Although Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has yet to officially accept the chief executive officer position at Uber, Expedia Chairman Barry Diller believes “it is his intention to accept,” according to an SEC filing.
Just yesterday, it came out that Uber offered the CEO job to Khosrowshahi. In an email to Expedia employees, Diller wrote:
As you probably know by now, Dara Khosrowshahi has been asked to lead Uber. Nothing has been yet finalized, but having extensively discussed this with Dara I believe it is his intention to accept. I also know the struggle he has been having out of both his abiding enthusiasm for Expedia’s future as well as his loyalty to all of us. I know Dara would like to communicate now with all of you but I’ve asked him not to until this is fully resolved. If Dara does leave us, it will be to my great regret but also my blessing – he’s devoted 12 great years to building this Company and if this is what he wants for his next adventure it will be with my best wishes. I say that because he deserves nothing less and I say that also because he will leave behind a tremendously talented corps of executives…
We both will be back in touch very soon.
Sincerely,
Barry Diller
Khosrowshahi has been CEO at Expedia since 2005, when IAC spun it out as its own company. He was a vocal opponent of President Trump’s executive order banning Muslim people from traveling to the U.S., and he more recently criticized Trump’s response to the violence in Charlottesville.
If Khosrowshahi takes the job at Uber, which it sounds like he will, he’s going to be immediately tasked with the lawsuit with Waymo over self-driving technology, hiring a chief operating officer and a chief finance officer and helping to restore Uber’s public image in light of sexual harassment allegations.