China’s Taikang Life Insurance Takes 13.5% Stake in Sotheby’s

Taikang expresses interests in possibly nominating directors to Sotheby’s board

By Kelly Crow
Kelly.Crow@wsj.com
@KellyCrowWSJ

Updated July 28, 2016 12:02 a.m. ET

A Chinese life insurance company run by the grandson-in-law of Chairman Mao Zedong has bought a 13.5% stake in Sotheby’s, citing a “positive view” of the auction house as well as potential interest in a board seat.

Taikang Life Insurance Co., one of China’s biggest insurance companies, disclosed its stake Wednesday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a regulatory requirement for active investors who press for corporate change.

The move makes Taikang the largest shareholder of Sotheby’s, eclipsing stakes held by hedge-fund managers such as Third Point’s Dan Loeb, who owns 11.38%, and Point72 Asset Management’s Steven Cohen, who owns 5.5%.

Taikang is run by Chen Dongsheng, a businessman best known in art circles as an art collector who helped found China Guardian Auctions Co. Ltd., the country’s first government-run auction house specializing in Chinese antiques and calligraphy. Mr. Chen, who is in his late 50s, is married to Mao’s granddaughter, Kong Dongmei.