Uber’s pick for CEO is both tough and visionary
Under his care, Dara Khosrow- shahi has turned Expedia into a powerhouse
Deal alert: Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, the surprise pick to helm Uber, comes with a résumé tailored to fixing many of the ride-hailing company’s problems.
“If Uber needs someone who’s strategic, can define true north and can create a culture of winning, that’s what Dara can do in his sleep,” says Woody Marshall, a partner at venture capital firm TCV.
“I’ve known him my whole life, and what you see is what you get,” says Marshall, who says he met Khosrowshahi, 48, when they both attended prep school in New York. “Dara is a person of substance who is very steady. Not to mention that he took an alsoran in the industry and turned it into a powerhouse.”
Marshall and others point to Khosrowshahi’s run at Expedia as proof he’s got a shot at tackling Uber’s issues, which include deep cultural issues, a lawsuit from self-driving car rival Google and a dysfunctional board.
On the business front, Khosrowshahi went on a bold acquisition run in recent years that culminated in Expedia’s $1.6 billion purchase of rival Orbitz in 2015, making it the online booking market leader to second place Priceline.
Under his reign, Expedia also scooped up Hotwire, Trivago and Travelocity. Its stock is worth six times more than it was in 2005 when he was appointed CEO, easily outpacing the tripling of the Nasdaq 100 during the same time period. Over the past year, Expedia stock rose to $142 from $109.
On the personal front, Uber gets in Khosrowshahi an American success story, the son of Iranian immigrants whose financial acumen saw him rise quickly at Barry Diller’s IAC Travel, which bought Expedia in 2003.
Khosrowshahi has been critical of President Trump’s immigration ban push, chastising him after Charlottesville for failing to “rise to the expectations of his office.” That stand may sit well with Uber’s riders, who protested former CEO Travis Kalanick’s postinauguration involvement with a Trump business council, which Kalanick later left.
How he’ll tackle making Uber a more inclusive place for women and underrepresented minorities — one of the recommendations made by ex-U.S. attorney general Eric Holder — is less clear. Under Khosrowshahi, the company said last year that 51% of employees are women, although only 35% of them are in senior leadership positions. Expedia’s track record of hiring minorities isn’t known.
“He’s built Expedia into a destination business that attracts and keeps good talent, which is significant when you have Amazon and Microsoft in your (Seattle) backyard ready to poach people,” says Henry Harteveldt, travel industry analyst with Atmosphere Research Group.
Harteveldt also says his interactions with the Expedia CEO reveal a man “who doesn’t suffer fools gladly, he’s very numbers focused, he listens thoughtfully, asks smart questions, and then he’ll share his point of view. I’ve been around some intense conversations with him, but he’s always fair.”
For Jim Fowler, CEO of business insights platform Owler, Khosrowshahi “reminds me a little of Bill Gates, in that he’s quiet, thoughtful, strategic and a ruthless businessman.”