Expedia Group announced two new hires to its executive leadership team on Rathi Murthy will be Chief Technology Officer and President of Expedia Services and Jon Gieselman will be President of Expedia Brands.
Murthy and Gieselman’s hires are part of an internal redesign of Expedia’s operating structure that splits the business into four key “pillars:” Expedia Services, Expedia Brands, Expedia Marketplace, Expedia for Business.
The reshuffling of its internal structure signals that Expedia is looking to position itself as a formidable player in the rebounding travel market and to bounce back from hard losses in 2020. The travel group laid off , about 12% of its team, at the start of the pandemic, with chairman and major shareholder Barry Dillman calling the organization at that time “bloated and sclerotic.”
Gieselman previously worked as VP of Market for Services at Apple, where he was responsible for the global marketing and sales functions for Apple’s Services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+ and the Apple Card. His new role will be focused on marketing for Expedia’s consumer-facing businesses, which includes Hotels.com, Vrbo and travelocity.
Jeff Hurst, Expedia’s previous President and Co-lead of Marketing, will now work as Expedia Brands Chief Operating Officer. Hurst was a key player in driving Vrbo through a tough year in the travel industry, and his new role will continue to bring company marketing teams together.
Murthy comes from Verizon Media, where she managed 5G innovations and the platform and technology infrastructure at Verizon. In her new role as CTO, Murthy will lead Expedia Services, which includes data and artificial intelligence, e-commmerce, payments and customer experience. She will also be tasked with evolving the company’s technical strategy and underlying platform.
To round out the other two newly-formed pillars, Expedia announced John Kim, previous President of Platform & Marketplaces, will become President of Expedia Marketplace. He will oversee strategy, product, technology and operations for all lines of business: lodging, air, car, cruise and activities.
Ariane Gorin will lead the newly formed Expedia for Business, which combines two current business service groups to form one B2B organization within the company.
The new operating structure also means departures over the next several months for a few team leads with long-standing tenures at the company. Among those leaving are Cyril Ranque, President of Travel Partners Group, Adam Jay, President and Co-Lead of Marketing and Tucker Moodey, President of Retail Product and Technology.
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