Executive Management

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Brian Chesky, Airbnb Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer

Brian Chesky is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Airbnb and sets the vision and strategy for the company. In 2007, Brian and Joe Gebbia became Airbnb’s first hosts. Since then, Brian has overseen Airbnb’s growth to become a community of over four million hosts who have welcomed more than 800 million guests across 220+ countries and regions.

A graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design, Brian has embedded his creative roots in Airbnb’s culture, product and community. This design-driven approach has enabled a system of trust that allows strangers to live together, and created a unique business model that facilitates connection and belonging.

Brian is a signatory to the Giving Pledge and has committed to donating the net proceeds of his CEO equity compensation to community, philanthropic and charitable causes. Originally from Niskayuna, New York, Brian is an Airbnb Experience host in San Francisco.

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Hiroki Asai, Global Head of Marketing

Hiroki Asai oversees all of Airbnb’s marketing efforts, as well as Airbnb's in-house creative teams. Hiroki is responsible for maintaining Airbnb's strong global brand and sharing the story of our millions of hosts who offer unique homes and experiences to guests around the world.

Hiroki spent 18 years at Apple and served as Vice President of Global Marketing Communications and Executive Creative Director where he was responsible for a variety of iconic marketing campaigns for a range of products, including the iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.

Hiroki lives in San Francisco with his family and holds a BA in Graphic Design from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

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Rich Baer, Chief Legal Officer

Rich Baer oversees Airbnb’s global legal and ethics functions, community policy and global safety.

Rich is experienced in leading legal teams of large, fast-growing public companies with a wide range of complex matters at the intersection of law, business and society. Prior to joining Airbnb, Rich led the legal teams at Liberty Media, United Health and Qwest Communications. Named by the National Law Journal as one of the country’s top general counsels, throughout his career Rich has focused on making the legal community more diverse and inclusive.

Rich is based in Colorado and admitted to practice there and in New York.

Rich is a graduate of Columbia University and Duke University School of Law.

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Ari Balogh, Chief Technology Officer

Ari Balogh oversees Airbnb’s Engineering and Data Science organizations. This includes leading our Infrastructure, IT, and Information Security teams, as well as core platforms like Trust, Payments, Community Support, and Growth & Traffic. Ari combines a passion for developing novel technology with a deep commitment to Airbnb’s mission of connection and belonging.

Prior to joining Airbnb, Ari was VP of Engineering at Google, where he was responsible for core infrastructure and data platforms, including the data and serving systems behind Google Search. Before Google, Ari was CTO at Yahoo!, where he led the 8,000+ engineering and product team and was responsible for all product development.

Ari holds an M.S.E. in Electrical and Computer Engineering and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University.

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Nathan Blecharczyk, Airbnb Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer

Nathan (Nate) Blecharczyk is the co-founder of Airbnb and Chief Strategy Officer. Nate plays a leading role in driving key strategic initiatives across the global business, particularly those which require a holistic understanding of the business, public policy, product, data, and Airbnb’s long-term stakeholder interests.

Nate has led the creation of Airbnb’s engineering, data science, payments, and performance marketing teams. More recently, he oversaw the creation of the Airbnb City Portal, an industry-first software solution that addresses the needs of cities relating to short-term rentals; Airbnb’s reservation screening technology, to help identify potentially high-risk reservations and prevent those users from taking advantage of our platform; and the launch of Airbnb-friendly apartments, which allows renters to benefit from hosting.

Nate holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science from Harvard University. Together with his wife Elizabeth, he enjoys being an active Airbnb Host and has welcomed hundreds of guests since Airbnb launched. Nate and Elizabeth are signatories to the Giving Pledge.

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Tara Bunch, Global Head of Operations

Tara Bunch oversees Airbnb’s Community Support, Trust, and Payments teams, responsible for supporting hosts and guests in over 220 countries and regions, and payments in 63 currencies.

