NEW YORK — Anyone wanting to walk in the shoes of fallen financier Bernard Madoff was in luck Saturday: Thousands of belongings from his New York City penthouse, including his used shoes, went on the auction block.
An anonymous bidder paid the highest price of the auction — $550,000 — for a 10.5-carat diamond engagement ring that belonged to Madoff’s wife, Ruth. The winning bid topped the $300,000 minimum pre-sale estimate.
Ruth Madoff’s French diamond earrings fetched the next highest price. Valued at $100,000 to $137,500, they went for $135,000 to an undisclosed buyer.
The man who became a symbol of greed and deceit on Wall Street also had a lavish collection of watches. One of his vintage steel Rolex “Moon Phase” watches sold for $67,500, topping a $60,000 minimum estimate.
The sale started Saturday morning at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, with an auctioneer from Texas-based Gaston & Sheehan rattling off lots at a tongue-twisting speed all day and into the evening.
The Manhattan sale is the last auction in New York of Madoff belongings. A third and final auction is to be held in Florida to sell off items from a Palm Beach home that went for more than $5.5 million last month.
Valued at $75 to $110, the lot with the slippers also included Ruth Madoff’s monogrammed shirt. A young man paid $6,000 for all of it, saying he’ll never be able to wear the slippers because his shoe size is 13; Madoff wore a size 8.
