Without Heirs, Larry Gagosian Finally Plans for Succession
His family would be an asset to his growing business, but it’s in the future that Gagosian thinks he would like to bring in someone like his uncle or a member of his family by marriage.
“We’ll probably do that, yes,” he said during a recent visit to New York City when asked if he planned to name a successor to the Larry Gagosian Foundation. “Because the succession plan is more of the family than it is me.”
Gagosian has overseen the foundation’s work since 1981 and has worked hard to find the necessary money to keep it going and expand it.
In August, Gagosian announced that he had reached an agreement with the Metropolitan Museum of Art to donate the museum approximately $20 million for the construction of a new $225 million building in Lower Manhattan. The philanthropist will also donate $40 million in personal donations to the museum to help spur fundraising efforts.
The Gagosian family has been building its business empire on the foundation and its other philanthropic projects, including the Gagosian Art Collection and the Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills, California, for more than a decade, but plans are also underway for further expansion of the business empire.
“What I want my family to do is take over more and more responsibilities in the business,” said Gagosian, who founded the business empire after he was inspired by his great-grandfather, Larry Gagosian, who started the department store business that eventually became Gagosian. “My plan is for my family to take some responsibility. … My family will inherit the company eventually.”
The Gagosian family is expected to continue to lead the retail business, which includes a major women’s clothing line, and Gagosian’s personal holdings, including an eclectic collection of art—including masterpieces by Chagall, Picasso, Monet, Pollock, Seurat and other European and American artists.
In his more than three decades at the helm of the foundation, Gagosian has made the organization into a
