Jacob Pabst, the CEO of Artnet AG, has resigned abruptly just before the group annual general meeting.
The announcement was made by Supervisory Board Chairman Pascal Decker as the meeting opened on Monday morning. Pabst, who has led Artnet since 2012, is the son of founder Hans Neuendorf. His resignation follows the expiration of his contract at the end of August. According to German business publication Handelsblatt, Pabst cited an inability to reach an agreement on continuing in the role. His departure ends a 13-year leadership period closely tied to the company’s founding family.
Stepping in as interim CEO is Andrew E. Wolff, the company’s majority shareholder, who holds 98.93% of Artnet shares and owns competing platform Artsy. Wolff’s investment firm, Beowolff Capital, launched a voluntary takeover bid earlier this year. Jan Petzel, managing director of Wolff’s Leonardo Art Holdings, expressed surprise at the timing of Pabst’s resignation but welcomed the continuation of the meeting.
During the AGM, shareholders received updates on the 2024 financials and a forward-looking plan emphasizing cost-cutting and AI-driven innovation, including an AI chatbot initiative. A motion to authorize a potential 50% increase in share capital was also approved.
However, news reports described the meeting as one-sided, noting the absence of Artnet’s management and unanswered questions about the 2025 outlook. Investor-protection advocate Dirk Hagemann criticized the proceedings, suggesting the meeting should have been canceled and pointing to financial mismanagement under the Neuendorf family.
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Former shareholder Rüdiger K. Weng labeled Pabst’s exit a “runaway” and vowed legal action. Decker dismissed these accusations as baseless, claiming the company had finally untangled “a Gordian knot” that hindered
