Billionaire Steve Cohen pays $155m for Picasso’s ‘Le Reve’
New York, UNITED STATES: File picture taken November 10, 1997 shows Christopher Burge, chairman of Christie’s (L), starting the bidding for Pablo Picasso’s painting, ‘Le Reve’ in New York at an auction of the collection of Victor and Sally Ganz.
Less than two weeks after hedge fund manager Steve Cohen's SAC Capital Advisors settled insider trading charges of more than $600 million with the SEC, the billionaire has purchased a Picasso for a staggering amount of money.
Cohen purchased Picasso's 1932 painting "Le Reve" for $155 million, according to the New York Post – the highest price an individual American collector has paid for a piece of art.
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Cohen bought the painting from fellow billionaire and art aficionado Steve Wynn.
In 2006, Wynn, whose eyesight is deteriorating, accidentally put his elbow through "Le Reve," reportedly just one day after agreeing to sell it to Cohen for $139 million, Bloomberg Businessweek reported.
The purchase comes as his $15 billion fund faces federal regulatory scrutiny that has involved nine former SAC employees.
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