Expedia Inc. has promoted CFO Mark Okerstrom to CEO,
following the departure of Dara Khosrowshahi to Uber Technologies. Okerstrom
will also join Expedia's board.
Okerstrom joined Expedia in 2006, the year after
Khosrowshahi was named CEO. He was promoted to CFO in 2011.
"There was no other candidate that the board
considered," Expedia chairman Barry Diller said in a statement. "Under
Mark's leadership, surrounded by his excellent and tenured executive team, I'm
confident we'll continue to grow and prosper."
Khosrowshahi succeeds Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick, who
stepped down in June and remains on the ride-hailing company's board. He introduced
Khosrowshahi to employees at an early Wednesday meeting, Bloomberg reported.
Khosrowshahi said at the meeting that Uber may go public as
soon as 18 months from now.
"We are delighted to announce that Uber's board has
voted unanimously to appoint Dara Khosrowshahi to be our new CEO," Uber's
board of directors wrote in an e-mail to employees that was posted on the
company's website on Wednesday. "We're really fortunate to gain a leader
with Dara's experience, talent and vision."