Barney Harford
Uber has tapped online travel veteran Barney Harford as its new
chief operating officer, effective Jan. 2. Harford has been an Uber adviser
since October.
Harford has a history with Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, the
former CEO of Expedia Inc. who was hired by Uber in September. When both men
were with Expedia, Harford helped lead Expedia's expansion into Asia from 2005
to 2009. Harford worked for Expedia from 1999 to 2009.
In 2009, Harford left Expedia to become Orbitz's CEO. He led
Orbitz until it was acquired by Expedia in 2015.
"I have never met a stronger operator or a more
thoughtful strategist than Barney," Khosrowshahi wrote in an Uber blog
post Wednesday morning. "He is able to go deep on key aspects of a
business while never losing sight of the big strategic picture."