Gustav Klimt Painting Sells for $236.4M, Becomes Most Expensive Modern Art Ever

A Gustav Klimt painting, Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer, sold for a record-setting $236.4 million at Sotheby’s in New York, becoming the most expensive modern artwork — loosely defined as art created roughly between 1860 and 1970 — ever sold at auction and the auction house’s highest-priced sale. The piece drew intense competition, with at least six bidders and a 20-minute bidding battle before a telephone bidder won. Only Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, purchased for $450 million in 2017, has sold for more.

MLB announced new TV deals with NBC/Peacock, Netflix, and ESPN on Wednesday, shifting some of its flagship programs and events between the networks for 2026-2028. While ESPN will acquire the rights to sell MLB.TV, the league’s out-of-market streaming service, Sunday Night Baseball is leaving the network for NBC/Peacock, which will regularly air games for the first time in 25 years. Meanwhile, the Home Run Derby and Field of Dreams game are headed to Netflix, along with an Opening Day exclusive and the World Baseball Classic. NBC/Peacock is reportedly expected to pay nearly $200 million per year in the deal, while Netflix is set to pay $50 million annually.

Nvidia beat Wall Street’s expectations in its third-quarter earnings report on Wednesday, bringing in just over $57 billion compared to the $54.92 billion estimated by analysts. In turn, the AI chipmaker’s stock rose roughly 5% in after-hours trading. Nvidia also revealed updated guidance for its fourth quarter, including sales climbing to $65 billion, nearly $3.5 billion above projections.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way, Chad A. Verdi’s Verdi Productions, and Danny Strong are producing Oz, a documentary about the making of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, directed by Tom Donahue. Currently in production, Variety writes the documentary will explore the challenges faced by director Victor Fleming, Judy Garland, and others during the film’s creation, using previously unseen footage and audio.

DON’T BE DUMB, the long-awaited album from A$AP Rocky, is still expected to arrive this year. In a new interview posted by Vanity Fair, the father of three revealed that Danny Elfman worked on the album, scoring several of the songs. This will be Rocky’s first studio album in eight years; it was originally scheduled for Aug. 30, 2024, but was delayed to a Fall 2024 release. The exact date has not yet been announced.

In his first year of eligibility, Roger Federer has been elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame as a player, while sportscaster Mary Carillo was chosen in the contributor category for the 2026 class. Federer, one of only eight men to achieve a career Grand Slam, was the first male player to win 20 major singles titles and held the world No. 1 ranking for a record 237 consecutive weeks, totaling 310 weeks. He received the news at Swiss Tennis, where he began his career, surrounded by fellow Hall of Famers and the next generation of players.

EA Sports and Codemasters confirmed there will be no standalone F1 26 game releasing next year. Instead, F1 25 will receive a paid “premium content update” that adds next year’s new teams, cars, and regulations. The decision is meant to give developers more time to work on F1 27, which they describe as a reimagined and more expansive entry in the series.

Bank of America announced a multi-year partnership with Sir David Beckham on Wednesday, marking the bank’s first long-term ambassador role. Beckham will promote Bank of America’s global sports program, Sports with Us, which spans soccer, endurance events, and golf. The bank is involved in the FIFA World Cup 2026, U.S. Soccer, major marathons, and The Masters Tournament, while also running youth-focused initiatives like Sports with Us clinics and the “Golf with Us” program.

The Golden State Warriors are collaborating with Sephora, making it the team’s first beauty brand partner. Sephora will serve as the official fragrance partner of the Warriors and the Chase Center, as well as the presenting beauty partner of the Warriors’ dance team. The partnership includes exclusive digital content, in-arena features, a Sephora kiosk at home games, and gifting for dance team members throughout the season.

Thomas Bezucha, the writer-director behind the 2005 holiday dramedy The Family Stone, is developing a follow-up to the modern Christmas favorite. He told CNN he’d been considering a return to the fictional family even before the October passing of Diane Keaton, who died at 79. In the original film, Keaton’s character, Sybil Stone, succumbs to a terminal illness by the story’s end, setting the emotional stakes for the sequel.

Image: Courtesy of Sotheby’s