The Faber Report
- Paulson Funds Report Q3 Performance
- Asking the Wrong Vivendi Question
- Don’t Jump on the Mead Johnson Rumor
- Sprint Back in Takeover Spotlight, But Should It Be?
- Atticus Founder Walks Away, Leaving High Water Mark Behind
- AIG Rallies for Now, but Future Remains Unclear
- AIG’S Big Move
- CIT Looks Set to File for Bankruptcy
- SEC Finally Settles Its 'Koz'
- Beware GM Equity

MOST SHARED
- Tiger Woods Out of Hospital After Accident
- The Good Entrepreneur Winner
- Gold Will Collapse Like Oil Did in 2008: Charts
- Abu Dhabi Will Aid Debt-Fraught Dubai 'Case by Case'
- Next Week: Cash In Now Or Wait For A Santa Rally?
- Halftime Report: Dubai - First Ripple Of Larger Crisis?
- CNBC VIDEO: Warren Buffett & Bill Gates 'Walk & Talk' at Columbia University
- U.S. Stocks Fall on Dubai Worries
- Black Friday at Best Buy
- Strategists on Dubai: Avoid 'Rash Moves' Now
- Longer Lines, Fuller Carts This Black Friday
- Dubai Stock Market Fear Has 'Legs': Dennis Gartman
- Obama's Emission Reduction Pledge Paints Future for Autos
- Is Super Bowl Halftime Act Too Old?
- Surprising Options Trades in TiVo Shares
- EA Sports Hopes to Pump Up Sales Through Pop-Up Locations
- Abu Dhabi Will Aid Debt-Fraught Dubai 'Case by Case'
- Banks With The Biggest Exposure to The UAE
- Dubai's Debt Woes Signal New Era for Creditors
- Next Week: Cash In Now Or Wait For A Santa Rally?
- Dubai Stock Selloff May Bring Buying Opportunity
- Longer Lines, Fuller Carts This Black Friday
- Big US Banks May Be Forced to Raise Capital: Bove
- Bank of America Amends Pay for Senior Executives
- Tiger Woods Out of Hospital After Accident
RSS FEED
CNBC Anchor and Reporter
Insurance on $300 million worth of paintings by Mark Rothko and Alberto Giacometti can get pretty expensive. Just ask Ezra Merkin, the disgraced financier who is fighting civil charges from N.Y. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
Merkin, sources tell me, was spending as much as $60,000 a month to keep his vaunted collection of Rothko’s on the walls of his apartment. That expense and the fact that Merkin’s art was used as collateral on some of his personal debt, was a central reason he decided to sell it.
![]() |
Merkin found one buyer for the entire collection (unknown, but likely to be a large international art dealer).
It was Merkin who initiated the sales, not the Attorney General’s office, but in learning of the sale, the N.Y. AG stepped in and got a judge to make sure the proceeds from the sale are kept safely in a so called “lock box” pending the outcome of the litigation against Merkin. The sale fetched $310 million, but after paying back loans and taxes the lock box will receive roughly $191 million in proceeds.
The N.Y. AG is seeking restitution on behalf of Merkin’s investors for the $2.4 billion he lost them as a result of investing most of the funds under his control with Bernie Madoff. If you haven’t read the complaint (filed on April 6) it’s worth taking a look. While Merkin has not been charged criminally, if all the charges in the complaint are true (Merkin’s attorney says they are without merit) he can count himself lucky he’s not facing a criminal indictment. While that would force prosecutors to prove intent, a high bar, the complaint does raise some interesting questions.
A few of my favorites are the apparent self dealing Merkin was doing as the “chair” of a non-profit when it came to its investment decisions (page 48). The fact that Merkin invested less than $2 million of his own money in his Ascot Fund, which was investing all of its more than a billion dollars with Madoff (page 10) and perhaps most surprisingly that only one year ago, Merkin had 62.5% of the $1.2 billion in assets in his Gabriel Capital fund invested with the private equity firm of Cerberus.
Clearly, diversity of risk was not at the forefront of Merkin’s investment decisions.
_____________________________
_____________________________
Questions? Comments? Write to
- These four sectors will be the next to lead the market.
- Zhu Zhu Pets are this year's must-have toy, fetching $40 or more on eBay.
- From the why-didn’t-I-think-of-that file, we present Jason Sadler, a man whose job is wearing T-shirts.
- It may be the most unusual guide to business you'll read.
- Shopping for a gadget hound? The choices can be baffling. Here are a few that should be a hit.
- "The Who" will be the halftime act for Super Bowl XLIV on Feb. 7 in Miami. Is the NFL behind the times?











