Nick Martell

That's not Sotheby's.

Those are franchises.

And yet, Sotheby's collects a licensing check from those franchisees to inherit the luxury status of its name.

Sotheby's is even doing art-backed loans.

Yeah, an art-backed loan.

How does that work, Jack?

They'll give cash to a collector who's short on cash, but they'll take a lien on their artwork.

They'll mortgage that Monet.

Yeah, yeah, they mortgage the Monet, which makes the latest news out of Sotheby's...

Shocking.

Sotheby's just got downgraded by S&P, the ratings agency.

I'm sorry, Jack, I'm looking at the card here and Sotheby's credit rating, it's down to B minus.

That is referred to on Wall Street as a junk credit rating.

Yeah, that's a technical term from our banking days.

B minus, that's on par with like a 500 to 600 credit score in consumer terms.

talking as creditworthy as Jack Sparrow.

And according to the Financial Times, Sotheby's is so tight on cash, they're asking art sellers to wait to get paid.

Sotheby's is like, yes, we sold your Rembrandt at that auction last week.

Congratulations.

But can we give you the money you're due in six months?