Prior to joining Airbnb, Tara spent eight years at Apple where she was most recently Vice President of AppleCare, the company’s technical support and repair organization that reaches billions of consumers worldwide. Before that, Tara managed the global team responsible for all of Apple’s Customer Service operations, including the Apple Support website and Support App, and AppleCare extended warranty and insurance plans.

Tara lives in Los Angeles with her wife and six children and holds an MBA from Santa Clara University and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

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Jay Carney, Global Head of Policy and Communications

Jay Carney oversees Airbnb’s global policy and strategic communications teams, working alongside policymakers, communities and partners to ensure guests and hosts connect and experience travel in new, authentic and meaningful ways. 

Prior to joining Airbnb, Jay established and led Amazon’s global corporate affairs function for seven years, overseeing policy, communications and community engagement, including investments in affordable housing, disaster response and refugee relief. He joined Amazon from the White House, where he served as Press Secretary to President Obama from 2011 to 2014 and before that as Director of Communications for then-Vice President Joe Biden. Prior to entering government, Jay spent 20 years at TIME magazine, including as a foreign correspondent and Washington bureau chief.

Jay sits on the board of the Urban Institute, which focuses on housing affordability and racial inequality. He also serves on the board of Human Rights First, which assists asylum-seekers, calls out human rights abuses and combats violent extremism. Jay was raised in Virginia and earned a BA in Russian and East European Studies from Yale University. He lives in Washington, DC.

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Catherine Powell, Global Head of Hosting

Catherine Powell leads our global integrated hosting team, which includes Airbnb Homes and Experiences, and delivers best in class, quality hosting. Catherine's responsibilities include overseeing the host insights and research team, as well as developing new products and features for Airbnb's host community.

Prior to Airbnb, Catherine was at Disney for more than 15 years where she most recently served as President of Disney Parks Western Region in the United States and Disneyland Paris in France. Before that, Catherine served as Présidente for the Euro Disney Group, operator of Europe’s leading tourist destination, Disneyland Paris. Prior to joining Disney, Catherine worked for BBC Worldwide for seven years.

Catherine is a graduate of Oxford University where she studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics, and lives in Los Angeles with her family.

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Dave Stephenson, Chief Financial Officer and Head of Employee Experience

Dave Stephenson oversees Airbnb’s global finance and employee experience functions. As CFO, Dave is responsible for Airbnb’s financial management, planning and reporting, accounting, tax, treasury, investor relations, corporate and business development, and procurement teams. His responsibilities for Airbnb’s employee experience function include recruiting, talent and leadership development, compensation and benefits, as well as operationalizing Airbnb’s design for employees to Live and Work Anywhere.

Prior to joining Airbnb, Dave spent 17 years at Amazon, where he was Vice President and CFO of their Worldwide Consumer Organization. Dave also served as CFO of Amazon’s International Consumer business and led finance across many areas of the company, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), North America Retail, and Merchant Services.

Dave holds an MBA from the University of Iowa and a BS in Industrial and Management Engineering from Montana State University. He is an Airbnb host in Washington State.

Board of Directors

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Brian Chesky, CEO & Chairman of the Board

Brian Chesky is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Airbnb and sets the vision and strategy for the company. In 2007, Brian and Joe Gebbia became Airbnb’s first hosts. Since then, Brian has overseen Airbnb’s growth to become a community of over four million hosts who have welcomed more than 800 million guests across 220+ countries and regions.

A graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design, Brian has embedded his creative roots in Airbnb’s culture, product and community. This design-driven approach has enabled a system of trust that allows strangers to live together, and created a unique business model that facilitates connection and belonging.

Brian is a signatory to the Giving Pledge and has committed to donating the net proceeds of his CEO equity compensation to community, philanthropic and charitable causes. Originally from Niskayuna, New York, Brian is an Airbnb Experience host in San Francisco.

