan Stanley investor conference on Sept. 11.
Boeing brought in non-IAM-represented workers during the strike for some of its products, Ortberg said last month.
The union workers will return to Boeing factories again as early as Sunday.
The defense unit workers went on strike about a year after more than 32,000 unionized machinists who build commercial aircraft walked off the job for seven weeks after failed contract talks last year. More

Foreclosure starts, which are the initial phase of the process, rose 6% for the month and were 20% higher than the year before.
Competed foreclosures, the final phase, were up 32% year over year.
Florida, South Carolina and Illinois led the nation in state foreclosure filings.

fstop123 | E+ | Getty Images

Foreclosure filings climbed again in October, after sitting at historic lows in recent years, according to new data released Thursday.
While the numbers are still small, the persistent rise in foreclosures may be a sign of cracks in the housing market.

There were 36,766 U.S. properties with some type of foreclosure filing in October — such as default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions, according to Attom, a property data and analytics firm. That was 3% higher than September and a 19% jump from October 2024, and marked the eighth straight month of annual increases, Attom said.
Foreclosure starts, which are the initial phase of the process, rose 6% for the month and were 20% higher than the year before. Competed foreclosures, the final phase, jumped 32% year over year.
“Even with these increases, activity remains well below historic highs. The current trend appears to reflect a gradual normalization in foreclosure volumes as market conditions adjust and some homeowners continue to navigate higher housing and borrowing costs,” said Attom CEO Rob Barber in a release.
Florida, South Carolina and Illinois led the nation in state foreclosure filings. On a metropolitan area level, Florida’s Tampa, Jacksonville and Orlando had the most filings, with Riverside, California, and Cleveland rounding out the top five.
Looking specifically at completed foreclosures, Texas, California and Florida had the most, suggesting those states will see more inventory coming on the market at distressed prices. There is still very strong demand for homes, especially in lower price ranges, so it is likely those foreclosed properties will find buyers quickly.

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At the peak of the Great Recession, more than 4% of mortgages were in foreclosure, according to Rick Sharga, CEO of CJ Patrick Co., a real estate market intelligence firm. Today, less than 0.5% are in foreclosure, well below the historic average of between 1% and 1.5%. In addition, 4% of mortgages are delinquent; at the peak of the financial crisis, almost 12% were.
“So, no foreclosure tsunami to worry about,” said Sharga. “That said, there are a few areas of concern. [Federal Housing Administration] delinquencies are over 11%, and account for 52% of all seriously delinquent loans; we’re likely to see more FHA loans in foreclosure in 2026.”
He also noted that states where home prices have been falling while insurance premiums have been soaring — Florida and Texas, in particular — are seeing an uptick in defaults. 
While home prices nationally are easing, they remain stubbornly high. Meanwhile, mortgage rates, which were expected to fall more sharply after the Federal Reserve started to cut rates, are still within a percentage point of their recent highs. Some recent buyers who thought they might have been able to refinance to lower rates by now may be feeling pressure, especially with still stubborn inflation.
Consumer debt is at an all-time high, delinquencies are rising in other types of consumer credit and the job market appears to be weakening — all of which could contribute to cracks in the housing market.
“None of these issues have impacted mortgage performance – yet, but it would be unrealistic to assume that these trends, along with slow home sales and declining home price appreciation, won’t lead to at least a slight increase in delinquencies and defaults in the months ahead,” added Sharga. More

The congressional funding bill included a THC cap that effectively bans most hemp products, a move industry leaders say threatens the $28 billion market.
More than 300,000 jobs are at risk, with economic impacts expected in states with large hemp sectors, including Kentucky, Texas and Utah, industry experts said.
Executives warn the ban could fuel a surge in black-market sales if federal regulations aren’t adopted within a year, as demand for hemp-derived THC remains strong.

The hemp industry is bracing for layoffs, production reductions and billions in lost revenue after Congress passed a government funding bill late Wednesday containing a surprise provision that will ban nearly all hemp-derived consumer products.
Hemp, a derivative of the cannabis plant, was legalized in the 2018 Farm Bill for industrial uses like rope, textiles and seed. But the law’s broad definition created a loophole in federal rules on THC — the psychoactive compound responsible for a high — experts said, allowing producers to extract psychoactive cannabinoids from federally legal hemp. Companies used that opening to flood the market with gummies, drinks and vapes capable of delivering a marijuana-like high.

The new ban, tucked into legislation ending the longest shutdown in history, outlaws products containing more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container. Industry executives said that threshold will wipe out 95% of the $28 billion hemp retail market when it takes effect in a year.
For reference, a single hemp gummy typically contains 2.5 to 10 milligrams of THC, according to the Journal of Cannabis Research.
“We have lost the battle this time,” said Jonathan Miller, the U.S. Hemp Roundtable’s general counsel. “In effect, this is a total, all out, complete ban on hemp products in the United States.”

