StubHub has officially gone public, marking its long awaited debut on Wall Street.
Founded in 2000 by Stanford classmates Eric Baker and Jeff Fluhr, the ticket resale platform has grown into a $7 billion company. But StubHub’s path to its IPO has been anything but straightforward.
The Exit: After co founding StubHub, Baker was pushed out in 2004 and went on to launch Viagogo in Europe.
The Buy Back, in 2019, he orchestrated a dramatic return, buying back StubHub from eBay for $4.05 billion with backing from Madrone, WestCap, and Bessemer. Just as the acquisition closed, COVID-19 shut down live events worldwide. Revenues collapsed, and the company was left scrambling.
The revival of live entertainment turned the tide. Major events such as Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour, and the Super Bowl drove revenues back up, with Q1 2025 hitting $397.6 million, a 10% annual growth increase.
StubHub’s IPO launched at $23.50 per share, closing its first day down 6%. Despite the rocky start, the listing valued the company at over $7 billion. Baker now controls 4.7% of the business, while Madrone, WestCap, and Bessemer remain significant stakeholders.
From a dot com era startup to a global platform weathering pandemics and comebacks, StubHub’s Wall Street debut shows how resilience, and timing, can redefine an entire business.