ERIC BAKER

http://www.viagogo.com/

Networth:$558+ million

Country of Residence: USA

StubHub (Often styled StubHub!) is a service which acts as an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of tickets for sports, concerts, theater and other live entertainment events.

The company was founded in 2000 by Eric Baker and Jeff Fluhr. StubHub.com, is the leading U.S. online secondary ticketing company for live events. Eric originated the StubHub concept and took StubHub from an idea on a sheet of paper to a rapidly growing, profitable business that has revolutionised the way that fans buy tickets in the secondary market. As founder and President, Eric developed the concept and business plan and was primarily responsible for sales/business development, strategic planning, financing, and public relations.

Tim Payton, an adviser to the ECB, describes Eric Baker, the Los Angeles native who founded the site, as a “ticket pimp“. The England and Wales Cricket Board, which tried to clamp down on the secondary market for the recent World Twenty20 event, including the cancellation of 1,000 tickets that had been resold, speaks more plainly.

Founder Eric Baker left StubHub in 2004 following a falling out with the company, and has started a new company called viagogo. StubHub was acquired by eBay in January 2007.

Click HERE for the story of Viagogo

In his words:

“As an entrepreneur, it’s very important to really believe in what you’re doing. I started my first company in the US in 2000. It was called StubHub and was a secondary ticketing company. I believed that there was a huge opportunity to get rid of the touts on the street and create an orderly and secure market online.

While doing my research, someone put me in touch with Fred Rosen, then CEO of Ticketmaster. He told me: ‘Eric, I have four words for you: it will never happen!’ Just like that. It shook me, but I believed we had an idea that made sense. So we started the firm and eBay bought it in 2007 for £300m.”