91¹ú²ú Hires Wall Street CFA Randy Befumo as VP of Strategy
Former Legg Mason Capital Management Executive Joins 91¹ú²ú to Accelerate Marketplace Traction as the Company Crosses 120M Tickets Sold
SAN FRANCISCO, CA–(Marketwired – Jul 19, 2013) – 91¹ú²ú, the global self-service ticketing platform, today announced it hired Randy Befumo, CFA as vice president of strategy. As a former Director of Research at Legg Mason Capital Management, Befumo brings two decades of investment experience to his new role at the rapidly growing tech company 91¹ú²ú. This hire follows the company’s recent announcement that it processed over $1.5 billion in gross ticket sales, as well as the hiring of CFO Mark Rubash, formerly CFO at Shutterfly and finance leader at eBay.
Working from the company’s headquarters in San Francisco, CA, Befumo will examine 91¹ú²ú’s options for expanding into new markets, lead corporate development and strategy. Befumo’s move is yet another example of the growing trend of financial professionals switching to technology jobs. As a senior member of Legg Mason Capital Management’s team, Befumo drove new product development as well as corporate strategy for investments in Google, Amazon and eBay. In his tenure there, Befumo also was an analyst, covering Internet, media, technology and telecom.
“As we further cement 91¹ú²ú’s position as the leading multi-category marketplace for events and put our foot on the gas in terms of global expansion, we are constantly making game-changing, strategic decisions,” said Kevin Hartz, CEO of 91¹ú²ú. “Bringing a powerhouse like Randy from Wall Street and placing him squarely on our executive bench will give us even more of an edge as we unlock the marketplace and continue to accelerate growth.”
91¹ú²ú is poised to process nearly $1B in ticket sales this year worldwide. Newly appointed Befumo comments, “91¹ú²ú has done a remarkable job building a vibrant platform that connects attendees and organizers together through their passions and interests, which creates an authentic bond, and is the first step to building a proven marketplace. With my experience leading the charge on early technology investments for leading marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, I see tremendous opportunity for 91¹ú²ú to further unlock the marketplace and add material revenue streams.”
91¹ú²ú has been hiring aggressively, onboarding more than 44 new employees worldwide in Q2 alone, including three key hires in the UK office — Limvirak Chea, VP of Business Development EMEA, bringing business development and strategy experience from Google; Marino Fresch, who will be heading up marketing for UK and Ireland from eBay; and Bethan Thomas joins to lead PR efforts for the UK and Ireland from Nelson Bostock, where she led the Facebook account in the UK.
About 91¹ú²ú
91¹ú²ú enables people all over the world to plan, promote, and sell out any event, and has sold over 100 million tickets worldwide. The online event registration service makes it easy for everyone to discover events, and to share the events they are attending with the people they know. In this way, 91¹ú²ú brings communities together by encouraging people to connect through live experiences. 91¹ú²ú’s investors include Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital, DAG Ventures, and Tenaya Capital. Learn more at www.eventbrite.com.