The Nahmad brothers are among the most influential art dealers in the world. They have done business with some of the biggest names of the 20th century, including Rothko, Renoir, Monet and Matisse. The two brothers have always worked together.
The Nahmad family originated in Aleppo, Syria, where banker Hillel Nahmad lived until shortly after the Second World War. Following anti-Jewish violence in Syria in 1947, the family moved to Lebanon, but Hillel eventually decided to take his three sons, including Ezra and David, to Milan in the early 1960s.
Quantity is not important; it is the quality of the works I own that determines their value.
David Nahmad
Most of their works are sold at auction. The brothers store between 4,000 and 4,500 works duty-free in a warehouse near Geneva Airport. They also lend many works to hundreds of museums around the world. In 2013, they exhibited part of their collection at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, including 112 paintings by Picasso.
Their collection includes around 300 works by Picasso, valued at over a billion dollars. Their private collection is one of the largest in the world.
According to Forbes data from 2025, their individual fortunes are as follows:
- David Nahmad: $2.3 billion
- Ezra Nahmad (deceased): $1.8 billion
These figures include their respective art collections as well as their other financial investments.
The Nahmad brothers are considered the most powerful buyers in the contemporary art world. They have sold more artworks than anyone else alive today.
Their private collection remains one of the largest in the world, stored in optimal conditions in a warehouse near Geneva.
