Fred Rosen ’65 Talks Ticketmaster and Entrepreneurship

Contributed by CUSB student, Clarissa Ko, ’25, MBA expected ’26

“Some of you will fail. But at least you know you made the journey.”

These words from the former CEO of Ticketmaster, Clark alumnus Fred Rosen, echoed throughout our conversation. Fred is responsible for the company’s massive growth and now complete dominance as a ticket provider in the entertainment industry.

Fred was not what I expected. Honestly, I thought he would dominate the conversation with maybe a touch of arrogance after all his accomplishments. Instead, as the conversation progressed, he showed us an understanding side that knows how difficult it is to grow into yourself. He was open to any dialogue and made it clear he was here for our questions. His story would resonate through conversation with us as Clark students.

Fred was honest from the start.

“I’m kind of proof of the fact that getting great grades doesn’t exactly mean anything,” he said. “I was a terrible student in law school, I was a terrible school student at Clark. But…I learned enough to play.”

“All I’m telling you is, each of you are unique, intelligent, human beings, with a big runway in front of you.”

While a student at Clark, Fred worked multiple jobs, including at Sharfmans Jewelers in Worcester (which is still open today), selling encyclopedias in Lowell, Massachusetts, and doing taxes to make enough money to go to school. Fred graduated from Clark in 1965, then attended Brooklyn Law school, and after a few years working as an attorney, Fred saw an opportunity to purchase a struggling company called Ticketmaster.

From my personal perspective and knowing Ticketmaster as the major retailer where I purchase concert tickets, I laughed when he noted he wasn’t very interested in music at the time, explaining, “I thought Def Leppard was an animal with a hearing problem.” Instead, his reason for building Ticketmaster was because “the economics were different… I created it as a heat shield because the artist didn’t want the public to know what the real price of tickets was. That’s a hard fact.”

Being an entrepreneur is not easy, and Fred touched on that. “Building a business owns you. All day long, you’re thinking about business. And all of that has an impact on relationships.”  Fred talked about his time in the early days of Ticketmaster cold calling and promising secretaries tickets for a spare minute with their bosses. This approach led to 70% of the CEOs he talked to becoming business partners. He learned that you need to push through and be innovative in approaches to create the connections you need to make a name for yourself. “And we kind of changed the world,” he added.

While Fred talked about his business, it was clear that his snippets about what made his career successful carried over to how to live a meaningful life.  Part of the search to understand yourself is going through the tension of what you can handle. Through that, you pressure test yourself and realize what you are capable of.  That journey can feel like a lonely one, but that fear makes you alive.

“Be a sponge. Learn as much as you can from other people. And don’t be afraid. That’s hard to do, because there are nights when you go home, and you’re by yourself in your head, and your stomach is somewhere around your ankles. If you’ve never experienced that, you haven’t lived.”

Like many other students, there are moments where I feel wrapped up in the stress of growing up, so much so I feel like life is passing me by. Yet, I’m only 23. Fred was the needed reminder that we have so much life ahead of us, and that now is the time to try and fall and try and fall again.

“The reality is this, why be safe at 22? This is the time to fail. The great thing is, you’re at the beginning of a journey. That journey’s exciting because the book isn’t written. You got a book that’s an empty page, and the only thing in your book is your name on the first page.”

Fred’s reconstruction of Ticketmaster was guided by sharp intuition and a vision so clear it naturally drew others into his orbit. His meeting with us set the tone for any and all Clarkies that our only limitation is ourselves, because by challenging convention we can change our world.

PS: And if you are complaining the ticket prices are too high, in the words of Fred Rosen, “it’s not life, liberty, and pursuit of concert tickets.” Thanks for the laugh, Fred!