Eric Baker (businessman)

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Eric Baker
Born
Eric H. Baker

Los Angeles, California, US
Education Harvard College
Stanford Business School
Known forFounder and CEO, Viagogo
Co-founder, StubHub

Eric H. Baker is an American businessman. He co-founded StubHub in 2000, and created Viagogo six years later. He is CEO of StubHub Holdings, Inc, which owns the two ticketing marketplaces.

Contents

Early life

Baker was born and grew up in Los Angeles.[ clarification needed ] [1] [2] Baker graduated from Harvard College in 1995, and received an MBA from Stanford Business School in 2001. [3] [ unreliable source? ]

Career

Baker worked for McKinsey & Company for two years, and then Bain Capital, a private equity firm in Boston. [3] [2]

StubHub

A year after enrolling at Stanford, Baker co-founded StubHub in 2000 with classmate Jeff Fluhr.The idea came when Baker saw a Broadway play and struggled to buy secondhand tickets. He remembered the need for a more efficient way to buy these tickets and developed the idea during a Stanford competition. [4] [2] Baker and Fluhr withdrew from the competition after being chosen as finalists due to concerns that someone might take their idea. [2] [1] The two began to network with potential investors in the music and sports industries. By March 2000, the company was incorporated and five months later, the duo had raised $600,000 in seed funding. [5] While Fluhr dropped out of Stanford to focus on StubHub full-time, Baker opted not to immediately join the company. [6] While he was completing his MBA, the first version of the website launched without him in October 2000. [7] [ unreliable source? ] He rejoined StubHub as its president in 2001. [8] However, Baker and Fluhr clashed on the direction of the company and Baker was fired from StubHub in 2004. [6]

In 2006, Baker moved to London. [6] Baker did not sign a non-compete with StubHub so was able to launch a new ticketing marketplace, Viagogo, later that year. Viagogo initially focused on Europe and launched with inaugural partners Manchester United and Chelsea Football Club. [6] Baker has been its CEO since then. [8] Baker owns Viagogo through his Delaware-based company, originally named Pugnacious Endeavors. [9]

In 2020, Viagogo completed its acquisition of StubHub out of eBay, with the combined company rebranding as StubHub and Baker as CEO. [6]

Acquisition

Baker purchased StubHub from eBay in February 2020 through Pugnacious Endeavors, [10] [11] which was later renamed to StubHub Holdings, Inc. [12] Baker is the CEO of StubHub Holdings, Inc. [13] [8] United Kingdom regulators approved the merger in September 2021. [11]

The purchase coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting pause in live events, which caused initial criticism of the deal. Forbes called the purchase ill-timed due to the pandemic causing cancelled tours, shows, and other live events. [6] By 2024, audiences had returned and Stubhub had regained some marketshare that had been lost prior to the pandemic, but with high marketing expenditures. [14]

References

  1. 1 2 "Viagogo: who runs it and who owns it? | Money". The Guardian. March 24, 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Eric Baker: Respectable face of ticket touting". Telegraph. January 12, 2008. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Eric Baker – Founder and CEO, Viagogo.com – MusicTank". Musictank.co.uk. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  4. ↑ Steele, Anne (November 29, 2019). "The Tale Behind StubHub's Sale: How Eric Baker Bought Back the Ticket Seller". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on December 3, 2019. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  5. ↑ Eng, Dinah (July 23, 2012). "StubHub: Anatomy of a game-changing idea". CNN. Fortune. Retrieved June 5, 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kirsch, Noah. "The Worst Deal Ever: The Inside Story Of The Epically Bad Decision By StubHub's Cofounder To Buy His Company Back". Forbes. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  7. ↑ Warner, Andrew (October 29, 2009). "How Questioning Basic Assumptions Made StubHub A $310 Million Company - With Jeffrey Fluhr". Business Podcast for Startups. Mixergy. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
  8. 1 2 3 "Eric H. Baker: Executive Profile & Biography". Bloomberg. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Viagogo: who runs it and who owns it? | Money". The Guardian. March 24, 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  10. ↑ "New StubHub owner Viagogo faces big financial questions with no easy answers". August 16, 2021.
  11. 1 2 Davies, Rob (September 8, 2021). "UK watchdog approves £2.9bn Viagogo and StubHub merger". The Guardian. Retrieved June 11, 2025.
  12. ↑ Spangler, Todd (March 21, 2025). "StubHub Files for IPO, Ticket Resale Platform's Sales Climbed 29% to $1.8 Billion in 2024 but Swung to a Loss". Variety. Retrieved July 17, 2025.
  13. ↑ McCormick, Bret (July 28, 2022). "StubHub to close S.F., Shanghai offices, memo shows". Sports Business Journal. Retrieved June 5, 2025.
  14. ↑ Driebusch, Corrie; Steele, Anne (May 23, 2025). "StubHub's CEO Isn't Delusional. That's Why He Hasn't IPO'd Yet". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on May 24, 2025. Retrieved May 24, 2025.
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