Nicole Lapin

And that's part of the appeal and also the loophole.

There is no pricing formula.

There's no earnings multiple here, just perceived value.

And when you're rich enough, you can help create that perception.

Take a Jean-Michel Basquiat, for example.

In 1984, his paintings were selling for twenty thousand dollars.

In 2017, Basquiat sold at Sotheby's for $110.5 million, a record at the time for an American artist.

Who bought it?

A Japanese billionaire.

Did he hang this art in his house?

He certainly did not.

It sat in storage until it was later sent on a museum tour.

Because again, it is not about decorating your home with this kind of art.

It's about building an

asset.

After buying the art, the next move is to ship it to a Freeport, which is a private tax-free storage facility in places like Geneva, Luxembourg, or Singapore.

Freeports are legal black boxes for high value assets.

You don't pay customs duties or taxes on the items stored there.

And because they're not technically in the country from a tax standpoint, government cannot touch them.

It's like the art enters this regulatory purgatory.