The future of the Gagosian Gallery is a topic of conversation again, following the news late last week that megadealer Larry Gagosian had poached top Sotheby’s executive Brooke Lampley to join him as a senior director. Gagosian, of course, recently turned 79 years old, raising questions about what’s next for the billion-dollar gallery empire that he essentially willed into existence. Two years ago, Gagosian convened a board of directors, including Snap’s Evan Spiegel and LVMH heir Delphine Arnault, to advise him on the next era of his business. Around that same time, there had been rumors that LVMH was trying to buy Gagosian. But the truth is that Larry, who has no heirs and no designated successor, could not sell his business right now even if he wanted to. C.O.O. Andrew Fabricant has helped to professionalize the operation, but Gagosian Gallery remains overwhelmingly dependent on Gagosian himself, who—by virtue of the extreme wealth of his clients, the size of his deals, his encyclopedic memory, and long history of dealing at the very top of the secondary market—brings in the lion’s share of revenue through the highest value deals.