Collectors Universe, parent company of PSA, announced Friday morning that Joe Orlando has resigned as CEO. Executive Chairman Nat Turner, who led a group to purchase the grading and authentication company early this year, will take over that role.
Orlando first joined Collectors Universe in 1999. He was named President of PSA in 2002 and took on a larger role as CEO of the Santa Ana, CA-based company in 2017.
According to a company statement, Turner “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, which owns Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) and Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS), was acquired by a Turner’s group in an $853 million deal in February. The investors also included D1 Capital Partners L.P. and Cohen Private Ventures, LLC. Other members of the Investor Group include The Chernin Group, which recently made a $40 million investment in Goldin Auctions as well as card collector and owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks Ken Kendrick and several current and former athletes.
Since then, CU has since made strategic acquisitions, including of software company Genamint. A holding group under the CU umbrella also recently acquired majority interest in Goldin Auctions and just this week announced plans to enter the video game grading space. PSA continues to dig out from a massive backlog of trading card submissions that has forced it to shut down all but the highest priced services for several months, while hiring new employees at an unprecedented clip in an effort to scale up and meet demand.
“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,” Orlando stated. “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.” He wrote a farewell message on the company’s website that was posted Friday.
“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.”
