EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, CEO, COLLECTORS HOLDING SANTA ANA
Rapidly expanding firm, previously known as Collectors Universe, provides authentication and grading services to dealers and collectors of coins, trading cards, event tickets, autographs and historical and sports memorabilia.
Benefitting as industry for trading cards and other collectibles has continued to grow over the course of the pandemic, with no signs of a slowdown. It’s the owner of PSA, which authenticates trading cards and memorabilia; PCGS, which grades coins and currency; and WATA, which values video games and other pop culture items.
THEN: Company went public in 1999 and spent the next decade with a market cap around $30M. In recent years, the company’s value slowly crept up until late 2020, when Turner’s investment group offered $700M, or a 30% premium to its value at the time. By last February, it bumped the offer to $853M to complete the deal.
NOW: The company has grown from $105M in sales in calendar 2020 to more than $300M last year, officials tell the Business Journal. In Collectors’ three prior fiscal years, sales hovered around $40M. Firm said its own valuation has risen fivefold to $4.3B after it raised $100M in new funding.
FUTURE: Since 2021, it’s made five acquisitions, including an online collectibles marketplace called Goldin, described as a high-end online auction house that does for cards what Sotheby’s does for art. The $100M will be used to for more acquisitions, officials say.
IN THEIR WORDS: Collectors has grown from 600 employees at the end of 2020 to about 1,100 as of March, with 1,000 in Orange County. It plans to expand to 2,000 employees by the end of the year, ranging from entry-level positions to software engineers.
“Our biggest challenge is hiring. We’re struggling to find talented people,” Turner said.
