Scott Cutler Steps Down As CEO Of StockX, Co-Founder Greg Schwartz To Take Helm In 2025
UPDATE 11-12-24
Scott Cutler will be taking over leadership at HealthEquity, replacing outgoing CEO Jon Kessler.
StockX has announced current CEO Scott Cutler will be stepping down at the end of the year, returning to an advisory role at the company, with co-founder and current COO Greg Schwartz set to take over in 2025.
November 8, 2024 [DETROIT] — StockX today announced that Scott Cutler has chosen to step down as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) effective December 31, 2024.
The Board of Directors has selected Greg Schwartz, the company’s co-founder, president & COO, as the next StockX CEO. Cutler — who is one of StockX’s earliest investors and served as an advisor to the company prior to joining as CEO in June 2019 — will resume his role as advisor and will work closely with Schwartz for the balance of the year to ensure a smooth transition.
Schwartz will assume the role effective January 1, 2025.
Schwartz co-founded the company in 2016 with Dan Gilbert, Josh Luber, and Chris Kaufman, and has served as StockX’s COO since its inception.
“As a co-founder of the company, I have had the opportunity to work with an incredible team across different functions and have worn a number of hats in addition to my role as COO but there is no role that I feel more honored to assume than that of StockX’s CEO,” said Schwartz.
“From the moment we launched the business in Detroit in 2016, we knew we were building something special and to see how far we’ve come has been one of the achievements of which I’m most proud. I am grateful to have been able to attract a talent like Scott and to have had the benefit of his leadership. As we look to the next phase of the StockX journey, I intend to double down on our brand growth and product innovation to deliver best-in-class customer experiences that will help us to continue to scale globally.”
"Attract a talent like Scott" is an interesting turn of phrase, considering Cutler's history with the company and his previous employer, eBay.
Cutler joined eBay from the New York Stock Exchange in 2015 as President of their StubHub subsidiary before being promoted to VP eBay Americas in 2017. He then left in February 2019 only to "suddenly" take on the CEO job at rival StockX a few months later, taking a chunk of eBay's sneaker business with him in the process.
While StockX played it off at the time that they had "poached" Cutler from eBay, the reality appeared to be that then eBay CEO Devin Wenig allowed Cutler to engage/consult with StockX while still a company officer.
In fact, both StockX co-founder Josh Luber and Cutler publicly gushed to media at the time about their long friendship since the site was launched in 2016 and that Cutler had been a "trusted advisor" since the beginning.
Grace Turner
“Scott and I met just two days after StockX went live,” says Luber. “His extraordinary background mirrors the unique business model we have built at StockX. He understood the power of a stock market of things and quickly became a friend and trusted advisor.
Over the three years that followed, as the business scaled rapidly, Greg (Schwartz, StockX co-founder and COO) and I had the idea that Scott might one day be the perfect CEO to take us to the next level. Then the stars aligned – the growth continued, we added three world-class investors to our team, and Scott became available. We weren’t looking for a new CEO, but this was a no-brainer.”...
...“I have known the company and the management team since the beginning and have been impressed by its unique market model in e-commerce and dramatic growth. StockX is revolutionizing e-commerce,” says Cutler.
As savvy scrutineer unsuckEBAY put it at the time, StockX's claims about the situation were more than a little misleading.
Given those auspicious beginnings, it's perhaps a fitting full circle moment that one of Cutler's parting gifts for StockX was brokering a partnership with another ex-eBay alum to help Walmart fast track their foray into the pre-owned sneaker space, increasing market share for both companies and looking to take a bite out of one of eBay's foundational "high value buyer focus vertical" categories.
Liz Morton
Stacy Brown-Philpot, StockX board member & Chair of its Nominating, Governance & Impact committee said:
“On behalf of the board, I want to thank Scott for his valuable contributions to StockX over the past five years. During his tenure, we made significant strides in solidifying operational excellence and cementing the company’s leadership position in an increasingly competitive space. He efficiently scaled the business with an eye toward putting it in a strong position for his successor."
"Without question, Greg is ready to take the reins as our CEO — he will work tirelessly to strengthen our foundation and move StockX into its next chapter with the fervor that only a founder brings to the table.”
Cutler also shared the news on LinkedIn, reflecting on his start as both an investor in and advisor to the company, as well as his leadership tenure, and passing the torch to Schwartz.
He has not yet announced where his next move will be, aside from continuing in an advisory capacity to assist in a smooth transition for StockX.
Stay tuned for updates in this developing story!
