Hirst, Koons Top World's Wealthiest Artists

ArtInfo.com has named the world’s wealthiest artists, including Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, Brice Marden, Julian Schnabel, Anish Kapoor, and Jasper Johns. With a fortune reportedly tipping the billion-dollar mark, Hirst is reportedly the world’s richest. It’s no surprise considering his opulent 2006 work, “For the Love of God,” which featured a skull recreated in platinum and nearly 9,000 diamonds. Hirst also broke the record for a single-artist auction in 2008 at Sotheby’s in London when more than 200 of his works sold for a total of $198 million. Behind him are Koons, who was briefly the most expensive artist alive after the sale of “Hanging Heart,” and Murakami, who has a staff of more than 100 helping with his artwork—such as a 18-karat gold and 26,000 precious stone sculpture of rapper, Pharrell—and Louis Vuitton bags.