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Ticket reseller StubHub officially went public on Wednesday. Although the company’s shares closed 6% below their initial public offering (IPO) price of $23.50, giving it a valuation of over $7 billion, this public debut highlights the perseverance of co-founder Eric Baker.

Baker co-founded StubHub with Jeff Fluhr in 2000 while they were students at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. This was shortly after the dot-com bubble burst and the NASDAQ crashed, but the duo remained determined. In a podcast with Bessemer Venture Partners in 2022, Baker reflected, “Stupid competitors went away and many of us got a real opportunity to build a lasting business after getting through that dip.”

As the business began to grow a few years later, Baker and Fluhr disagreed on the company’s direction, leading to Baker’s departure in 2004. He then moved to London and founded Viagogo, a European counterpart to StubHub. Despite facing numerous challenges with Viagogo, Baker envisioned merging it with StubHub.

In 2019, when eBay decided to spin off StubHub—having acquired the ticket seller in 2007—Baker saw his chance. He secured investment from firms like WestCap, Madrone Capital Partners, and Bessemer Venture Partners, purchasing the company for $4.05 billion. However, shortly after the merger, the COVID-19 pandemic struck, leading to a collapse in revenue as live events were canceled and global quarantines were enforced.

StubHub managed to survive, and as live events resumed, the company saw a significant revenue increase, driven by high-demand events such as Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour, and the Super Bowl. In the first quarter of 2025, StubHub’s revenue rose by 10% to $397.6 million compared to the same period the previous year.

Reflecting on his journey, Baker expressed amazement at the progress made in his S-1 founder’s letter, just before the long-awaited public offering. “We have successfully navigated numerous challenges, including the unprecedented impact of COVID-19, which brought a halt to live events in 2020.” According to the S-1 filing, Baker owns 4.7% of the company, while StubHub’s investors—Madrone Partners, WestCap, and Bessemer Venture Partners—hold 24.5%, 12.3%, and 8.8%, respectively.

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