Who is Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s new CEO?
Expedia’s CEO is a big name in Seattle tech even though the scene’s stars don’t carry the same instant name recognition
By Julie Bort
In a move that surprised the tech industry, Uber offered its CEO job to a man who wasn’t on anyone’s radar: Expedia’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.
If he accepts the job, he will be leading the world’s most valuable privately-held tech startup, valued at more than US$60 billion by its investors. But he will also have an incredibly tough job steering the ride-hailing company back to stability, after months of controversies and bitter infighting at the board level.
So who is Uber’s chosen one?
Khosrowshahi, 48, has been CEO of Expedia for 12 years. Expedia is based in Bellevue, Washington. That means Khosrowshahi has spent his tech career as part of the Seattle’s tech scene, not Silicon Valley’s. While both regions are powerhouses in the tech industry, there’s also a bit of a rivalry between them.
Besides Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Microsoft’s coterie of execs, many of Seattle’s tech leaders don’t carry the same level of instant name recognition as their Silicon Valley peers. This seems to have allowed Khosrowshahi to get all the way to the final offer for Uber’s top job without anyone in the Valley so much as blinking in his direction.