Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has being named the new Chief Executive Officer, CEO of Uber, sources close to the company say.
Khosrowshahi will replace co-founder Travis Kalanick, who stepped down in June following a tumultuous six months of scandal. He remains on Uber’s board.
Kalanick stepped down in the face of pressure from five of Uber’s largest investors, according to the New York Times.
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Khosrowshahi was not among those reported to have been in the running. The short list included Jeff Immelt, the former CEO of General Electric (GE), and Meg Whitman, the head of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE, Tech30).
Khosrowshahi may have been picked owing to his 12 years’ experience as Expedia’s chief executive.
After taking over the reins of Expedia in 2005, the company’s stock more than tripled during his tenure. The business grew from $2.1 billion in annual revenues on $15 billion in gross bookings in 2005 to $8.7 billion in annual revenues on $72.4 billion in gross bookings in 2016.
Khosrowshahi, an Iranian migrant, also led the acquisitions of the $1.3 billion merger with rival travel business Orbitz in 2015, as well as the $3.9 billion purchase of HomeAway that same year.
As Uber’s new CEO, Khosrowshahi will face a big job, including repairing the company’s internal culture, navigating legal battles, and reducing its financial losses.
The company faced an exodus of top executives this year.