Jay Krehbiel is the Executive Chairman of Freeman’s | Hindman. Jay acquired Leslie Hindman Auctioneers and Cowan’s Auctions in 2017 to form Hindman Auctions, one of the largest auction companies in the United States, where he served as CEO from 2019 to 2022. In 2023 he transitioned to Executive Chairman and helped spearhead the merger with Freeman’s, America’s oldest auction house which was founded in Philadelphia in 1805.
Under his leadership, Hindman’s business began a period of considerable growth, increasing approximately two and a half times in five years. What started as a regional auction house became a national champion in the middle-market with a global client base. Growth was the watchword of the firm under Jay’s leadership with the firm opening new offices across the country in Detroit, Miami, New York, and Washington DC. The formation of Freeman’s | Hindman in 2024 saw the next great leap in this vision adding two more locations in Philadelphia and Richmond and adding dozens more auctions professional to the talented team of more than 165 employees.
Jay is also Chairman of KF Partners, a Chicago-based single-family office. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he is the Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee and serves on the School of the Art Institute Board of Governors. He also serves on the boards of the Irish Georgian Society, the Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach, Florida, and the American Friends of the National Gallery of Ireland. Previously, he served on the boards of The Taft School, The Newberry Library and St. Chrysostom’s Church of Chicago. He has a BA from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Northwestern University.