'I make a lot of money': Meet the auctioneer who dazzles Elton John's Oscar party

“What you’re looking for arsenic an auctioneer is idiosyncratic who’s genuinely fearless onstage,” says auctioneer Lydia Fenet. Except erstwhile they’re onstage adjacent to Elton John, who hosts his eponymous AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party and fundraiser annually, for which Fenet has been the auctioneer for the past 4 years.

The erstwhile Christie’s auctioneer, author, podcaster and motivational talker is usually unflappable connected the podium.

“It feels precise earthy and comfy to me, and I marque a batch of money. When I get up there, it’s maine astatine my peak. When someone’s having that overmuch fun, it’s hard not to person amusive with them,” Fenet tells The Envelope of her atypical benignant connected the auction block.

Fenet has go thing of a personage successful her ain close successful the auction world. “I person been connected each signifier successful each metropolis for each ample organization,” she says matter-of-factly. “Anyone [who knows] thing astir foundation auctions volition cognize my name.”

It’s fitting, then, that she had to audition to get into the tract successful which she’s go truthful renowned. After 4 years astatine Christie’s, she attended an unfastened telephone for employees and was the lone pistillate to pass.

“That full audition process is to find retired whether that idiosyncratic has the quality to basal onstage and, contempt everything that’s happening, enactment successful power of the country and the communicative [within it],” she says.

Counter to the stereotype of the auctioneer arsenic dry, monotone and much often than not male, Fenet learned astir 10 years into her two-decade-plus vocation that harnessing her affable property and consciousness of wit would promote donors to unfastened their wallets wider.

“I had been sick each day, truthful I got onstage that nighttime and was conscionable myself,” she says. “I started joking with the crowd. It was astir apt the archetypal clip successful astir 800 auctions erstwhile radical stopped talking [and started paying attraction to me]. So the adjacent time, I conscionable went for broke, and determination was a antheral who turned his seat astir to ticker me, which was the archetypal clip that had ever happened.”

Since then, Fenet has helped charities specified arsenic the Robin Hood Foundation, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and, of course, the Elton John AIDS Foundation rise much than $1 billion.

The archetypal twelvemonth Fenet came connected committee with John, successful 2022, she astir tripled the magnitude of donations from the twelvemonth anterior and has kept increasing the haul with each consequent auction. But, successful Fenet’s mind, thing compares to the 2024 party, erstwhile she sold a Yamaha soft bedazzled with John’s look for $360,000. While Fenet was selling, John regaled the assemblage with the strains of “Tiny Dancer” and “Your Song.”

“I retrieve thinking, ‘Don’t achromatic out,’” she exclaims. “And also, ‘Call your ma and dada due to the fact that they’re not going to judge it!’ That mightiness person been the item [of my life].”

Though Fenet is personally looking guardant to seeing Timothée Chalamet, Michael B. Jordan, and Leonardo DiCaprio — whom she’s auctioneered successful beforehand of astatine myriad personage fundraisers — duke it retired successful the pb histrion category, she says the Academy Awards are “just a fabulous L.A. backdrop” and that John is the existent prima of the night.

“It’s much astir [the information that] this is his foundation, radical perfectly emotion him and respect what he’s done,” Fenet says. “There are electrical and magic things that tin hap successful that room, truthful we privation to beryllium intentional astir the items.”

This clip around, the tons volition see Chopard jewelry, which past twelvemonth went for $250,000; a customized pinball instrumentality by Jersey Jack; and a backstage meal with John and his hubby (and instauration committee member) David Furnish.

Despite her lively auction style, Fenet isn’t supra shedding a teardrop erstwhile the auction — and the magnitude of wealth — moves her. “There are a batch of moments erstwhile I’m backstage being like, ‘Pull it together!’ But we’re each human,” she concedes. “I’m a conduit. If I bash my occupation well, radical who were readying to springiness conscionable springiness more.”