Expedia News

A lot of CEOs say they will maintain the policies of their predecessors. But when huge challenges surface, it will be up to Okerstrom to be his own guy, and chart a new course when necessary.

There is only one vote that mattered in Expedia's abbreviated CEO search — Barry Diller's. And he wholeheartedly wanted Okerstrom for the job. No need to mess around with an interim title or to conduct the dog and pony show of a CEO search. It was a done deal. Now Okerstrom has to step up to the challenge.

Alice is now majority-owned by Expedia. That brings heft to its dream of becoming the largest data machine in hospitality for operations and guest service.

What would make Expedia obsolete and cause Khosrowshahi to leave? Expedia's apparently outgoing CEO answered that question for us last year and talked about big technology trends a few years in the offing. But is he bolting because he thinks Expedia's best days are behind it?

Expedia's purchase price for a majority stake in SilverRail was double the sum that SilverRail had raised from investors. The price tag was a multiple of the investment but not a stellar exit for shareholders.

Khosrowshahi takes over a unicorn in Uber and will have the challenge of his life to get the ride-share company speeding along and toward an IPO with a trunk-full of controversies and problems. The choice of the next Expedia CEO to succeed him is indeed a critical one that will have far-reaching implications.

With a two-decade track record in online travel, Khosrowshahi has had his duck-and-cover as well as been-on-a-mountaintop moments. If Uber's looking for a steady hand, and a guy with experience who isn't afraid to take a U-turn when called for, then they could have done a helluva lot worse.

We can't blame Khosrowshahi for seizing a nearly once-in-a-lifetime challenge to right the trajectory of a unicorn, Uber, but this is also a very awkward time to leave Expedia. Now there will be two big-time CEOs under the gun: Priceline's new top guy, Glenn Fogel, and Khosrowshahi's successor at Expedia.

Expedia has promising candidates if it chooses to look internally for a permanent replacement for outgoing CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Our guess for the interim pick is CFO Mark Okerstrom.

Khosrowshahi has been reflective and honest as CEO of Expedia, taking ownership of his failures along the way. At Uber, the company will have a leader who has overseen both explosive growth and clever repositioning.