Dara Khosrowshahi - Wikipedia

Early life and education Edit

Khosrowshahi was born in 1969 in Iran into a wealthy Muslim family and grew up in a mansion on the family compound.[4][5] He is the youngest of the 3 children of Lili and Asghar (Gary) Khosrowshahi.[4][6]

His family founded the Alborz Investment Company, a diversified conglomerate involved in pharmaceuticals, chemicals, food, distribution, packaging, trading, and services.[citation needed ] In 1978, just before the Iranian Revolution, his family was targeted for its wealth and his mother decided to leave everything behind and flee the country. Their company was later nationalized.[7] His family first fled to southern France[4] and then immigrated to the United States, moving in with one of his uncles who lived in Tarrytown, New York.[6][5] In 1982, when Khosrowshahi was 13 years old, his father went to Iran to care for his grandfather. His father was not allowed to leave Iran for 6 years and therefore Khosrowshahi spent his teenage years without seeing his father.[7][5] In 1987, he graduated from the Hackley School, a private university-preparatory school in Tarrytown.[8] In 1991, he graduated with a B.A. in electrical engineering from Brown University, where he was a member of the social fraternity Sigma Chi.[9][10]

Career Edit

In 1991, Khosrowshahi joined Allen & Company, an investment bank, as an analyst.[5] In 1998, he left Allen & Company to work for one of his former clients at the bank, Barry Diller, first at Diller's USA Networks, where he held the positions of senior vice president for strategic planning and then president, and later as chief financial officer of IAC, another company controlled by Diller.[5]

In 2001, IAC purchased Expedia, and in August 2005, Khosrowshahi became CEO of Expedia.[5] Ten years later, in 2015, Expedia gave him $90 million in stock options as part of a long-term employment agreement, conditioned on him staying with the company until 2020.[11]

In 2016, he was one of the highest paid CEOs in the United States.[12] During his tenure as CEO of Expedia, "the gross value of its hotel and other travel bookings more than quadrupled and its pre-tax earnings more than doubled."[12] Under Khosrowshahi, Expedia extended its presence to more than 60 countries and acquired Travelocity, Orbitz, and HomeAway.[13]

In August 2017, Khosrowshahi became the CEO of Uber, succeeding founder Travis Kalanick.[14] He forfeited his un-vested stock options of Expedia, then worth $184 million, but Uber reportedly paid him over $200 million to take the CEO position.[15] He also serves on Uber's board of directors.[16]

In June 2013, he received a Pacific Northwest Entrepreneur of the Year award from Ernst & Young.[17]

Political activity Edit

As someone who emigrated from Iran and achieved the American Dream, Khosrowshahi is an outspoken critic of the immigration policy of Donald Trump.[12][5] In 2016, he donated to the Hillary Victory Fund, Washington Democratic Senator Patty Murray, and the Democratic National Committee but also donated to Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee, a supporter of Libertarianism.[18]

Personal life Edit

Khosrowshahi has two children from his first marriage: a son, Alex and a daughter, Chloe.[4] On December 12, 2012, Khosrowshahi married Sydney Shapiro, a former preschool teacher and actress.[5][4] He praised his wife for wearing a Slayer t-shirt to the wedding, which was held in Las Vegas.[5] The couple has twin sons, Hayes Epic and Hugo Gubrit.[4]

His uncle, Hassan Khosrowshahi, also fled Iran due to the Iranian Revolution and is now a billionaire.[7] His cousin Amir founded Nervana Systems, which was acquired by Intel in 2016 for $408 million.[19] He is also related to Darian Shirazi, the founder of Radius and the first intern hired by Facebook.[19]

See also Edit

References Edit

  1. ^ Ranj, Brandt (May 25, 2016). "The 10 highest-paid tech CEOs". Business Insider.  
  2. ^ Griffiths, Josie (3 October 2017). "Who is Dara Khosrowshahi?". The Sun.  
  3. ^ "Prominent Iranian-Americans". Embassy of the United States, Tehran.  
  4. ^ a b c d e f Stewart, Ashley (27 August 2017). "Evolution of a dealmaker: Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is PSBJ's Executive of the Year". Puget Sound Business Journal. American City Business Journals . Retrieved 2018-04-02 .  
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Zetlin, Minda (August 28, 2017). "Expedia Chief Dara Khosrowshahi Will Be Uber's Next CEO. Here's What We Know About Him". Inc.  
  6. ^ a b Streitfeld, David; Bowles, Nellie (28 August 2017). "Uber's C.E.O. Pick, Dara Khosrowshahi, Steps Into Brighter Spotlight". The New York Times.   (subscription required)
  7. ^ a b c Bort, Julie (August 28, 2017). "The amazing life of Uber's new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi — from refugee to tech superstar". Business Insider.  
  8. ^ "How Did I Get Here?". Bloomberg L.P.  
  9. ^ "Spinoff of Expedia Comes at Tough Time for Its Sector". The New York Times. August 8, 2005.  
  10. ^ "Dara Khosrowshahi: Executive Profile & Biography". Bloomberg L.P.  
  11. ^ SHEN, LUCINDA (May 25, 2016). "Here's One CEO Who Probably Justified His $94 Million Payday". Fortune.  
  12. ^ a b c "Uber picks Dara Khosrowshahi as its new boss". The Economist. 29 August 2017.  
  13. ^ McGregor, Jena; Shaban, Hamza (August 28, 2017). "6 things to know about Uber's CEO pick Dara Khosrowshahi". The Washington Post.  
  14. ^ Choudhury, Saheli Roy (August 29, 2017). "Uber officially announces Dara Khosrowshahi will be its new CEO". CNBC.  
  15. ^ Melin, Anders (August 29, 2017). "Uber's New CEO May Get at Least $200 Million to Exit Expedia". Bloomberg L.P.  
  16. ^ "Board of Directors". Uber . Retrieved 9 April 2018 .  
  17. ^ MAY, PATRICK (August 28, 2017). "New Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi: What you need to know". The Mercury News.  
  18. ^ "Individual contributions". Federal Election Commission.  
  19. ^ a b Hackett, Robert (November 17, 2017). "Uber's CEO Comes From What May Be the World's Most Techie Family". Fortune.  
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dara_Khosrowshahi