Expedia Group chairman and senior executive Barry Miller made a number of announcements about the company and its executive team.
"We have one mandate - to conserve cash, survive, and use this time to reconstruct a stronger enterprise to serve the future of travel," said Diller in a statement. "We are unable to make any predictions as to when travel will rebound but we emphatically believe that it will, for....'if there's life, there's travel.'"
Peter Kern has been named CEO of Expedia Group.
"In these last five months, he has shown outstanding leadership in all aspects of the business, first in a wide reorganization and then dealing with the impact of the Corona crisis on our business," said Diller. "He now knows all aspects of the business, and we are truly lucky that he is now available to devote his full time to Expedia."
Diller also announced that Eric Hart will take on the role of chief financial officer. Hart has been with the company for 11 years and has been responsible for group strategy, business development, global M&A, investments, and the CarRentals.com business.
The announcement also included information about new financing for Expedia Group.
"As part of a comprehensive strategy to bolster Expedia's financial strength, we announced this morning that we are raising approximately $3.2B of new capital," the statement said. "This consists of an equity investment of $1.2B by Apollo and Silver Lake, two highly respected private equity firms. The equity will be non-voting and non-convertible preferred stock. It will also entail approximately $2B in new debt financing. We are also ceasing dividends until the business rebounds."
The announcement also included compensation changes for the board of directors and senior executives. The chairman, CEO and members of the board will forgo compensation for the rest of the year. The travel leadership team of senior executives will take a salary cut of 25 percent.
Diller also noted that there will be furloughs and reduced work week programs as well.
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