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The Expedia Makeover Under CEO Peter Kern


Skift Take

A lot of behind-the-scenes work has taken place at Expedia Group under CEO Peter Kern over the past four years. Were the moves successful? That will depend on CEO-in-waiting Ariane Gorin.

In December 2019, Ariane Gorin, president of Expedia Business Services, moderated a fireside chat with Chairman Barry Diller and Vice Chairman Peter Kern at an all-hands employee meeting. Expedia Group had just parted ways with its CEO and CFO, and Kern would soon be named CEO.

On Thursday, in a surprise move, Expedia Group announced that Kern is leaving that post.

Gorin, who has worked at Expedia Group in various executive positions since 2013, will take over as CEO of the company – and it looks vastly different than it did at the time of that employee town hall four years ago.

Here's a look at Expedia Group when Kern became CEO, which was at the beginning of the pandemic, versus the company today.

Expedia Employee Ranks: From 'Bloated' to Trimmed Down

In February 13, 2020, Diller characterized the company as "bloated," and one where the workplace culture was "all life, no work." That may or may not have been true. But less than two