Veteran Sotheby’s and Entertainment Executive David Goodman
Appointed CEO; Antiques Roadshow Appraiser and The Collectors Lab Founder Laura Woolley Named Head of Consignments & Appraisals; Erica Ollwerther Joins as Head of Client Experience & Digital
Julien’s Auctions Founders Darren Julien and Martin Nolan Will Continue to Lead Auction Business Operations and Acquisitions
LOS ANGELES, March 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Julien’s Auctions today announced a series of additions to its senior leadership, bringing in highly experienced executives to work alongside Darren Julien and Martin Nolan and their team, to build on Julien’s Auctions‘ success as the world’s leading music, entertainment and Hollywood auction house and further expand the business.
The new executives include:
- David Goodman, a top C-suite executive at global brands, Sotheby’s, CBS and Madison Square Garden, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer. Goodman has served as consultant to Julien’s leadership since May 2023.
- Laura Woolley, one of the auction industry’s leading appraisers including on the acclaimed PBS series Antiques Roadshow will serve as Managing Director, Head of Consignments & Appraisals. Woolley began her career at Sotheby’s and brings nearly two decades of experience running her own appraisal company The Collectors’ Lab. She returns to Julien’s after working with the company for many years and served as its first COO.
- Sotheby’s veteran Erica Ollwerther has been named Managing Director, Head of Client Experience and Digital Transformation. She served as Sotheby’s Senior Vice President of Global Product Management and Head of Client Experience at TheKey. She has been working with Goodman as a strategic adviser to Julien’s.
- Darren Julien, co-founder of Julien’s and its former President and CEO, and Martin Nolan, co-founder and longtime Chief Financial Officer, will continue to oversee Julien’s auction business practices and acquisitions of its world-class collections, serving as Executive Directors.
The Company also announced that Geller, a wealth management firm that provides family office and strategic advisory services to ultra-high-net worth individuals and their families, businesses and nonprofit institutions, and its founder, Martin Geller, have assembled and are part of an investment group that has invested in Julien’s, providing new capital and management expertise to drive its next stage of growth. Mr. Julien and Mr. Nolan, who founded Julien’s Auctions twenty years ago, continue to have stakes in the business. In connection with the investment, Geller will serve as the outsourced CFO of Julien’s, with Frank Aldridge, a highly experienced finance executive at Geller leading the Julien’s finance team.
Mr. Julien said, “As we celebrate two decades in the Hollywood auction business, it is clear that our company is positioned for ongoing growth due to the excitement among collectors for one-of-a-kind items from legendary artists and celebrities. In order to harness this opportunity, we are expanding our work with an exceptional group of executives, including our new CEO David Goodman, one of the auction world and entertainment industry’s top strategists and innovators, Laura Woolley, who has worked with us since our earliest days on some of our highest-profile auctions, and Erica Ollwerther, whose deep experience in elevating the client experience and digital transformation will be enormously valuable going forward. We are also thrilled to have Marty Geller and his organization playing a significant role in our next stage of growth. With this extremely talented team on board, I am more excited than ever about the future of Julien’s.”
Mr. Goodman said, “Throughout my years in the industry, I have admired Julien’s and the following it has built as the premier player in the music, entertainment and Hollywood auction business. As we look ahead, we could not have a better team in place of both current and new leaders to build off of Julien’s unique place in the business and take it to its next level of success by elevating the client experience, digitally transforming the business for the future, and continuing to drive audience expansion. The initial steps we have made have been very well received, and there is much more to come.”
Mr. Geller said, “In the Hollywood and music auction business, Julien’s is second-to-none. Having known Darren Julien well and followed the business closely for many years, Julien’s Auctions’ potential has always been evident. The talented leadership and new shareholders the business has attracted reflects this, and I look forward to Julien’s exciting next chapter of success.”
Recent Successes and Record-Breaking Auctions
In their roles as strategic advisors since mid-2023, Goodman, Woolley and Ollwerther helped drive the company to one of their best years in its two-decade history, including million-dollar sales of the most legendary guitars in rock history, its first-ever series of music auctions in Nashville and Dallas, the launch of a new website, record numbers of new registrants/bidders from around the world, and three new world records that included the world record sale of Princess Diana’s $1.1 million dress, which helped make the “Hollywood Legends” auction its most successful entertainment sale in Julien’s history. In addition, for the first time, Julien’s held its annual “MusiCares® Charity Relief Auction” as a webcast, available across multiple platforms, from the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles on the day of the awards ceremony, with iconic items donated by Jon Bon Jovi, Taylor Swift, Christine McVie, Harry Styles and more. Julien’s also opened its first exhibition in Hong Kong to support marketing for the upcoming March 28th auction of property from Playboy Enterprises, Hugh Hefner and Marilyn Monroe in Los Angeles and announced the auction of property from Tony Bennett April 18th-19th in New York.
Biographies and photos of Julien’s leadership team can be found here.
About Julien’s Auctions
For the moments that matter.
You know that moment when the lights dim, right before your favorite band starts playing? Or that feeling right before the credits roll on a movie that changed your whole world in an instant? The air is charged with anticipation and words are never going to do it justice because you just really had to be there.
At Julien’s, we exist to bring those moments back into your life through iconic artifacts and one-of-a-kind collections. Whether collaborating directly with artists, partnering with legendary estates, or working closely with discerning collectors, our auctions make culture pop with the promise of discovery and reconnection. From Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, and Ringo Starr to Lady Gaga, Banksy, and Kurt Cobain—from LA to the world, we are where originals find their kind.
PRESS CONTACT
Mozell Miley-Bailey
(646) 653-3105
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SOURCE Julien’s Auctions
