Scattering Your Collection

In an interview to promote the upcoming sale of Michael Steinhardt’s Judaica collection at Sotheby’s, the stock whiz voices a concern that faces many collectors—what to do with it all when your family isn’t interested:

Sometimes I would say to myself—and mean it—’I'd like to die broke.’ Meaning that I don’t have any particular desire to leave all sorts of things when I’m gone. I’ve a desire to leave things to my loved ones, but my kids and grandchildren have at the moment zero interest in my collecting, so it wouldn’t be for them. The idea that…you died having consumed or spent or given away most of the assets that you had—I find that an appealing concept, albeit unrealistic.