Airbnb Distances Itself From Co-Founder Joe Gebbia's 'Personal Views'

In a sharp break, Airbnb has distanced itself from the personal opinions of co-founder and board member Joe Gebbia, who has become a vocal supporter of President Trump and Elon Musk's DOGE.

"Joe is joining DOGE in his personal capacity,” Christopher Nulty, Airbnb’s head of corporate communications and public affairs told Skift. “While he continues to serve on the Airbnb board, Joe has not had an operating role at the company since July 2022, and his personal views don't reflect the views of Airbnb or Airbnb.org."

A source close to Airbnb said Gebbia’s turn toward Trump, which the co-founder announced on X two days after the inauguration in January, and advocacy for DOGE have created concern internally at Airbnb, which is a very liberal company.

Airbnb's online community center is filled with messages from hosts who said they are leaving Airbnb or are considering deleting their listings unless Airbnb cuts ties with Gebbia.

Typical is a comment from one host in Buffalo, New York, who wrote: "Anyway - it's sad. I am a host of 12 years and a Superhost and I will be looking to list elsewhere unless they lose Joe Gebbia fast."

Airbnb.org and Gebbia’s Stance on ‘Illegal Aliens’

Gebbia, who announced a few days ago that he is working with DOGE on designing a new federal government retirement process, has also been chairman of the nonprofit Airbnb.org since its inception in 2020. Airbnb.org has helped provide temporary housing to hundreds of thousands of refugees, asylum seekers, victims of natural disasters, and relief workers.

Yet Gebbia has also become a vocal critic of European and U.S. refugee policies.

One DOGE priority has been to reduce foreign aid, some of which goes toward refugee assistance programs around the world. There have also been mass firings of federal employees.

Gebbia co-founded Airbnb with Brian Chesky and Nate Blecharczyk in 2008, and has chaired Airbnb.org since its creation in 2020.

A representative for Gebbia didn’t comment on whether Gebbia's views present a conflict with his role as chairman of Airbnb.org, let alone Airbnb, where he remains a major shareholder and board member.

Joe Gebbia's Views at Odds With Airbnb and Airbnb.org

Gebbia has regularly expressed his views through posts on X. On January 22, two days after the Trump inauguration, Gebbia posted that he voted Republican in November, "something the younger me would hate myself for doing."

I have a confession to make:

I did a bad thing.

Something the younger me

Would hate myself for doing.

Something that only a few people (and maybe Bytedance) know:

I voted Republican last November.

I know, I know

I can hear the crush of disappointed voices: Say it ain’t so,…

— Joe Gebbia (@jgebbia) January 19, 2025

He has criticized "carefree borders" and "mass migration" in Europe and expressed support for a U.S. Attorney General lawsuit against New York "for prioritizing illegal aliens over American citizens.

Powerful message from Vice President Vance to the leaders of UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain and the other EU nations with carefree borders. Did the people in any of those nations vote for mass migration? Or was it mandated from the top? Genuinely curious. Feel free to share… https://t.co/PphNRuv2PJ

— Joe Gebbia (@jgebbia) February 14, 2025

On the other hand, in a 2024 announcement, Airbnb touted the work of Airbnb.org, which Gebbia chairs.  "Since its founding, Airbnb.org has provided over 1.4 million nights of free, temporary housing to more than 210,000 refugees and asylum seekers."

In addition to chairing Airbnb.org, Gebbia has also served as a board member of the Olympic Refugee Foundation.

Gebbia, a billionaire and board member of Musk’s Tesla, posted last month that it's "unbelievable people are protesting against this," referring to the federal government budget gap that DOGE is targeting.

Airbnb provided the initial funding for Airbnb.org and its leadership has donated funds to the group, which is an independent nonprofit. Airbnb publishes Airbnb.org press releases and promotes its activities, which most recently, with the help of hosts and aid organizations, provided temporary housing to victims of, and first responders to, the LA wildfires.

Gebbia's Changed Politics

In his heyday at Airbnb, where he had an operational role until leaving in 2022, Gebbia was "the soul of the company," former Airbnb Head of Global Hospitality and Strategy Chip Conley told Skift that year.

A source close to the company said years ago Gebbia was thought to be the most liberal member of the co-founder trio, the most caring and soft-hearted.

In his January tweet about embracing Trump, Gebbia said he did research and discovered Trump "deeply cares about our nation," adding that he "loves the whole DOGE initiative."

In addition to his support for Trump, Vice President JD Vance and DOGE, Gebbia is an ardent supporter of attacking the problem of plastics mucking up the environment, and of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.'s efforts to rid toxins from the U.S. food supply.

Gebbia is co-founder of Samara, which is attempting to ease the housing crisis by selling "tiny homes" meant to be placed at times in backyards.

Gebbia's politics seemingly clash with that of Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky, who made a $100 million pledge to the Obama Foundation. Chesky and Obama, who a source said are good friends, created the Obama-Chesky Scholarship for Public Service.

As of a mid-2024 financial filing, Gebbia wielded 21.1% of Airbnb's voting power, and together the three co-founders controlled 79%. They have nominating and voting agreements that ensure that they vote for one another for board seats and thereby can't be ousted.

While it's unclear how Airbnb's distancing itself from Gebbia's personal views might impact that voting agreement one day, his chairmanship of Airbnb.org appears to be on less-secure footing.