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Who

The former head of contemporary art for Christie's, Segalot is now a private advisor to some of the world's richest art collectors.

Backstory

Segalot made his name in the art world working with French art broker Marc Blondeau in the early 1990s. He joined Christie's in 1996, and two years later became their international head of contemporary art, auctioning off million-dollar-plus works by the likes of Jeff Koons, Maurizio Cattelan, and Bruce Nauman. Segalot left the venerable auction house behind in 2001—Amy Cappellazzo and Brett Gorvy replaced him—and set up his own art consulting/dealing business. Today he operates GPS Partners along with Franck Giraud and Lionel Pissarro, the great-grandson of the painter Camille Pissarro. The firm specializes in acquiring 19th and 20th century work on behalf of its exceedingly rich clients.

Of note

Segalot's biggest client by far is François Pinault, the French billionaire who controls luxury brands like Gucci, Balenciaga, and Stella McCartney through his retail conglomerate, PPR. (Of course, that's no coincidence—Segalot was close friends with Pinault's eldest son François-Henri in high school.) The owner of one of the world's largest private art collections—about $2 billion worth—Pinault, who has been a client of Segalot's for nearly two decades, has work by Richard Serra, Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Cindy Sherman, and Mike Kelley as well as older works by Picasso, Braque, and Mondrian. Most recently, Segalot made a splash when he and his partners snapped up $400 million's worth of art owned by the late gallerist Ileana Sonnabend. Segalot refused to divulge the clients involved in the acquisition, although it was rumored Pinault, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helú, and Israeli shipping kingpin Sammy Ofer were involved in the deal. One of the pieces purchased was Jeff Koons's 1986 sculpture Rabbit, which has been valued in excess of $80 million.

Drama

In 2005, Segalot reportedly snuck into the Art Basel show early to snap up the best pieces for his clients, and one gallerist was reportedly banned for helping him. The next year, he was rumored to have flown a makeup artist to Art Basel to disguise him so he could sneak in early again, although he denies doing so.

Habitat

Segalot lives in an apartment just off Fifth Avenue for which he paid $6 million in 2006. In 2007, he purchased an apartment two floors below his, for an additional $1.9 million.