CEO Avant Gardner
Josh Wyatt Bio
Oct 2024
Josh Wyatt is a highly engaged and driven entrepreneur, executive, strategist, and investor in the hospitality, leisure, arts/entertainment, culture, and real estate industries. As CEO of Avant Gardner, the one-of-a-kind nightlife and performance venue destination including The Brooklyn Mirage, The Great Hall, and The Kings Hall, Wyatt oversees diverse music, entertainment, and venue businesses. A one-of-a-kind space and the largest club in New York City, the Brooklyn Mirage has attracted global talents, such as Glass Animals, Alesso, Skrillex, Drake, John Summit, and Tiesto. Brooklyn Mirage hosts thousands of nightlife enthusiasts every weekend and features state-of-the-art technology, best-in-class sound, and a spectacular 200-foot LED wall. Avant Gardner is synonymous with nightlife and has been recognized as the Best Large Club in North America by DJ Mag. Additionally, the complex has hosted scores of fashion, art, and culture events, emphasizing expansion into these areas in the future.
Prior to Avant Gardner, Wyatt served as the CEO and co-founder of CultureWorks, the parent company created in 2020, which owns and operates a portfolio of culture brands, including NeueHouse and Fotografiska. He served as CEO of NeueHouse (from 2018) and Fotografiska (from the merger in July 2020). In this role, he was instrumental in creating the concept, vision, strategy, corporate culture, and operational execution of the platform to set CultureWorks and its portfolio brands on course for long-term global success.
In early 2022, Wyatt led CultureWorks' Series C fundraise, raising $85m at a $360m postmoney valuation to invest further in new locations across North America and Europe. NeueHouse is one of the world’s largest private member clubs focused on delivering high-performance work and social clubs for creative individuals and companies. Fotografiska is the world’s largest for-profit photography museum, which includes robust events, exhibitions, membership, and retail offerings.
Wyatt also held the position of President of Equinox Hotels, where he helped develop the initial strategy for a new, innovative hospitality platform in the luxury wellness space, leveraging elevated design, Equinox programming, and specialized positioning and branding. Before Equinox, he was the Co-Founder, Managing Partner, and Chief Strategic Officer of Generator Hostels. This award-winning global brand was the first to offer upscale, design-focused hostel accommodations. Wyatt created the Generator brand and platform and led the company’s vision, global growth, design, and brand strategy for over nine years, scaling the brand into a global platform before successfully selling for $550m in May 2017.
Wyatt has also been featured in numerous business, lifestyle, and trade publications covering hospitality, wellness, and the membership club sectors, including the Financial Times, Fast Company, New York Times, Monocle, GQ, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Bloomberg TV, Forbes, WWD, Lodging Magazine, Architectural Record, Sleeper, Skift, Hospitality Design, CFDA, Architectural Digest and the Wall Street Journal. Josh received his B.A. in International Studies & Economics from American University (1996) and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School (2005).