Thomas Galbraith succeeds founder Leslie Hindman, who will become chair of the company and will sit on its board, working on busines s development.
The unnamed private equity firm is not linked to Galbraith, and Hindman retains a stake in the auction house.
Galbraith co-founded consulting firm The Petraeus Group in 2010 which has advised companies including Steven Murphy & Partners, Art Dubai and Paddle8.
New CEO Thomas Galbraith.
During this time, Galbraith also served as managing director of online auction house Paddle8 and prior to that as director of global strategy for Artnet. He was most recently interim chief executive at Twyla, a Google Ventures-backed start-up. Galbraith said: “Leslie has built a formidable organisation and I very much look forward to working with the talented team.”
Technology skills
Hindman said Galbraith’s experience in both technology and art will help the firm’s future expansion.
Leslie Hindman Auctioneers conducts more than 60 auctions annually in categories such as fine jewellery and timepieces, contemporary art, 20th century design, rare books, furniture, decorative arts and more.
Hindman founded the firm in Chicago in 1982 and sold it to Sotheby’s in 1997. She later reopened it in 2003.
Leslie Hindman.
The auction house, which is also a founding partner of live auction platform Bidsquare, operates from eight locations across the US in Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, Milwaukee, Naples, Palm Beach, Scottsdale and St Louis.
It is expected to expand into new locations following the latest investment.