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Angela Ahrendts, Director

Ms. Ahrendts joined our board of directors in May 2019. Ms. Ahrendts served as Senior Vice President, Retail at Apple Inc. (“Apple”), a publicly-held technology company, from May 2014 to May 2019. Prior to joining Apple, Ms. Ahrendts served as a director and Chief Executive Officer of Burberry plc, a global luxury fashion company, from July 2006 to April 2014. Ms. Ahrendts also previously served as Executive Vice President at Liz Claiborne Inc. and President of Donna Karan International, both then publicly-held global fashion companies. Ms. Ahrendts has served as a director of the Ralph Lauren Corporation, a publicly-held fashion company, since August 2018. Ms. Ahrendts has served as a director of WPP plc, a publicly-held creative transformation company with expertise in communications, experience, commerce and technology, since June of 2020. Ms. Ahrendts also serves on non-profits boards, including Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, The HOW Institute for Society, and Charity: Water. Ms. Ahrendts received a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing and Merchandising from Ball State University.

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Amrita Ahuja, Director

Ms. Ahuja joined our board of directors in December 2021. Ms. Ahuja is Block’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer (NYSE: SQ). Block has four ecosystems: Square, which helps entrepreneurs start, run, and grow their business, Cash App, which allows individuals to send, spend, invest and save money, TIDAL, the global music and entertainment platform, and TBD, a platform for open-source financial services dedicated to cryptocurrency and the blockchain. Ms. Ahuja is also Chairperson of Block’s industrial bank Square Financial Services, which is an independently governed subsidiary of Block. Ms. Ahuja was previously the CFO of Blizzard Entertainment, a leading global developer and publisher of interactive software products and entertainment content, a division of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI). Ms. Ahuja was with Activision Blizzard for over eight years in a number of finance and strategy roles across the company, including SVP of Investor Relations, VP of Finance and Operations, and VP of Strategy and Business Development. Prior to Activision Blizzard, she held various roles at Fox Networks Group, the Walt Disney Company’s Strategic Planning group, and Morgan Stanley’s Technology Investment Banking Division. She received her M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and her A.B. from Duke University.

Portrait

Nathan Blecharczyk, Airbnb Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer

Nathan (Nate) Blecharczyk is the co-founder of Airbnb and Chief Strategy Officer. Nate plays a leading role in driving key strategic initiatives across the global business, particularly those which require a holistic understanding of the business, public policy, product, data, and Airbnb’s long-term stakeholder interests.

Nate has led the creation of Airbnb’s engineering, data science, payments, and performance marketing teams. More recently, he oversaw the creation of the Airbnb City Portal, an industry-first software solution that addresses the needs of cities relating to short-term rentals; Airbnb’s reservation screening technology, to help identify potentially high-risk reservations and prevent those users from taking advantage of our platform; and the launch of Airbnb-friendly apartments, which allows renters to benefit from hosting.

Nate holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science from Harvard University. Together with his wife Elizabeth, he enjoys being an active Airbnb Host and has welcomed hundreds of guests since Airbnb launched. Nate and Elizabeth are signatories to the Giving Pledge.

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Kenneth Chenault, Director

Mr. Chenault joined our board of directors in January 2018. Since February 2018, Mr. Chenault has served as Chairman and Managing Director of General Catalyst, a venture capital firm. Mr. Chenault served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of American Express Company, a publicly- held diversified financial services company, from April 2001 through January 2018. Prior to that, he held roles of increasing responsibility at American Express Company, including President of the U.S. division of American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. in 1993, Vice Chairman of the American Express Company in 1995 and President and Chief Operating Officer in 1997. Mr. Chenault has served on the board of directors of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., a publicly-held multinational conglomerate holding company, since May 2020. Mr. Chenault also served on the board of directors of International Business Machines Corporation, a publicly-held multinational technology company, from October 1998 to February 2019, The Procter & Gamble Company, a publicly-held global consumer goods company, from April 2008 to February 2019, and Facebook, Inc., a publicly-held global technology company, from February 2018 to May 2020. Mr. Chenault received a Bachelor of Arts in history from Bowdoin College and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.

