“Time to go back on offense and lead the industry,” says Peter Kern as he hands over reins
A smooth succession and transition in leadership is always to be celebrated. Look at the TV series, “Succession” and how it had to take four seasons to tell the stories of psychosis and skullduggery that went on in that family – although if you compare that to similar series from Taiwan and South Korea, those can go on for more than 100 episodes …
So given how hard it can be, the news that Ariane Gorin is to succeed Peter Kern as Expedia Group CEO effective May 13 is being welcomed by and large by everyone in the industry and certainly within the company. For those of us who’ve been following her trajectory over her last 10 years with Expedia to her current role as President, Expedia For Business, it wasn’t too unexpected – internal sources had pegged her as the successor designate and had been expecting the transition.
For Kern, who’s steered the company through the toughest period of its nearly 30-year-old life and has engineered the biggest transformation in the past four years, it must have felt like the right time to step down as CEO, and hand over the reins to a trusted lieutenant. He remains as Vice Chairman.
The Expedia of today is a very different animal from the Expedia of 2019. Kern was appointed CEO in April 2020 when the mission was to save money and survive. He had to make major cuts and drastic changes, and that was pretty much ongoing throughout the four years of his tenure as CEO.
During an interview I did with him a few months after his appointment, I asked him what was the most misunderstood thing about him and he said these cuts have made it easy for people to label him as “Mr Restructuring” but he stressed, “I have a growth mindset. Cutting costs is not fun, but I am about growth.”
Well, he and his team, with Gorin right beside him, have certainly put Expedia on the growth path, ending 2023 on a high.
Reporting on its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2023, Kern told the markets, “We delivered on our full year guidance and drove record results, all while completing a massive transformation and navigating the inherent volatility that comes with that. Our work is finally starting to deliver results, and we are in the best place we’ve ever been technologically.
“Moving forward, we are now able to execute without the numerous constraints we have faced in recent years. We will continue to focus on acquiring and retaining the right customers, driving share growth in our B2C and B2B businesses, and providing the best product and partner experience in the industry. It is really exciting to be in position to go back on offense and lead the industry.”
Key highlights of its 2023 results:
- Record full year lodging gross bookings growing 11% with record hotel gross bookings growing 18%, compared to 2022.
- Highest ever full year and fourth quarter revenue, both of which grew 10%, compared to 2022.
- Fourth quarter year over year B2C revenue growth accelerates from the third quarter.
- Record quarterly and full year B2B revenue, increasing 28% and 33%, respectively, compared to 2022.
- Highest ever full year GAAP net income grew 127%, compared to 2022.
- Record full year adjusted EBITDA grew 14%, compared to 2022.
- Significant adjusted EBITDA margin expansion at over 130 basis points for the fourth quarter and nearly 75 basis points for the year, compared to 2022.
- Repurchased over 19 million shares for a record $2 billion in 2023.
On Gorin’s appointment, Expedia’s chairman Barry Diller said, “We very much wanted an internal candidate to succeed to the CEO position, and following a comprehensive search, the Board determined Ariane was the best candidate given her exemplary leadership.”
Successful succession is by no means guaranteed of course. I recall when Diller announced the transition from Dara Khosrowshahi to Mark Okerstrom in 2017, he said it was “as natural as water flowing down a snow-packed mountain”.
In his LinkedIn post, Kern expressed pride and gratitude to the team “and the tenacity and resilience they demonstrated as we worked through this incredibly ambitious and challenging transformation. We have quite literally reset the company for the future.”
He described Gorin as “a proven leader, who has answered any challenge thrown at her, including most recently as head of our market leading B2B business.”
By the way, I also think it’s wonderful that Gorin is the first woman CEO of Expedia Group although I don’t think that’s why we should celebrate her ascension. Jane Sun has been CEO of Trip.com Group for a few years now.
Gorin has more than proven her mettle. In her LinkedIn post, she said, “Leading Expedia Group’s multi-billion B2B business over the last decade has been an incredible journey. I look forward to tapping into that experience while also learning from our teams that I haven’t yet spent as much time over the years.”
And oh by the way, on a recent Singapore Airlines flight from Bangkok to Singapore, when a female voice came on the intercom, I was expecting the usual landing safety protocols when it said, “Hello, this is your first officer speaking.”
After goodness knows how many years of flying with SIA, this was the first time I’ve heard a female voice from the cockpit. I smiled and then wondered, I wonder when and if the day will come when I will no longer notice whether it’s a female or male voice from the cockpit.
Image credit: (PRNewsfoto/Expedia Group)
