Vivid Seats Appoints Stan Chia as Chief Executive Officer

CHICAGO, October 25, 2018 – Vivid Seats, the largest independent ticket marketplace in North America, today announced the appointment of Stan Chia to Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Mr. Chia will be based in Chicago and will lead the company’s efforts to build on its strong foundation and further elevate the company and its offerings to consumers and sellers of tickets.

Vivid Seats co-founders Eric Vassilatos and Jerry Bednyak will transition daily operations to Mr. Chia and the leadership team. Both co-founders will remain actively involved as co-chairmen of the Vivid Seats board of directors and also as major investors.

Mr. Chia will build upon Vivid Seats’ success as a leading marketplace with industry-pacing technology, a track record of innovation and a world-class experience for buying and selling live event tickets.

In recent years, Vivid Seats has recruited a strong, comprehensive team of industry leaders with experience at top performing companies such as Expedia, Orbitz, Grubhub, Groupon, American Express, Capital One and StubHub, to complement the existing leadership team that has been with Vivid Seats since the company’s beginnings. Mr. Chia’s experience driving growth at other leading internet companies, such as Grubhub, Amazon and Cisco, will further accelerate Vivid Seats’ position as a sector leader. Mr. Chia and the existing management team will be backed with financial and strategic support from leading private equity firms GTCR and Vista Equity Partners.

Most recently, Mr. Chia was Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Grubhub, the nation’s leading online and mobile food ordering and delivery marketplace. During his tenure as COO, Mr. Chia helped significantly grow Grubhub’s restaurant network to more than 95,000 restaurants in 1,700 cities nationwide and was the architect of the rapidly expanding Grubhub Delivery Network.  Prior to Grubhub, Mr. Chia led strategic businesses and organizations at Amazon, Cisco and General Electric. He holds a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he holds a seat on the advisory board, and an MBA from Emory University.

“Stan’s experience driving incremental growth, strategic partnership development and innovative operations makes him an ideal fit to further advance Vivid Seats and the ticket purchasing experience,” said Mr. Bednyak. “I am confident that he’ll take the company to the next phase of its corporate evolution and look forward to working with him.”

“Vivid Seats is at an exciting time in its evolution where it has the scale and product tools to further accelerate growth and become the leading brand in the online ticket sales market -- as well as build on its track record of innovation in the sector,” said Mr. Vassilatos. “I’m happy to make this transition knowing that Stan and the rest of the team will take the company to even greater heights.”

Messrs. Bednyak and Vassilatos founded Vivid Seats in 2001, scaling the business from a startup to the largest independent ticket marketplace in North America.

“We want to thank Eric and Jerry for being great partners, and we look forward to continuing to work with them,” said Lawrence Fey, Managing Director at GTCR. “They have built an exceptional company that is now in a very strong market position. Stan will be an exciting addition to the company and team and we are excited to work with him as Vivid Seats continues to grow and develop its technology and tools in online ticketing.”  

“I want to thank the founders and Vivid Seats’ shareholders for the opportunity to lead such an exceptional company of great people during a time of growth and innovation in the marketplace,” said Stan Chia. “I’ve always had a passion for live events and technology, and I am excited to work with the Vivid Seats team to provide consumers the best experience in online ticketing.”

Mr. Chia officially will join Vivid Seats in November, once he has transitioned his work at Grubhub.

About Vivid Seats
Vivid Seats is the largest independent marketplace for tickets to live sports, concerts and theater events, and the industry's leading provider of technology platforms and service solutions. Founded in 2001, the Chicago-based company offers exceptional affordability across one of the widest selections of premium tickets and event packages. Selected by organizations like ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Notre Dame and the Duke Blue Devils to serve as official ticketing partners, Vivid Seats supports all confirmed orders with a 100% Buyer Guarantee and a dedicated customer service team to ensure the safest and most convenient purchase experience. Fans who want to sit closer and see more of their favorite live events can order directly on vividseats.com, by downloading the Vivid Seats mobile app or by phone at 866-848-8499.

Media Contact:

Stephen Spiewak, Vivid Seats, (312) 291-9966 ext. 259
stephen.spiewak@vividseats.com