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Joe Gebbia, Airbnb Co-founder and Chairman of Airbnb.org

Joe Gebbia is the co-founder of Airbnb and Chairman of Airbnb.org, an independently operated 501(c)3. As a community-powered non-profit, Airbnb.org helps to connect those in crisis with places for them to stay as part of our emergency response efforts related to natural disasters, the COVID-19 pandemic, and global refugee crisis. 

Joe began his life as an artist and graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) where he earned dual degrees in Graphic Design and Industrial Design, and currently serves on the RISD Board of Trustees. Joe is an Airbnb.org host and signatory to the Giving Pledge.

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Belinda Johnson, Director

Ms. Johnson served as our Chief Operating Officer from February 2018 through March 2020. Ms. Johnson held several roles at our company since joining in 2011, including General Counsel from December 2011 to July 2015 and Chief Business Affairs and Legal Officer from July 2015 to January 2018. Prior to joining Airbnb, she was Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Yahoo! Inc., a digital information platform, and served as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary to Broadcast.com, an internet broadcasting company. Ms. Johnson currently serves on the Board of Directors of PayPal Holdings, Inc., a publicly-held technology platform and digital payments company. Ms. Johnson received a Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor from the University of Texas. Ms. Johnson joined our board of directors in March 2020.

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Mr. Jordan joined our board of directors in August 2011. Mr. Jordan serves as the managing partner of Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm, which he joined as a general partner in July 2011. Prior to that, Mr. Jordan served as the Chief Executive Officer of OpenTable, Inc., the online restaurant-reservation service company, from 2007 to 2011. From 2004 to 2006, Mr. Jordan served as President of PayPal, Inc., a digital payments company, which was then owned by eBay, Inc. For five years prior to that, Mr. Jordan served as Senior Vice President and General Manager for eBay North America. From 1998 to 1999, Mr. Jordan served as Chief Financial Officer for Hollywood Entertainment Corporation, a video rental company, and then President of its subsidiary, Reel.com. Previously, Mr. Jordan served in various capacities at The Walt Disney Company for eight years, most recently as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Disney Store Worldwide. Before that he worked for The Boston Consulting Group. Mr. Jordan served as a member of the boards of directors of OpenTable, Inc. from 2007 until 2013, Pinterest, Inc. since 2011, and Accolade, Inc. since 2016. He is a member of the board of directors for several private companies including Maplebear Inc. (d/b/a Instacart) and OfferUp, Inc. Mr. Jordan received a Bachelor of Arts from Amherst College and a Master of Business Administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

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Alfred Lin, Director

Mr. Lin joined our board of directors in November 2012. Since October 2010, Mr. Lin has been a partner at Sequoia Capital Operations LLC (“Sequoia”), a venture capital firm. He represents Sequoia on our board as well as several other privately-held companies, including DoorDash, a food-delivery and local logistics platform, since 2014, and Houzz Inc., an online home designs and furnishings platform, since 2011. From 1996 to 1998, he served as Vice President of Finance and Administration of LinkExchange, a banner advertising exchange acquired by Microsoft Corporation (“Microsoft”). From June 1999 to December 2014, he served as Co-Founder and General Manager at Venture Frogs, LLC, a seed fund that invested in companies such as Ask Jeeves, OpenTable, Inc., Tellme Networks, Inc., and Zappos.com Inc. (“Zappos”). From January 2001 to June 2005, he served as Vice President of Finance and Business Development of Tellme Networks, a voice recognition services and platform company acquired by Microsoft. From January 2005 to December 2010, he served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Operating Officer of Zappos, an online retailer acquired by Amazon.com, Inc. Mr. Lin holds a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University and a Master of Science in Statistics from Stanford University.

Committee Composition

Governance Documents

ESG