DR. MITCHELL KRUSE

Entrepreneur, Author, Speaker

Dr. Mitchell Kruse is best known for his contribution to the auction arena, especially in the area of collector cars and real estate. For seventeen years, Kruse was owner, CEO, and auctioneer of Kruse International, the world’s largest collector car sales organization. Kruse was the youngest licensed Realtor in the nation and the first person to sell a vehicle for a documented one million dollars cash, while he earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Indiana University. At the conclusion of his senior year in college, Mitch formed a new corporation to innovate the auction industry. He led Kruse International to producing fifty annual events that reached millions of automotive enthusiasts across the globe, offering more than 15,000 collectible vehicles at public auction each year, including the first Acura NSX, Plymouth Prowler, and Dodge Viper. Kruse also developed the first auction broadcasted live via satellite, the first auction streamed on the Internet, and the first auction produced on cable television (Financial News Network, forerunner to CNBC) as well as ESPN2 with several televised auctions reaching the highest ratings on their respective networks. Kruse has auctioned for royalty, heads of state, numerous celebrities and the top classic car collectors in the world. Kruse Auctions are currently broadcasted on Fox Sports Network through a television series called, Bidding Wars.

Kruse and his father developed the world’s first auction park, a 400 acre facility that is home to the annual Auburn, Indiana collector car auction drawing 5,000 rare and exotic vehicles for the 300,000 collectors who attended each Labor Day Weekend. In honor of his father, he also founded the Dean V. Kruse Foundation which developed the second largest museum in the nation, only behind the Smithsonian.

Mitch Kruse sold his company to pursue his calling to communicate God’s restoration through grace and wisdom evidenced in leadership. He earned his Master of Arts and Doctor of Religious Studies degrees with high distinction from Trinity Theological Seminary. Mitch volunteered as teaching pastor at Blackhawk Ministries, a church of two thousand members. During that five-year period, his sermons were broadcasted via the Bible Hour aired Sunday mornings on the local ABC affiliate. Here he began to develop a series of resources to connect the culture with Christ and ministry with marketplace.

Mitch’s first book, Restoration Road, chronicles his story paralleled with Jesus’ parable of the father who had two sons. He hosts, The Invitation, a DVD that captures his visit to the Philippines where he connected with some of the 14,000 families who live inside a Manila landfill. Mitch can be heard each month on WBCL Radio where he hosts Wisdom Works, a one-hour show devoted to the benefits of God’s heart intersecting with street smarts.

Currently Mitch, his wife Susan, and their four daughters live in Auburn, Indiana, on their family farm homesteaded from the Indiana State government by his great-great-great grandfather in 1854.