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No. 91
Chris Tsakalakis
President
StubHub
Twitter: @CTsak
Speeding Tickets…
People in the music industry tend to take one of two viewpoints on Tsakalakis, president of StubHub, the most powerful secondary ticketing company in the United States. He is either the opportunist who pockets money that should go to artists, or he is the visionary who does artists a service by creating a marketplace for fans to exchange tickets. It’s a classic battle, pitting StubHub on one side and primary ticketing companies-mainly Ticketmaster-on the other. “There are those that say the artists should have complete control over the price and who buys the ticket and whether they resell, and we don’t agree,” Tsakalakis told Billboard in early January. “We think the fan should have that right.” Additionally, Tsakalakis suggests he is fine-tuning the marketplace, noting that during the last four years ticket prices on StubHub have decreased 29% while gross dollars on the concert side went up 35%. StubHub, a division of eBay, makes its money by charging a 25% fee on tickets sold on the site. In August, Forbes estimated the company’s annual revenue at $325 million and operating income at $80 million. In December, StubHub expanded into the United Kingdom.
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