CEO and founder of American Royal Arts Jerry Gladstone was born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Massapequa Park, Long Island. Athletics have always played an important part in Jerry’s life. He attended the University of Rhode Island on a full football scholarship, is a black belt and martial arts instructor and volunteers as a coach for community youth sports programs. The competitiveness and discipline from the sports arena prepared him for the business world.

In 1986, Jerry founded American Royal Arts Corp. With a small initial capital investment of $ 2000, the company’s first location was in a small, somewhat modest, 600 square foot office building in New York. Since then, American Royal Arts has grown into the nation’s leading entertainment fine art company.

Under Jerry’s leadership, American Royal Arts was awarded numerous licensing agreements throughout the years for both art publishing and distribution. In the beginning when the company’s focus was on animation, those licenses included Fox Studios, Warner Bros., DreamWorks SKG, King Features, United Media, as well as Jim Davis’ Garfield and others.

When the market changed and the company’s focus turned more to Entertainment Fine Art in general, Jerry and American Royal Arts once again secured some of the most sought after licenses in the industry, including Apple Corp., MGM/Rocky, Elvis Presley Enterprises, Frank Sinatra Enterprises, artist Joe Petruccio, Rock and Roll Photographers James Fortune and Peter Simon, the Hulton|Archive, Mirrorpix, Jefferson Airplane’s Marty Balin and more. His ability to create long-lasting relationships has resulted in the company being able to offer its clients personalized artwork from Sylvester Stallone, Eric Clapton and The Rolling Stones, to name a few.

Jerry’s marketing savvy and the ability to surround himself with good people has enabled American Royal Arts to experience consistent growth despite an ever-changing market and economy. A multi-tiered ongoing advertising campaign and a state-of-the-art catalog keeps the company in the forefront of the consumer’s mind.

In 1998, Getty Images, a company owned by Mark Getty, the grandson of business tycoon J. Paul Getty, approached Jerry with their desire to acquire American Royal Arts. Jerry successfully sold ARA to Getty Images. Two years later, Getty decided to take a different business path, which gave Jerry the opportunity to re-acquire American Royal Arts. In October of 2001, the transaction was made final and Jerry still remains president of the company today.

Jerry has been featured in several television and radio programs and has been the subject of numerous articles in business and trade newspapers and magazines. His positive attitude and success has also resulted in his being highlighted in the book, “Attitude is Everything,” by motivational speaker and author Jeffrey Keller. Jerry also was an active member of the Disney Advisory Board.

In 2002, Jerry oversaw the successful relocation of the corporate headquarters of American Royal Arts from New York to Boca Raton, FL. Since the move, the company has grown to include six retail galleries located throughout Florida in Delray Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Key West, Sarasota, Madeira Beach and Naples.

 

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