Skift Take
He helped build Expedia. And now he’s trying to expand Uber from a ridesharing app into a booking platform for multiple types of travel.
Key Points
Summary
Dara Khosrowshahi, a key figure in the travel industry, significantly shaped Expedia through major acquisitions before becoming CEO of Uber in 2017. At Uber, he has been expanding the platform to include multiple travel services, such as flight bookings and shuttle services, while also improving its corporate culture. Despite facing controversies and challenges, Khosrowshahi continues to play an influential role in various organizations and maintains a strong presence in the travel sector.
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Dara Khosrowshahi, along with Barry Diller, built Expedia as we know it today. Khosrowshahi became CEO of Expedia in 2005 after it was spun out of Diller’s IAC, and spent the next 12 years overseeing multiple major acquisitions to consolidate the consumer travel industry and create a giant. The largest deals among them: Orbitz for $1.6 billion and HomeAway (now Vrbo) for $3.9 billion.
As the CEO of Uber since 2017, Khosrowshahi is working to expand the most prominent rideshare app into a booking platform for multiple types of travel. He is widely credited of improving the corporate culture at Uber, which had been rife with allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination.
The data shows that Uber has plenty of travel demand: About 700 million Uber trips in 2022 were for users traveling someplace outside their home market.
“These are Uber [riders] who are travelers. So we know that the audience is a very big travel audience,” Khosrowshahi said during the Skift Global Forum in 2023.
Uber last year began offering flight bookings through a connection with Hopper. The company has been experimenting with train and bus ticketing in the UK and Spain through a partnership with Omio. There’s also a partnership with Viator to offer tours and activities.
Most recently, Uber said it would be offering a shuttle service in the U.S. following successful pilots in Egypt and India.
Uber has had its fair share of controversies in recent years. Uber drivers have gone on several strikes to protest what they say are low wages. The company has also laid off hundreds of workers in various regions. Khosrowshahi has been an outspoken critic of former U.S. President Donald Trump and his immigration policy.
Khosrowshahi is a board member of Expedia Group, Asian superapp Grab, and the nonprofits Catalyst.org and Him For Her. He previously was on the board of Tripadvisor and The New York Times Company.
He was born in Iran, grew up in Westchester, and now lives in San Francisco. He has four children.
Dara Khosrowshahi at Skift Global Forum
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Tags: expedia, skift power rankings, uber