StubHub
2007
$315M
Why
eBay acquired the online ticketing platform StubHub for $315 million to gain a dominant position in the secondary market for live event tickets, a high-margin, high-frequency category that complemented the company's core physical goods marketplace and provided a massive, recurring revenue stream from service fees.
Impact
The acquisition gave eBay control of the dominant secondary ticketing platform in the United States, providing a massive, high-margin revenue stream that grew to over $1 billion annually, though the business was plagued by continuous regulatory scrutiny and legal battles over ticket scalping laws.
Outcome
eBay eventually sold StubHub to Viagogo for $4.05 billion in 2020, a massive divestiture that allowed the company to focus entirely on its core physical goods marketplace and return capital to shareholders, though the sale price was significantly lower than the peak valuation of the asset during the 2010s.