StubHub’s Founding History Disputed by Former CEO Jeff Fluhr in Response to IPO Filing

Jeff Fluhr, who co-founded StubHub alongside Eric Baker at Stanford Business School, is publicly challenging the company’s recent portrayal of Baker as its sole founder. Fluhr’s rebuttal came via a detailed LinkedIn post published in response to StubHub’s S-1 filing for its planned initial public offering (IPO).

In the filing, Baker is described as having “set out to solve this problem” by founding StubHub in 2000 while at Stanford. Fluhr, who served as StubHub’s chief executive officer from its inception until its sale to eBay in 2007, is not mentioned in the document.

“Thanks for noticing, Greg. You definitely know the history,” Fluhr wrote, referencing venture capitalist Greg Bettinelli, who first pointed out the omission. “Indeed, I co-founded StubHub with Eric; he was not the sole founder. Let’s set the record straight.”

According to Fluhr, the original concept for StubHub was born during the duo’s first year at Stanford Business School. Fluhr wrote a two-page executive summary that helped the fledgling company become a finalist in a Stanford business plan competition in February 2000. He left business school to lead StubHub full time, securing partnerships with Major League Baseball, the Seattle Mariners, the Arizona Diamondbacks and MSN, among others. Baker completed his MBA before joining StubHub in 2001 as a remote employee based in Los Angeles, focusing on public relations, business development and fundraising.

“In an attempt to rewrite history, Eric has erased me from the story and written me out of the S-1,” Fluhr said, calling Baker’s depiction of himself as sole founder a “surprise.” He added: “At a time when we should all be celebrating StubHub’s success, it appears old wounds are deep enough to lie about the company’s founding story.”

Baker parted ways with StubHub in 2004 following disagreements with Fluhr about the company’s future. Fluhr continued to lead the platform until eBay acquired the business in 2007. Baker went on to found viagogo, another ticket resale marketplace, which later purchased StubHub from eBay for $4 billion in 2020.

Now, with StubHub eyeing a fresh public market debut, details of its origins are back in the spotlight. Last week, TicketNews reported on the S-1, which references 30% revenue growth in 2024 for the company. While Baker’s contributions to viagogo and StubHub’s revival have been celebrated, Fluhr insists the record should reflect both founders’ roles.

“To Eric’s credit, he did a great job building Viagogo, buying StubHub from eBay and navigating through COVID. But the facts are the facts,” Fluhr wrote, emphasizing the team effort behind StubHub’s early days. He expressed gratitude to key early contributors, naming numerous colleagues who helped grow the company from a startup into a major ticketing marketplace.

Whether StubHub will update or revise its official account in future regulatory filings remains unclear. For now, Fluhr’s post stands as a challenge to the S-1’s depiction, underscoring that StubHub was, in his words, “built with me” and not solely by Eric Baker.