Ari Emanuel stands in front of an abstract, text-based artwork, wearing a dark blazer and white shirt, smiling slightly at the camera.” width=”970″ height=”647″ data-caption=’Ari Emanuel’s acquisition of Frieze marks a major shift in the global art fair landscape at a time of financial recalibration across the industry. <span class=”lazyload media-credit”>Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images</span>’>
Rumors persisted for months that Frieze was up for sale, as the art fair’s parent company Endeavor divested less-profitable assets in the face of mounting financial pressure. Now all that chatter has been validated and the buyer has been officially revealed: Hollywood mogul Ari Emanuel is acquiring the fair in a deal valued at $200 million and expected to close in the third quarter of 2025, according to a statement released by Endeavor.
This marks the first acquisition for Emanuel’s new global events venture, backed by investors including Apollo Global Management and RedBird Capital Partners. The deal includes Frieze magazine and the seven international fairs under the Frieze banner, among them editions in New York, Los Angeles and Seoul, as well as EXPO Chicago and The Armory Show, both of which Frieze acquired in 2023.
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“Frieze has always been a source of inspiration for me—both professionally and personally,” Emanuel said in a statement. “Having worked with the team for nearly a decade, I’ve seen firsthand the strength of their community and the ambition driving their mission to expand the reach and understanding of contemporary art.”
Emanuel, one of Endeavor’s co-founders, once served as its chief executive. Under his leadership, Endeavor acquired a 70 percent stake in Frieze in 2016 and completed its full acquisition in 2023.
He stepped down as CEO last year after Endeavor was taken private by Silver Lake in a $25 billion deal. He now serves as executive chairman of WME Group, Endeavor’s Hollywood talent agency. At the time of its acquisition (April 2024), Endeavor—including its debt—was valued at $13 billion. In the months that followed, the company began streamlining its events portfolio, citing conflicts of interest and divesting non-core assets. Despite Frieze’s growth, Endeavor reported a net loss of $253.8 million in Q3 of 2024, with the events segment, including Frieze, down 20.1 percent year over year.
WME recently announced a similar arrangement involving its basketball representation division, which will now be jointly owned by Emanuel, WME Group president and managing partner Mark Shapiro and Bill Duffy, whose BDA Sports Management was acquired by WME in 2023. A comparable transaction may soon follow for its baseball representation business.
The Frieze announcement lands just a week before Frieze New York opens at The Shed, amid fresh concern over the impact of Trump’s tariffs on the U.S. art market and persistent geopolitical uncertainty. A spokeswoman for Endeavor confirmed that the transition will be seamless and that Frieze’s leadership team, including CEO Simon Fox, will remain in place. The art world, on the whole, appears relieved that the fair is staying ‘in house’ with Emanuel rather than being sold off to an external party. Having been deeply involved with Frieze for years, he is sharply attuned to the challenges the company faces in a global art market many believe is undergoing one of its most profound shifts.
