Vivid Seats has announced a pair of executive promotions, moving two vice presidents up to the C-level. Riva Bakal has been named the company’s Chief Product and Strategy officer, with Ted Pickus named Chief Accounting Officer. The appointments were announced by CEO Stan Chia Wednesday.
“Over the past year we’ve added extensive experience to our leadership team in order to position Vivid Seats for long-term growth. As we continue to invest in talent and support our proven leaders, these promotions were natural choices,” said Stan Chia, Vivid Seats CEO. “I have been consistently impressed by Riva and Ted’s dedication and unfailing execution of our company’s strategic vision, during their tenure. They are both talented leaders who bring a depth of experience that will allow us to continue to move our business forward and deliver shareholder value.”
Pickus has been with Vivid Seats since 2013, and was promoted to Vice President of Accounting in 2018. Bakal joined the company as Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development in 2019 and has been Vice President of Strategy and Product since 2021. Previously, she served in senior management at GrubHub, which is also the company from which Chia departed to join Vivid Seats.
“Since joining Vivid Seats, Riva’s expertise has been instrumental in driving our product strategy, corporate development, and user experience roadmap, and we are thrilled to promote her to this new role,” Chia says. “With a deep understanding of our business, Ted has distinguished himself over nearly a decade at Vivid Seats, strengthening our financial prowess and making him an ideal choice to continue enhancing our accounting systems. We are privileged to have two tremendous leaders of this caliber within our ranks and look forward to the ways in which Riva and Ted will build on our momentum in their expanded leadership roles.”
Vivid Seats has attempted to rebound strongly from the pandemic shutdown, having gone public (NASDAQ: SEAT) through a merger with Horizon Acquisitions last year. Just prior to that closing, the company appointed other senior leaders, including a COO, CMO and General Counsel in September 2021.
