Paul Allen Art Collection Expected To Fetch $1 Billion

The art collection owned by late Portland Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen will be auctioned off for an estimated $1 billion later this year.

The New York Times reported the Allen collection, which includes 500 years of pieces by the likes of Botticelli, Renoir, Roy Lichtenstein and David Hockney, will sold by Christie’s auction house in November

The Allen collection is expected to be the largest sold in auction history with all proceeds to go to philanthropy.

Allen, who founded Microsoft Corp. with Bill Gates, left his estate, including the Blazers and the NFL franchise Seattle Seahawks, to be controlled by his sister Jody.

Allen purchased the Blazers in 1988 from California real estate developer Larry Weinberg for $70 million, before passing away from cancer in October 2018 — at the beginning of the team’s 2018-19 Western Conference Finals campaign.

You can read the full story (subscription required) here.