Expedia CEO to step down after 4 years

Expedia CEO Peter Kern will step down in May after four years on the job, the Seattle-headquartered travel technology company announced Thursday.

Expedia’s board appointed Ariane Gorin, a company veteran who currently serves as the president of Expedia for Business, as the next CEO.

Kern, 56, will continue to serve as the company’s vice chair and board member until May 13 and will work with Gorin on the transition, the company said. Gorin, who has an 11-year tenure at Expedia, has also been elected to the board.

“We very much wanted an internal candidate to succeed to the CEO position, and following a comprehensive search, the board determined Ariane was the best candidate,” said Barry Diller, Expedia Group’s chair and senior executive.

As president of Expedia for Business, Gorin grew its business-to-business revenueby 33% in 2023 compared with the previous year, according to the company. Her division, which sells advertising and travel technology to corporate clients and powers travel booking websites for major brands such as Walmart and American Express, has been growing faster than Expedia’s larger consumer-facing retail business. Before joining Expedia in 2013, Gorin held leadership roles at Microsoft for 10 years.

Kern was appointed CEO in April 2020, as the pandemic crushed the travel industry. Diller said at the time the company’s focus was to save money and survive. Among the actions Expedia’s board took as part of that strategy was picking Kern as CEO, appointing a new chief financial officer and raising $3.2 billion in funding.

Expedia’s stock was up 3.3% at market close on Thursday, but fell 13.2% after hours.

The change in leadership caught the market by surprise and it could signal another struggle over strategic direction at Expedia, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Kevin Tsao told Bloomberg News.

Kern told analysts Thursday that the plan had always been for him to be CEO “for a period of time.”

“I bit off more than I thought I was going to, and it was a bigger job than I thought it was,” Kern said.

Under Kern’s leadership, the company bounced back from a 57% drop in revenue in 2020 to record revenues in fiscal year 2023.

Expedia reported on Thursday an annual revenue of $12.8 billion, representing a 10% increase in 2023 compared to the previous year. In the fourth quarter, also announced Thursday, revenue from the company’s business-to-business unit was the biggest contributor to overall sales gains, while reported gross bookings and room-night growth fell short of Wall Street expectations.

The company’s annual revenue in 2020 was $5.2 billion, a decrease of nearly 57% compared with the prior year, when the company’s revenue was $12 billion.

Still, Expedia hasn’t benefited in the way some of its rivals have from a post-pandemic travel boom. The shift in consumer demand toward urban markets and shorter stays didn’t benefit Vrbo, Expedia’s vacation rental brand, as it did Airbnb. Expedia also doesn’t have the same international reach as Airbnb or Booking Holdings.

“We’re seeing a shift from an emphasis on consolidation, cost cutting and transformation under Peter, who came in during a tough time and focused on leading the company out of it,” Tsao told Bloomberg News. “Now you’re transitioning to potentially more of a growth focus with Ariane who’s been focused on driving and growing their B2B business.” 

As Expedia strives for more aggressive growth, it’s also balancing bigger expenses. The company plans to spend a record amount on marketing as it seeks to gain share in the consumer travel industry and step up the competition with Airbnb and Booking.

This article includes information from Bloomberg News.