Earlier this summer, shortly after the announcement of a billion-dollar investment from ADQ, an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, it seemed like Sotheby’s had successfully mitigated the most intense of its financial pressures. Yes, everyone knew the familiar stories of woe: a six-month payment program for vendors that started five years ago; a three-year incentive plan that had been fulfilled with a promissory note earlier this year; a new fee structure; and the brand-revitalizing HQ move to the old Whitney on Madison, slated for later this year. But that confidence was suddenly punctured following two damaging news stories—a leaked bond report in the FT at the end of August, and the devastating, if overstated, Wall Street Journal piece last week questioning Sotheby’s finances.