For Banksy, a network of companies, secret auctions, and US$250 million in secondary-market sales

A piece of art work from British artist Banksy. (AP / Haringey Council)

The enigmatic street artist Banksy has built a multimillion-dollar business empire as opaque as his identity, operating through a network of British companies while largely staying outside the traditional art market, according to corporate filings and interviews with art market insiders.

The sale of Banksy pieces has generated an estimated US$248.8 million in secondary market sales since 2015, according to data from art market research firm ArtTactic. The secondary market refers to the resale of artwork after its initial sale.

The artist himself receives only a small fraction from those sales, paid under a provision in U.K. law that entitles artists to royalties. But sources say Banksy now conducts private sales for VIP collectors that may generate millions of dollars directly, Reuters learned.

Reuters identified seven companies that have been directly connected to Banksy over the years, and at least two additional firms that were connected to the artist by name or via his lawyers and accountants. The centrepiece is the Pest Control Office, incorporated in 2008. It serves as both the artist’s authentication body and business operation. Its parent company is Picturesonwalls Limited, which once operated a London gallery.

The financial growth has been substantial. Pest Control’s first financial report, published in 2009, showed total assets of £243,019. By 2015, that grew to £2.7 million, including £1.1 million in cash. The latest report, for 2024, reveals total net assets of about £5.7 million – comprising £4.4 million in cash and £1.2 million in “stocks.” The filings aren’t clear about whether these are shares or unsold artworks. They are published on Companies House, Britain’s corporate registry.

Picturesonwalls Limited’s latest report shows total net assets of £2.5 million, including £1 million in cash, up dramatically from just £63,013 in its first reporting period ending June 2005.

Early in his career, Banksy sold prints through the Pictures on Walls gallery for as little as £60, maintaining tight control over distribution. The gallery closed in 2017, posting a sardonic farewell noting that “disaster struck” when its artists became successful and prints became worth tens of thousands of pounds. Unable to reconcile becoming part of the art market it “once so self-righteously denounced,” the gallery explained in a post, it shut down.

Today, most Banksys changing hands are sold through private collectors, galleries, and auction houses, without apparent direct involvement or financial participation by the artist. “It’s very hard to buy a Banksy from Banksy,” explains art historian Ulrich Blanche.

Unless you’re one of a select group invited to one of the artist’s private sales. In February 2024, Banksy held a secret exhibition in a Shoreditch basement, according to a collector who obtained photos from attendees. The source shared some of the surreptitiously snapped photos with Reuters. They included shots of previously unseen original Banksy works. The event, held in a building on Hanbury Street, was open only to collectors invited directly by Pest Control.

Works offered included a print of a child sitting in a flowering tree that sold for £15,000, and a Madonna with Child painted on scrap metal with a rusty bullet hole that fetched £500,000. Buyers signed three-year non-resale agreements and nondisclosure agreements, the source told Reuters.

As the value of Banksy pieces has skyrocketed over the course of a quarter century, the artist’s authentication process has become increasingly important and, to some, controversial. Pest Control serves as the sole authenticator of Banksy pieces, but critics contend the process is slow and opaque.

The authentication process involves submitting pieces for examination, which may take months or even years. That frustrates seeking to sell pieces quickly. But Jasper Tordoff, a Banksy expert at MyArtBroker says the approach is “quite common” in the market, operating similarly to authentication processes for other street artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring.

“The whole reason they do this is to protect buyers,” Tordoff says, noting that “so many people have been conned into buying (fake) Banksys for legitimate Banksy money.”

Some buyers and dealers want greater transparency. Adam Coates acquired a Banksy print known as “Barcode” in 2004. Coates says that a former Banksy director and other experts have confirmed its authenticity. He first sought authentication from Pest Control in October 2010. But Pest Control has repeatedly refused, thus significantly limiting the print’s resale value.

Collector John Brandler, who specializes in reselling Banksy’s street pieces, faces similar frustrations. Although Banksy posts photos of his street works on Instagram, Pest Control refuses to authenticate them because the artist says they were created for those specific locations. Top auction houses won’t sell them either. Brandler considers the refusal to authenticate as bordering on “market manipulation.”

Tordoff disagrees. He maintains the authentication system protects rather than manipulates the market, particularly as prices escalate.

Neither Banksy, Pest Control nor Banksy’s lawyer, Mark Stephens – who is also a Pest Control director – would comment on the artist’s business and finances. Nor would they address specific authentication disputes.