Collectors Universe, the leading collectible authentication and grading company, announces that Joe Orlando, who has spent over 20 years with the company, has made the decision to step down as CEO. Executive Chairman Nat Turner has been appointed to the role. Orlando first joined Collectors Universe in 1999 and has been a collector of trading cards and memorabilia for over 35 years. One of the hobby’s foremost experts, Orlando has authored multiple books about collectibles and helped build Collectors Universe into the trusted leader in sports, coin and memorabilia authentication and grading.
Turner, an entrepreneur and lifelong collector and hobbyist who also founded and served as the CEO of Flatiron Health, has deep experience building and growing businesses by focusing on creating seamless customer-focused experiences. In his expanded role, he will oversee continued investment in the company focused on expanding Collector’s Universe’s capacity and capabilities, while upholding the integrity, transparency and consistent accuracy that has cemented it as the industry gold standard.
Collectors Universe
Collectors Universe, which owns Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) and Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS), the pioneers in sports collectibles and coins, respectively, was recently acquired by an investor group led by Turner, D1 Capital Partners L.P., and Cohen Private Ventures, LLC. The company has since made strategic acquisitions, including of software company Genamint, and moving forward it will further invest in infrastructure, technology and R&D to expand its service offerings and continue to improve and increase the scale and operational capacity of items it can grade and authenticate.
“I’m so proud of everything we’ve achieved as a team at Collectors Universe over the last 20 years. I know this is the right time for me to step aside because the company is stronger than ever. Nat has already demonstrated that he knows what’s required to scale the business in order to meet customer demand while also protecting the company’s reputation that has been carefully built on trust, integrity and transparency,” said Orlando. “This was a hard decision for me but I’m looking forward to spending more time with my family and staying active in the hobby, my personal passion.”
“Joe has been an indispensable part of Collectors for more than two decades and under his leadership, the company has become the yardstick that all other businesses in this industry are measured against,” said Turner. “Moving forward, we’ll continue making investments in the company that will help us scale to meet our existing and future customer demand, improve customer experience and support the continued maturation of the industry overall.”
For further information, visit the website of Collectors Universe.
In 2020 Collectors Universe was acquired by a group of private investors.
Recently the other large third-party grading company CCG was sold to the investment company Blackstone.
