Macklowes Could Save Over $70 Million

SplitFairy Summary

Linda and Harry Macklowe’s divorce has been an expensive one by any measure. But they could not agree on the value of their extensive, and apparently beloved, art collection. So, as many divorcing couples do, they sold it off and will split the proceeds. Except doing so will hit them with a bill of over $70 Million due to auction fees and capital gains taxes.

But it did not need to be this way.

The Macklowe Collection

This is the second tranche of art being sold by the Macklowes. It includes 30 works of art. They range in estimated value from $500,000 to $42,500,000. We tried to show them how to save over $200M when they sold the first tranche. In total, we could have saved them a quarter of a billion dollars.

The most expensive piece is expected to be one from Mark Rothko. Sotheby’s estimates it to sell for between $35,000,000 – $50,000,000. When we added the various works to SplitFairy, we took the midpoint of the estimates.

Untitled, Mark Rothko, signed and dated 1960 on the reverse, oil on canvas, 70 ¼ by 74 ½ in. 178.4 by 189.2 cm.

SplitFairy is Simple

It took us about 15 minutes to enter the information on the 30 works of art, and only seconds to let SplitFairy work its magic. It came up with an equal 50/50 split, with each person getting $101 Million worth of art, with one spouse getting 6 pieces, and the other getting the remaining 24.

If either Harry or Linda Macklowe want a particular artwork, they can assign it to that person, and SplitFairy will again reassign other works to make up for it. The video shows one example of that.

Saving Money

In addition to SplitFairy being low-cost to use, its purpose is to also help reduce the fees and taxes you might pay if you sold off valuable property, such as art, or your home.

In this example, we estimated those costs to exceed $70 Million.

Estimated Fees and Taxes from Macklowe’s Auction

You Don’t Need to be a Billionaire

You don’t need to be a billionaire to use SplitFairy. Just sign up, enter your various properties, and debts, and use it. After entering information, you can share what you entered with your (ex-)spouse, allowing them to generate their own splits, and you can eventually come to agreement.

We developed SplitFairy to help you move forward, and save money doing so. If it helps you, please let us know!

Mark Streich

Mark is one of the cofounders of SquareFairy, dedicated to helping struggling couples move forward, so they can rediscover the joy in their lives.