Ken Chenault
Airbnb has appointed American Express CEO Ken Chenault to
its board of directors. Airbnb said Chenault is the company's first
nonaffiliated independent director.
Chenault, American Express' CEO since 2001, is retiring from
that position on Feb. 1.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said the appointment is part of its
vision of "designing a 21st century company" that is built to last.
Starting on Feb. 22, Airbnb will reveal what Chesky called "substantial
improvements to our service."
He said, "One area we are focused on is making sure
that, in markets that are significantly housing constrained, the Airbnb
community is helping people stay in their homes and share their communities and
not negatively impacting housing."
Chenault fits in because "as the CEO of American
Express, Ken has built one of the most successful trust-based companies in the
world. It is a company that has endured and innovated for nearly 168 years. Ken
and I spent time talking about the 21st-century model and in particular the
role of trust as the infrastructure for such a model," Chesky said.
Chenault also was recently appointed to Facebook's board of
directors.