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Hello, I'm Michael Sweeney, the president of Steinway & Sons. It is with great pleasure that I report to you that the sale of Steinway Musical Instruments to John Paulson and Paulson & Co. was completed on September 18th, 2013. I believe that we achieved a very good outcome for our former shareholders and I am delighted that John will now be the guardian of Steinway & Sons, Conn-Selmer and ArkivMusic.com.
It has been well reported that John has long had passion for Steinway pianos, but we thought you might enjoy getting to know him better. We have posted "A Conversation with John Paulson" so you can hear directly from John about some of his plans as the new owner of Steinway & Sons:
Hopefully, after viewing the video, you will be as reassured as I am that John is the right owner for Steinway & Sons, and that the future is bright for our company and our pianos. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact us directly by replying to this email.
Michael Sweeney CEO, Steinway Musical Instruments President, Steinway & Sons
My Keyboards: Estonia L-190, Roland RD88, Yamaha P-80, Bilhorn Telescope Organ c 1880, Antique Pump Organ, 1850 concertina, 3 other digital pianos ------------------------- My original piece on BandCamp: https://frankbaxtermrpianoworld.bandcamp.com/releases
Me banging out some tunes in the Estonia piano booth at the NAMM show...
I was thinking the same, but this update is indicative of one thing: Steinway thinks enough of this third-party website's influence to include it in its public relations campaign.
My Keyboards: Estonia L-190, Roland RD88, Yamaha P-80, Bilhorn Telescope Organ c 1880, Antique Pump Organ, 1850 concertina, 3 other digital pianos ------------------------- My original piece on BandCamp: https://frankbaxtermrpianoworld.bandcamp.com/releases
Me banging out some tunes in the Estonia piano booth at the NAMM show...
An interesting comment in the video regarding the investment value of these pianos. How about the following experience:
Purchase a Steinway directly from Steinway and Sons, for around £25000. Keep this piano maintained by Steinway and Sons for over twenty years. Have Steinway and Sons refurbish the instrument at a cost of £12000. A few months later, decide to upgrade to a full concert grand. The offer from Steinway and Sons on the value of the old instrument was £15000, given the cost of the refurbishment work carried out this would seem to leave a residual value of the original piano of £3000. I certainly cannot see how that makes for a good "investment"!. Refurbishment included refinishing of the piano. This had to be undertaken twice due to very poor quality of work resulting from the first attempt.
Wonder what John's motive is, with his current financial venture with Steinway?
Is he betting on a new (york) identity? Are most people continually fooled by seduction (control freaks) that pretend to give solace, such as John, silently sucking society out of their heritage and homes to his own benefit.
"At the center of the transactions described in the government's fraud case against Goldman, Sachs & Co. is New York hedge fund operator John Paulson, whose firm made $15 billion in 2007 by betting that Americans would default on their home loans in droves." L.A.Times
He seems to fit the suave steinway stature, Perhaps they'll do well together.
Months ago I posted in a thread about the eternal "investment" argument in Piano Forum. As an example, I used our family 1921 S&S-M and tracked it from original purchase to current appraised value. The expenses across the years were well documented and inflation was factored in. I have not searched it out, but anyone is welcome to do so.
In very simple terms, in the worst case scenario, a new Steinway which cost ~$1K in 1920, would now have a "core" value of ~$6-7K. At the very minimum, even a "trashed" Steinway holds value, rather than having ended up in the dump 30 years ago. This cannot be said about the myriad of piano brands available in the same time period.
Let me say that I would never consider a piano to be a financial investment. However, I invest in many things from which I expect no financial gain.
Buying a home has always been considered to be a "sound investment," however, recent history has even shattered that concept. But, a fine piano is a very different type of commodity, and investment, than is real estate.
Marty in Minnesota
It's much easier to bash a Steinway than it is to play one.
For comparison my Schiedmayer cost £80 in 1926 and nobody wanted it in 2010; the Ibach was priced at 2450 marks in 1909 (2250 marks in 1901) and, as a core (i.e. less the value of new hammers, etc), was also worth nothing in 2012.
Does anyone know the value of a 1909 mark in $ or £?
Last edited by Withindale; 10/08/1306:54 PM.
Ian Russell Schiedmayer & Soehne, 1925 Model 14, 140cm Ibach, 1905 F-IV, 235cm
Months ago I posted in a thread about the eternal "investment" argument in Piano Forum. As an example, I used our family 1921 S&S-M and tracked it from original purchase to current appraised value. The expenses across the years were well documented and inflation was factored in. I have not searched it out, but anyone is welcome to do so.
In very simple terms, in the worst case scenario, a new Steinway which cost ~$1K in 1920, would now have a "core" value of ~$6-7K. At the very minimum, even a "trashed" Steinway holds value, rather than having ended up in the dump 30 years ago. This cannot be said about the myriad of piano brands available in the same time period.
Let me say that I would never consider a piano to be a financial investment. However, I invest in many things from which I expect no financial gain.
Buying a home has always been considered to be a "sound investment," however, recent history has even shattered that concept. But, a fine piano is a very different type of commodity, and investment, than is real estate.
The PB depreciation schedule shows only a small difference in the depreciation for Steinways vs. other makers.
A PW member who wrote a book about buying pianos(The Complete Idiot's Guide to Buying a Piano?) has discussed piano depreciation here and said, to the best of my recollection, there is no difference between the depreciation of Steinways and Yamahas(perhaps other makes also). There is probably an exception to this for extremely old Steinways but what happens to the value of a piano beyond 50-60 years is probably not very important to most people.
Does anyone know the value of a 1909 mark in $ or £?
The Goldmark was established after the german unification after the 1870/71 war with France, and lasted until the big inflation came in the early 1920ies.
The "Mark" or former "Goldmark" can be in general recalculated along the Gold value.
Gold coins were minted in .900 fineness to a standard of 2790 Mark = 1 kilogram of gold. Gold coin production ceased in 1915. 5 Mark gold coins were minted only in 1877 and 1878. - 5 Mark, 1.9912 g (1.7921 g gold) - 10 Mark, 3.9825 g (3.5842 g gold)"
So one Goldmark represented the weight of 0.36 gr pure gold which is actually worth 1320 USD per ounce i.e. 28.3 gr. So one Goldmark actually is around 16.5 USD.
Pls excuse any bad english.
Centennial D Sept 1877
Working on Berceuse op.57 Nocturnes op. 9-1,3 15-1,2,3 27-2 32-1,2 Going Home (Mark Knopfler)
Funny in that the setting they chose was Steinway Hall, which is no longer owned by Steinway.
They could also have built a stage set and filmed in a studio. It matters not. At the time of the sale, Steinway Hall was still in use by S&S.
They will use the yet sold Steinway Hall on a rental basis until ca. 2014.
Maybe that Mr Paulson regrets that Steinway Hall yet was sold - again. Maybe he tries to get back ownership on Steinway Hall also. ... We'll see.
There is another "Steinway" item - the villa on the north Queens shore between LaGuardia and the plant which was for sale also some months or maybe 1-2 yrs ago, the "Pike Mansion". Summer home of the Steinway Presidents, first used by William Steinway in 1871 until 1896. Advantage: hill view over the Steinway factory. Disadvantages: noise from LaGuardia airport, view to Rikers island, the biggest New York City prison. ...
Pls excuse any bad english.
Centennial D Sept 1877
Working on Berceuse op.57 Nocturnes op. 9-1,3 15-1,2,3 27-2 32-1,2 Going Home (Mark Knopfler)
