Nathan Hubbard

Nathan Hubbard is an American business and music executive, and the founder of Firebird, a music startup, and Rival, a ticketing startup that was acquired by Ticketmaster.

Early life and education Hubbard graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1997, receiving a bachelor's degree in politics. Hubbard received an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2004. He is the older brother of PGA Tour player Mark Hubbard.

Career Hubbard began his career in the entertainment industry as a touring and recording singer/songwriter with the group Rockwell Church. Hubbard oversaw the e-commerce division of Live Nation, working on ticketing and online sales. and attempted to improve public perception of Ticketmaster. In 2013, Hubbard left Ticketmaster. Theories proposed for his departure included tensions with Michael Rapino, the CEO of Live Nation, over differences of opinion in product launch strategies, Ticketmaster's direction, and Hubbard's fan-friendly initiatives.

A few days after leaving Ticketmaster, Hubbard joined Twitter as the company's first vice president of commerce and the interim head of global media and commerce, where he remained from August 2013 to 2016. He left after Twitter disbanded its commerce team, stating that commuting from Los Angeles to San Francisco had been difficult for his family.

Following his time at Twitter, Hubbard founded ticketing company Rival in 2018 as challenger to Ticketmaster and served as the company's CEO.

In 2022, Hubbard partnered with college roommate and chairman of Gibson Brands, Nat Zilkha, to start Firebird Music Holdings, a music company that provides career and brand guidance to artists. The company's investors include The Raine Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Goldman Sachs Asset Management and includes artists such as Maggie Rogers, Chris Stapleton, Mumford & Sons, Dave Matthews Band, Phish and Leon Bridges. In 2023, Firebird partnered with TikTok stars the D'Amelio's DamGood Mgmt. where the two discuss the discographies and business impact of musical artists. He also hosts a golf podcast called Fairway Rollin' with Joe House.

Hubbard is on the board for Gibson.