Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi Plans to Accept Uber’s CEO Job

For example, the board discussed whether to team up with a auto company for Uber’s driverless vehicle operation, tech news outlet The Information recently reported.

Khosrowshahi replaces Travis Kalanick, who stepped down from the role in June but remains on the board of directors. From rough estimates, Expedia is a third of Uber in terms of assets. The outcome of that case could thwart Uber’s autonomous vehicle ambitions. “I’m glad I did”, Khosrowshahi told CNN Tech in an interview in April. He said, “I view daily short term stock volatility as really about sentiment”. “It wasn’t calculated. It was from the heart, and I think I represented the company well”. He has expanded Expedia into an even larger online travel conglomerate by acquiring other consumer brands, such as bookings sites Travelocity and Orbitz, and home rental site Homeaway.

Below are some of the raging fires that Uber’s new CEO will need to put out. What should Khosrowshahi hit first?

Uber’s board unanimously voted to hire.

Another challenge will be working with his predecessor.

Khosrowshahi has been CEO of Expedia since August of 2015.

“I said my part”. “He gets to the point very quickly, and he pushes”. In its most recent funding round, Uber was valued at $69 billion. “For Dara, figuring out that relationship will be important”.

Among the names mentioned to take over from Travis Kalanick, that of Jeffrey Immelt returned several times.

There were a number of frontrunners in the race to the top job at Uber, including GE chairman Jeff Immelt.

Uber would likely offer a replacement stock reward to Khosrowshahi, as well as additional compensation.

Meg Whitman, CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, had also been a leading candidate, but she last month denied having any interest in the job. Directors have said they need an independent chair.

Khosrowshahi has not responded to inquires from Reuters.

Dara Khosrowshahi has a almost ideal resume to be Uber’s next CEO. He may have to divest that stake.

Expedia had already told staff it expected him to accept the offer from the ride-hailing firm.

Cowen’s Kopelman, however, believes that Expedia has a strong management bench, with largely independent teams of seasoned executives in place running the company’s major divisions. He said he expects a replacement CEO “sooner rather than later”.

Khosrowshahi’s early opposition to Trump was driven both by Expedia’s concern about political issues impacting the travel industry and his experience as an Iranian refugee. But the former CEO is in the middle of a legal battle with venture capital firm Benchmark, which also sits on the board. He has previously vowed to “guide Uber into its next phase of growth and ensure its continued success”.

Uber’s investors celebrated when the startup lost $645 million in the second quarter of 2017.