# #521 Max Hollein (Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum) | He Runs the World's Greatest Museum and Never Had a Career Plan

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/theboldway-329028/521-max-hollein-director-and-ceo-of-the-metropolitan-museum-he-runs-the-world-s-greatest-museum-and-never-had-a-career-plan
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/theboldway-329028/521-max-hollein-director-and-ceo-of-the-metropolitan-museum-he-runs-the-world-s-greatest-museum-and-never-had-a-career-plan.md
Podcast: [TheBoldWay](https://stenobird.com/podcast/theboldway-329028)
Published: 2026-04-21T03:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://audio.audiomeans.fr/file/nTLjBrCvPC/6fcec2aa-9f71-4de0-9e2f-107e5fd92606.mp3?_=1776376944
Audio file: https://audio.audiomeans.fr/file/nTLjBrCvPC/6fcec2aa-9f71-4de0-9e2f-107e5fd92606.mp3?_=1776376944
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/theboldway-329028/episodes/521-max-hollein-director-and-ceo-of-the-metropolitan-museum-he-runs-the-world-s-greatest-museum-and-never-had-a-career-plan
Duration seconds: 3593

## Resource

🎙️ Sponsors du mois🌐 Squarespace — la plateforme no-code, boostée par l’IA, pour créer et développer votre site web tout-en-un.🛡️ MAIF — Épisode Assurance & indépendants : les erreurs qui peuvent vous coûter cher | En partenariat avec la MAIF. — Thanks to Max for stopping by TheBoldWay. Max Hollein is the Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, in other words, the man running one of the most influential and powerful museums in the world. The son of one of the most controversial Austrian architects of his generation, he grew up surrounded by artworks, death threats called into the family home, and heated cultural debates. Today, at the helm of The Met, he's steering a $700 million renovation project, entirely privately funded, and more than $1.5 billion in total works. In this episode, we went straight to his office in New York. He tells us how you convince billionaires to sign eight-figure checks for art, why he never had a career plan, and how he picked a nearly unknown Mexican architect to build The Met's new modern wing against the advice of all the big names. We also talk about AI, the future of New York, family legacy, and what you really need to understand about human nature when your job is to raise fortunes. A genuine masterclass on leadership, vision, and the art of convincing. Get settled in, it starts right now. Timeline 01:30 : Introduction and setup: Max Hollein, Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum, frames his role and the context05:57 : Leading The Met: mission, cultural responsibility, and the particularity of a private institution in a country without a Culture Ministry08:38 : Growing up with a controversial architect father in Vienna: death threats, artistic combat, and family legacy12:14 : The new modern wing: a $70…

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