{"podcast":{"title":"Big Boss Interview","slug":"big-boss-interview-316999","podcast_index_feed_id":316999,"rss_url":"https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p016tl04.rss","website_url":"http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p016tl04","image_url":"http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/3000x3000/p0m4j7fr.jpg","author":"BBC","episode_count":266,"summary":"Big Boss Interview is where the most high-profile chief executives and entrepreneurs come to give you their insights and experiences of running the world's biggest and well-known businesses. The series is presented by Sean Farrington, Felicity Hannah and Will Bain, who you'd normally hear presenting the business news on BBC Radio 4's Today programme as well as BBC 5 Live's Wake Up To Money. Each week they'll be finding out just what it takes to run a huge organisation and what the day to day challenges and opportunities are. You can get in contact with the team by emailing bigboss@bbc.co.uk","last_synced_at":"2026-07-16T10:20:46.494996+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/big-boss-interview-316999"},"episode":{"title":"#29 Sotheby's CEO:  Art World Money Laundering Claims Are Misguided","slug":"29-sotheby-s-ceo-art-world-money-laundering-claims-are-misguided","published_at":"2026-03-10T00:01:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/big-boss-interview-316999/29-sotheby-s-ceo-art-world-money-laundering-claims-are-misguided","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/big-boss-interview-316999","url":"http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0n5jcjv","audio_url":"http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/6/redir/version/2.0/mediaset/audio-nondrm-download-rss-low/proto/http/vpid/p0n5j452.mp3","summary":"Charles Stewart, chief executive of Sotheby's, joins the Big Boss Interview and discusses the scrutiny facing the art market over money laundering, the growth of digital art and NFTs, the expansion of sports collectibles, and how the conflict in the Middle East could affect the industry. Stewart, who previously served as chief executive of a small bank before joining Sotheby’s, describes the characterisation of the industry as working with illicit money as a “misjudged notion”. He argues the company’s client base consists largely of established collectors, museum trustees and philanthropists who buy works to live with them rather than to obscure wealth. Russian buyers — often cited in discussions about opaque art transactions — represented less than 1% of Sotheby’s global business when sanctions were imposed following the invasion of Ukraine, he says, challenging assumptions about the role of Russian money in the market. Geopolitics is also shaping the art market. The Middle East has become an increasingly important region for Sotheby’s, with auctions in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi reflecting years of market development across the Gulf. Stewart says the company’s immediate priority amid escalating regional tensions is the safety of staff working there, though he notes market reaction to the latest conflict has so far been “somewhat muted”. Stewart notes that countries including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are investing heavily in cultural infrastructure as part of longer-term economic diversification strategies. Institutions such as the Louvre Abu Dhabi — open for nearly a decade — and the forthcoming Guggenheim Abu Dhabi form part of plans to establish new global cultural destinations. Despite these shifts, London remains central to Sotheby’s global oper…","meta_description":"Charles Stewart, chief executive of Sotheby's, joins the Big Boss Interview and discusses the scrutiny facing the art market over money laundering, the gr…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2213,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/big-boss-interview-316999/episodes/29-sotheby-s-ceo-art-world-money-laundering-claims-are-misguided/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/big-boss-interview-316999/29-sotheby-s-ceo-art-world-money-laundering-claims-are-misguided.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}