Expedia Chairman Barry Diller Rips His 'Bloated' Company as 'All Life, No Work'

When a CEO and chief financial officer get pushed out a couple of months earlier, yes, the next earnings call with financial analysts might be unusual. But the Expedia Group fourth-quarter earnings discussion on Thursday was one for the record books. Expedia Group Chairman Barry Diller and Vice Chairman Peter Kern, who are now running the show and retooling the giant online travel company, laid out the path to the promised land. Actually Kern said that he and Diller over the last couple of months have seen "a fair bit of wasted energy and calories going at things" that may not have delivered Expedia "to the promised land." It was that kind of conference call. But first — before we get into the zingers unleashed during the session — here are a few words about the company's disappointing fourth-quarter results. Expedia Group missed analysts' expectation on revenue and earnings per share. Revenue grew 8 percent to $2.63 billion in the fourth quarter, and adjusted EPS (earnings per share) fell 1 percent to $1.24. But Diller and Kern vowed to simplify Expedia Group's far-flung businesses, execute $300 million to $500 million in run rate cost-cutting in 2020, and pledged double-digit adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) growth this year. Wall Street loved it — Expedia Group's share price was up more than 10 percent in after-hours trading. Here are some highlights of the earnings call: 1. Diller Said Expedia's Work-Life Balance Was the Opposite of Amazon's While some people have argued that work-life balance at fellow Seattle company Amazon was "all work and no life," Diller said, at Expedia it was "all life and no work." He admitted that's an "enormous exaggeration" and that there are wonderful employees at Expedia, but added "for several years, we really lost clarity and