As Chief Auctioneer and President of Kruse International, the world's leading collector car auction firm, Dean Kruse is regarded as one of the foremost auctioneers. Since beginning in the auction and real estate business in 1956, following in both his father's and grandfather's footsteps, Kruse travels more than 700,000 miles a year to conduct auctions around the world. In addition to cars, Kruse has sold islands, zoos, three entire towns, race tracks, antique aircraft, airports, forests, an open mine shaft and even John Wayne's home. During the early 1970s, Kruse helped pioneer the collector car auction market with the establishment of annual consignment sales throughout the country. His accomplishments include selling a 1931 Bugatti Royale Berline de Voyage for a world's record of $6.5 million, the highest priced vintage aircraft, a 1928 Ford Tri-Motor for $1.5 million and once conducted a single real estate sale with a $700 million offering of properties. Kruse has a loyal following of over 400,000 car collectors that attend his auctions annually, 35,000 of whom have spent in excess of $1,000,000 just on automobiles at his events!