Cannabis beer and other cannabis-infused drinks will be available at a stand at the “Mary Jane” hemp trade fair. 
Monika Skolimowska | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

The new cap replaces the 2018 Farm Bill’s definition of hemp, which was based on THC concentration and allowed products with less than 0.3% THC by weight instead of total amount.
“We have a year to figure this out but in the meantime you could see losses across the industry if we can’t,” Miller said.

More than 300,000 jobs tied to the hemp economy are at risk, according to Whitney Economics, a hemp and cannabis research firm, from farmers and extractors to manufacturers, logistics firms and retailers.
The ripple effects could hit land use, contracted acreage and equipment financing, as farmers who scaled up hemp cultivation after 2018 could suddenly face canceled or restructured contracts, said Michael Gorenstein, CEO of marijuana producer Cronos Group. States with the biggest hemp infrastructure like Kentucky, Texas and Utah are likely to face the steepest economic fallout, hemp executives said.
“There’s a lot of the small retailers, small businesses and farmers that are relying on hemp sales to survive,” Gorenstein told CNBC. “It’s going to create a lot of pressure when they start losing business, losing jobs and losing crops.”
The crackdown marks a dramatic reversal from 2018 when Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., championed hemp legalization to create a new national agricultural commodity and economic driver for Kentucky.
But after that bill passed, the absence of federal rules allowed a patchwork market to emerge, with widespread safety issues from mislabeled and untested products to items with potency rivaling recreational marijuana, according to government officials and industry experts.
McConnell and other Republicans argued the new restriction “restores the original intent” of the Farm Bill. Closing the loophole, McConnell has said, is key to protecting his agriculture-policy legacy before his retirement next year.
“This was his [McConnell’s] signature law, the hemp law, and he wanted to correct it,” Boris Jordan, CEO of cannabis company Curaleaf, told CNBC. “Usually the Senate will back a retiring senator, particularly someone as senior as him, as their last action. This was a request by him at the last minute.”
But not all Republicans agree. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has sparred with his colleagues for months over hemp and blasted the provision as an overreach that is “killing jobs and crushing farmers,” adding that “every hemp seed in the country will have to be destroyed.”
“This is the most thoughtless, ignorant proposal to an industry that I’ve seen in a long, long time,” Paul said after the ban was passed.

In this July 5, 2018 photo, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell inspects a piece of hemp taken from a bale of hemp at a processing plant in Louisville, Ky. McConnell led the push in Congress to legalize hemp.
AP Photo | Bruce Schreiner

While leaders like Jordan said the legal market will sharply contract from a ban, they caution the consumer demand for hemp-derived THC will not. Studies have shown demand for marijuana and other THC-based products has continued rising in recent years as some consumers move away from alcohol and drink less overall.
Cannabis executives warned that rising popularity could drive billions in black-market sales, where products face no testing, no age restrictions and no tax compliance.
“What this ban is going to do is it’s going to force all those little players right now into the illegal market,” Jordan said. “Companies have got way too much money invested in this and the demand is still there and growing. They [companies] aren’t just going to go away, they’re just going to go into the illicit market and put more people at risk.”
And as products move underground, law enforcement agencies could struggle to trace supply chains, Gorenstein said.
“Bad actors thrive when things disappear from the formal economy,” Gorenstein said.
State and local governments could also lose out on millions in tax revenue tied to hemp sales, Gorenstein and Miller said. Several states use those funds to support addiction services, county budgets and public health programs.
Moving forward, industry leaders argue the only durable solution is federal standards, not prohibition. Many favor a model splitting responsibility between agencies: the Food and Drug Administration for oversight for product safety and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau for taxation and distribution.
Executives have also compared the current environment to the early e-cigarette boom, when products like Juul offered fruity and candy-like cartridges that spread quickly, with uneven oversight, before the FDA intervened.
“Too many people have taken liberties that put the end user at risk,” cannabis company Verano Holdings CEO George Archos told CNBC. “We like the tight regulation. We want the safety of the consumer being set in mind for every product that’s being produced and that’s what we hope is being accomplished.”
In the meantime, the industry is preparing a full-court lobbying push aimed at replacing the ban with federal testing, labeling and age-restriction rules.
“We already have members of Congress introducing regulation bills. We are pledging our support and we are working on the grassroots to get citizens activated around the issue,” Miller said. “We are activating across the sector.”
Simultaneously, the Trump administration is “looking at” reclassifying marijuana from a Schedule I drug — alongside heroin and LSD — to a Schedule III drug. The move would not legalize recreational marijuana, but it would make it easier to sell, advocates said.
“Big changes are expected across the board next year but what they will be could determine the future of investments and the industry,” Gorenstein said. More