Guillaume Cerutti (born 20 March 1966) is a French business executive and former senior civil servant. He is the chairman of

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

auction house since 2023. In 2025 succeeded

François Pinault François Pinault (born 21 August 1936) is a French billionaire businessman, founder of the luxury group Kering and the investment holding company Artémis. Pinault started his business in the timber industry in the early 1960s. Taken public i ...

as president of the Pinault Collection. He was managing director of the

Centre Georges Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

from 1996 and 2001. From 2002 to 2004, he served as

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

for the French Minister of Culture Jean-Jacques Aillagon, and afterwards worked in France's Finance Ministry. He was the chief executive officer of Sotheby's France from 2007 to 2011 and deputy chairman of Sotheby's Europe until 2015, and CEO of Christie's from 2017 to 2025.

Early life and career

Guillaume Cerutti was born on 20 March 1966 in

La Ciotat La Ciotat (; ; in Mistralian spelling ''La Ciéutat''; 'the City') is a Communes of France, commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southern France. It ...

, France. He studied in Paris, attending the Institut d’Études Politiques and the Ecole Nationale d'Administration. Early in his career he held a number of administrative positions. He was the managing director of the

from 1996 until 2001, overseeing the renovation of the

Musée National d'Art Moderne The Musée National d'Art Moderne (; "National Museum of Modern Art") is the national museum for modern art of France. It is located in the 4th arrondissement of Paris and is housed in the Centre Pompidou. In 2021 it ranked 10th in the list of ...

. From 2002 to 2004, he was the chief of staff for the French Minister of Culture Jean-Jacques Aillagon. After Aillagon's tenure, Cerutti took a role in the French Ministry of Economy and Finance, serving as head of the executive office for consumerism and competition from 2008 until 2011.

Career in the private sector

Cerutti was named president-director of Sotheby's France in September 2007, after being recommended to the auction house by Jean-Jacques Aillagon. He became vice president for Sotheby's Europe in 2011, and by 2015, he was both deputy chairman of Sotheby's Europe and CEO of Sotheby's France. Sotheby's achieved the highest art sales on the French market during his tenure, particularly with the help of several French art collections sold in Paris, London and New York. In August 2015, ''Les Echos'' reported that he would become president of

for London, Continental Europe, the Middle East, India, and Russia (Christie's EMERI), taking the post in 2016 after a non-compete clause expired. He was subsequently named CEO of Christie's on January 1, 2017, succeeding Patricia Barbizet. Upon becoming CEO, Cerutti implemented a restructuring. One of his first actions was closing Christie's lower-value outlet in

South Kensington South Kensington is a district at the West End of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with the advent of the ra ...

and scaling back Christie's operations in Amsterdam. He redirected funds to newer facilities in Asia and Los Angeles. After becoming Christie's CEO, he oversaw a number of auctions for high-profile collections, several of which broke world price records. In 2017, he oversaw the sale of

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

's ''

Salvator Mundi , Latin for Saviour of the World, is a subject in iconography depicting Christ with his right hand raised in blessing and his left hand holding an orb (frequently surmounted by a cross), known as a . The latter symbolizes the Earth, and the whol ...

'' at Christie's New York for $450.3 million, breaking the price record for artwork sold at auction. In late 2022, he oversaw Christie's auction of Paul Allen's art collection the Paul G. Allen Collection, which sold for $1.6 billion that November, making it the biggest sale in world auction history. In 2021, Cerutti oversaw the sale of Beeple's '' Everydays: the First 5000 Days'', Christie's first NFT auction. After overseeing the sale of other

NFT A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that is recorded on a blockchain and is used to certify ownership and authenticity. It cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the blockchai ...

s through Christie's, including several Cryptopunks, the ''Wall Street Journal'' reported in July 2023 that he remained "bullish on NFTs" and their value. Cerutti became chairman of Christie's in 2023. He stepped down as CEO in February 2025 and transitioned to oversee a broader range of responsibilities within the Pinault family's art-related projects, becoming the president of the Pinault Collection.

Board and organizations

Since 2015, Cerutti has been chairman of the Fondation Nationale des Arts Graphiques et Plastiques (FNAGP). He was on the audit committee of Flamel Technologies, a pharmaceuticals company, as of late 2016. He has been chairman of non-profit organizations in the cultural field, including the Accentus Chamber Choir (2007–2012), the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie in

Arles Arles ( , , ; ; Classical ) is a coastal city and Communes of France, commune in the South of France, a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Reg ...

(2009–2010) and the Institute pour le Financement du Cinéma et des Industries Culturelles (2010–2016).

Writing

Cerutti is the author of ''La politique culturelle, un enjeu du XXIème siècle, 20 propositions'', published in October 2016. He has published articles on cultural politics in publications such as ''

Commentaire ''Commentaire'' is a French quarterly magazine, created in 1978 by Raymond Aron and Jean-Claude Casanova. Aron's previous journal venture, started in 1970 and titled ''Contrepoint'', had been terminated in 1976 following disagreements among its f ...

'', ''

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

'', '' Les Échos'', and '' L'Opinion''.

Personal life

Cerutti is married with three daughters, and as of 2023, resides in London.

Publishing history

*''Cultural policy, a challenge of the 21st century - twenty proposals'' (October 12, 2016), Odile Jacob,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cerutti, Guillaume Living people 1966 births People from La Ciotat Sciences Po alumni École nationale d'administration alumni Sotheby's people Christie's people French chief executives