Sotheby's Names Tad Smith As New President And CEO; Elects De Sole As Chairman

(RTTNews) - Auction house Sotheby's (BID) announced that its Board has named Tad Smith as the new president and chief executive officer, effective March 31, 2015. Smith will also join the Sotheby's Board.

"Tad Smith's appointment is the result of a thorough search process to identify an extraordinary leader to build on Sotheby's strengths. The Board is unanimous in its view that Tad is the ideal CEO for the Company. He is a proven leader and value creator with CEO experience, strategic vision, brand-building expertise, an ability to understand and serve client needs, and a track record of driving revenue and profit growth," Lead Independent Director Domenico De Sole said in a statement.

Smith succeeds William Ruprecht, who stepped down as chairman, president and CEO by mutual agreement with the board in mid-November after 14 years at the helm. Ruprecht served as a director and CEO since February 2000, and chairman since December 2012.

The company also announced the separation of the roles of chairman and CEO, and elected De Sole to succeed Ruprecht as chairman of the Board.

Ruprecht decided to step down just months after hedge-fund activist Dan Loeb joined the company's board, and launched a blistering public campaign against his managerial style.

"On behalf of the Board, I also want to thank Bill Ruprecht for his exemplary service over the past 35 years. We deeply appreciate all he has done to put Sotheby's in a strong position for continued success," De Sole added.

Meanwhile, Smith, age 49, comes to Sotheby's after serving as president and CEO of the Madison Square Garden Co. (MSG) since February 2014.

Prior to MSG, Smith spent five years at Cablevision Systems Corp. (CVC), where he last served as president of Local Media, responsible for Cablevision Media Sales, the company's digital and linear television advertising sales division; News 12 Networks and Newsday Media Group.

Prior to joining Cablevision in 2009, Smith was at Reed Elsevier Group PLC, where he was most recently CEO of its U.S. business-to-business division.

Prior to that, Smith was senior vice president of e-commerce for Starwood Resorts and Hotels Worldwide from 1999 to 2000.

BID closed Friday regular trading session at $40.53, down $0.34 on a volume of 0.50 million shares.