Richard Madley: Get to know the IPL auctioneer

Richard Madley

Richard Madley, who has been the auctioneer for the all six previous auctions of the Indian Premier League, is back this year.

English-born Madley is the President of Christie’s East, a division of arts auction house Christie’s. He was the last person to host an auction at the the Windows of the World. Situated at the top of the North Tower of the Twin Towers, it was destroyed during the terrorist attack on September 11th, 2001.

He is also associated with Dreweatts & Bloomsbury, an auction house which deals with arts, furniture, books, scientific instrument, jewellery, etc.

A keen follower of cricket, he was first invited to oversee an IPL auction by former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi. Despite Modi receiving a lifetime ban from the BCCI in 2010, Madley has continued to be the auctioneer for the event.

Madley has revealed that the IPL auctions in 2008 included the highlight of his career – selling Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for $1.5m to Chennai Super Kings. One wouldn’t be surprised if this year’s auction takes a bigger toll on him than previous editions as a total of 513 players will be up for sale.