StubHub President Sukhinder Singh Cassidy has announced her resignation following two years in the post. Her exit comes as the company faces economic struggles brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, including a barrage of event cancellations, employee furloughs and refund-centered lawsuits.
However, Singh Cassidy says she planned to leave her post following Viagogo’s acquisition of StubHub. Although the $4 billion deal was finalized earlier this year, the two companies will continue to operate as separate entities pending regulatory approval from the U.K.’s Competition and Market Authority. Jill Krimmel will take on Singh Cassidy’s role in the interim until approval is granted.
“The company doesn’t need two CEOs at either combined company,” Singh Cassidy revealed to Billboard, which first reported the story. “Prior to the sale, we had agreed with Viagogo that I would be transitioning out at the appropriate time once the sale had closed.”
The coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the industry presented greater challenges for StubHub. With hundreds of high-profile events axed, demand for refunded tickets became overwhelming and led the resale giant to change its policy from cash refunds to voucher-only. Multiple consumer lawsuits have since been filed against StubHub regarding their refund practice.
Those consumer-facing struggles have also impacted the company internally. In March, StubHub furloughed two-thirds of its workforce. Now, 200 of those impacted employees at all levels of the company have had their roles terminated with the remaining furloughed workers expected to return to work on June 1, according to Billboard.
“I felt a strong desire to stay and help us restructure and manage the business through what was a pretty immediate crisis for the industry,” she told Billboard. “And then when I felt like the company was in a position that it would not just be able to, manage through this, but also be in a position to thrive and recover, that’s when I agreed to make my transition out.”
