Plus 30% auction fee.
Highly unlikely. Most run of the mill auctions only charge 25%, and for a high-dollar item, they will generally charge the consignor considerably less. If you have something like that, it's worth you while to shop it around for the best deal. You can negotiate the deal as there are plenty of auction houses that want to handle items like that. I would guess he was charged no more than 10%.
A big part of the auction house's take is the "buyer's premium", typically 20-25%, which is added to the buyer's bill.
So, the buyer paid at least $1.8 million.
I think the fee is paid by the buyer.....