Harry Macklowe

The founder and chairman emeritus of Macklowe Properties, Harry Macklowe has witnessed his fortunes rise and fall with the swinging pendulum of the real estate market over the past two decades. Now in the twilight of his career, he officially handed over control of the company to his son, Billy Macklowe, in June 2008. In December 2018 a judge ordereda $700 million art trove to be sold to help resolve the divorce of billionaire developer Harry Macklowe and his estranged wife Linda. The couple, who began collecting soon after they married in 1959, own works by other major artists, including Pablo Picasso and Mark Rothko. In a sign of the acrimony fueling their prolonged legal dispute, the Macklowes couldn’t agree on how much the collection is worth. Harry’s expert said $788 million. Linda’s said $625 million. The judge allowed Linda Macklowe, a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to keep 100 works valued at $39.9 million, and her husband will receive a credit for half that amount. The couple own two Rothko canvases, “No. 7" from 1951 and “Untitled" from 1960, and they’re worth about $100 million combined, according to Gorvy. They bought Warhol’s “Sixteen Jackies" for $15.7 million at Christie’s in 2006.