10 Facts About Dara Khosrowshahi Who Might be Uber’s Next CEO

The tumultuous time of Uber finally seems to be ending with the Uber board selecting travel company Expedia Inc.’s Dara Khosrowshahi as the new CEO. The decision to appoint Khosrowshahi comes after much speculation and controversies after Travis Kalanick was ousted as the CEO roughly a couple of months back.

The CEO hiring process at Uber wasn’t exactly a peaceful process. Many high-flying names like HP’s Meg Whitman, GE’s Jeff Immelt and Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg were making the rounds, until a few days back.

With the upcoming meeting of Dara Khosrowshahi with Uber employees in the cards, here are few facts about Dara Khosrowshahi the next Uber CEO.

Early Years

1. Dara Khosrowshahi was born in Iran in 1969. After the Iranian Revolution, he and his family emigrated to the United States in 1978. Khosrowshahi was aged nine then. He, along with his two brothers, was raised in the New York State area are by their mother.

2. He is also the cousin of the investor, Hadi Partovi and went to school with him in the United States.

3. Khosrowshahi graduated from Brown University with a degree in engineering in 1999 and joined Allen & Co as an investment banker and went on to stay will 1998, for a period of 7 years.

During these years, he served as the Vice President from 1995 to 1998.

Rise to the Top

4. After his stint at Allen & Co, Dara Khosrowshahi joined InterActiveCorp (IAC) under the mentorship of billionaire Barry Diller. IAC was the parent company of Expedia Inc.

5. He has served as Executive VP for operations and strategic planning, EVP and chief financial officer, USA Networks/IAC from 2000 to 2005. He has since been the CEO of Expedia.

6. Just before Khosrowshahi and Diller led the acquisition of Expedia, the September 11 attacks occurred. Even in times of extreme chaos, the deal didn’t fall through.

7. He is known famously in the Silicon Valley as the man who has expanded Expedia Inc. in a phenomenal way. During this time has Expedia Inc. expanded to over 60 different countries with takeovers of travel fare aggregator Orbitz Travel and vacation rental HomeAway.

Welcome to the EI family, @homeaway team! https://t.co/qF5zrxR7Vj

— dara khosrowshahi (@dkhos) December 15, 2015

Meanwhile, he also led Expedia Inc. to successfully battle both recession and the sprouting of new upstarts.

Awards and Earnings

8. Dara Khosrowshahi has been praised repeatedly for his leadership and managerial skills. In 2013, Ernst & Young awarded him the Pacific Northwest Entrepreneur of the Year award. He also features among the U.S. State Department’s List of Prominent Iranian-Americans.

He is also a board member of the New York Times Company and sports retailer, Fanatics Inc.

9. The year 2015 saw Khosrowshahi to be the highest paid CEO in America, with a whopping salary of $94.6 million — comprising of both cash and stock option.

Mom: “Nice! You made the top 100!”. Dad: “#39 is good but you were #11 in 2015” #whyIlovethemboth ???? @Glassdoor https://t.co/1B9dZ7M1lF

— dara khosrowshahi (@dkhos) June 21, 2017

The following year, he raked in an estimated $2.45 million and continued his stint as the highest paid U.S CEO.

One of the Most Outspoken CEOs

10. Dara Khosrowshahi has been one of the most outspoken CEOs in the tech industry when it came to opposing President Trump’s immigration ban policies.

Standing up for our travelers and our immigrant roots. Expedia Supports Lawsuit Against Trump’s Immigration Ban https://t.co/UwawZETzUn

— dara khosrowshahi (@dkhos) February 1, 2017

In fact, it was reported in the New York Times, that even Expedia supports the lawsuit against Trump’s Immigration ban and has criticised the President for his stance on the Charlottesville violence.

I keep waiting for the moment when our Prez will rise to the expectations of his office and he fails, repeatedly. https://t.co/WlxTkRfC71

— dara khosrowshahi (@dkhos) August 16, 2017

With Uber involved in a number of controversies involving harassment claims by former employees and a shift in the leadership culture in Uber, it seems  Dara Khosrowshahi will have his hands full in the times to come, provided he accepts the offer.