Kenneth Goldin (born August 18, 1965) is an American auctioneer, television personality, and sports card collector. He has sold over $1.3 billion in memorabilia related to sports, history, and pop culture in his career, including through his company, Goldin Auctions. He is featured on the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

TV series '' King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch.''

Early life and career

Goldin was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and grew up in

Cherry Hill, New Jersey Cherry Hill is a Township (New Jersey), township within Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As a suburb of Philadelphia, the township is part of the South Jersey and Delaware Valley regions. Cherry Hill ...

. He grew up as a fan of the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

and began collecting

baseball cards A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on cardboard, silk, or plastic. In the 1950s, they came with a stick of gum and a limited number of cards. These cards feature one or more baseball players, teams, s ...

. He began selling them in 1978. His parents, Paul Goldin and Carole Goldin, supported his passion for collectibles. His sister, Sharon Goldin, shares his interest in this field. Goldin graduated from

Friends Select School Friends Select School (FSS) is a college-preparatory, Quaker school for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade located at 1651 Benjamin Franklin Parkway at the intersection of Cherry and N. 17th Streets in Center City Philadelphia. Quaker education ...

in Philadelphia, earned a

Bachelor of Business Administration A Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is an undergraduate degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of four years and typically 120 credits of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of busine ...

from

Drexel University Drexel University is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony Joseph Drexel, Anthony J. Drexel, a financier ...

, and pursued a marketing degree at

George Washington University School of Business The George Washington University School of Business (known as GW School of Business or GWSB) is the professional business school of George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The GW School of Business is ranked as one of the top business sc ...

. In 1985, in a trial overseen by Maryanne Barry, Goldin pleaded guilty to wire fraud after using credit card numbers he had fraudulently obtained by rummaging through garbage in order to play the

MegaWars ''MegaWars'' was a series of real-time online multiplayer space empire building games which were hosted on CompuServe in the 1980s and lasted well into the 1990s. The original MegaWars I was a port of Decwar, originally developed at the University ...

online game at a cost of up to $12 an hour. He was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay a $500 fine and $3,750 in restitution to

CompuServe CompuServe, Inc. (CompuServe Information Service, Inc., also known by its initialism CIS or later CSi) was an American Internet company that provided the first major commercial online service provider, online service. It opened in 1969 as a times ...

, the game's provider; he could have faced five years in prison and fines of $250,000. Goldin formed The Score Board, Inc., with his father in 1986, which became known for creating the classic brand of trading cards. They also signed athletes to exclusive autograph contracts. The company went public in 1987 and made $1 million in sales. They sold $20 million in 1989. Goldin left The Score Board in 1997 and, from 1998 to 2011, supplied sports collectibles to TV shopping outlets like

QVC QVC (short for "Quality Value Convenience") is an American free-to-air television network and a flagship shopping channel specializing in televised Shopping channel, home shopping, owned by QVC Group (formerly Qurate Retail Group). Founded in 19 ...

and

HSN HSN, Inc. an initialism of its former name Home Shopping Network, is an American free-to-air television network owned by the QVC Group (formerly Qurate Retail Group), which also owns Catalog merchant, catalog company Cornerstone Brands. It is ...

. Goldin has been a regular guest on national television channels such as Fox Business, CNBC, Bloomberg TV, and ESPN, where he discusses trends and insights in the collectibles industry. Goldin has sold more than $1.3 billion worth of collectibles, including sports memorabilia and historical artifacts, throughout his career.

Goldin Auctions

In 2012, Goldin established Goldin Auctions. The company became worth $102 million in 2020. In May 2024, his company was purchased by

eBay eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...

; he continues to operate it as founder and CEO. His Netflix show '' King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch'' debuted on Netflix on April 28, 2023. It was renewed for a second season, which debuted on June 12, 2024. The show peaked at 4 in the United States and 20 worldwide.

Philanthropy

Goldin serves as the Chairman of the Camcare Charitable Foundation. Through this role, he supports various community initiatives and projects aimed at making a positive impact. As a member of the Philadelphia Museum of Sports' Board of Directors, Goldin contributes to preserving sports history and promoting education through exhibits and programs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldin, Ken 1965 births Living people People from Cherry Hill, New Jersey 20th-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from Camden County, New Jersey Drexel University alumni George Washington University School of Business alumni American auctioneers 21st-century American businesspeople American people convicted of mail and wire fraud