Airbnb COO leaves company ahead of expected 2020 IPO

November 26, 2019
Share this Post: 

A key executive has announced she is leave Airbnb before its expected IPO in 2020.

Belinda Johnson recently announced, in an email to staff viewed by CNBC, that she is stepping down as COO on March 1. In the email, Johnson said that she needs to prioritize more time to spend with her family.

“It starts with one question I’m asked at every fireside chat, panel or media interview: ‘How do you balance a successful career with being a mom?’ Sometimes it’s the first question, sometimes it’s the last, but it is always asked,” Johnson wrote in the email.

Johnson, 52, isn’t leaving Airbnb entirely. She will join the company’s board of directors as its ninth member and third woman.

But it’s a big loss for the home-sharing start-up. Johnson has been at the company since 2011, and has been called “Airbnb’s Sheryl Sandberg,” a reference to the Facebook COO who works closely with CEO Mark Zuckerberg. She was Airbnb CEO and Co-Founder Brian Chesky’s first executive hire.

Chesky credits Johnson with helping the company see through the noise and working with regulators.

“Growing up, I just assumed that when people don’t like you, you should avoid them. Belinda taught me better. She told me that we should meet the people that don’t like us. As she said, ‘It’s hard to hate up close,’” Chesky said in a statement.

Read more here

Join us February 26-27 for the Property Portal Watch Conference Bangkok 2020.

Read more

November 26, 2019

Subscribe to our mailing list to get the famous, free Friday newsletter!

News and analysis to help build better online marketplace businesses, in your inbox, every Friday

Related News

Nils K
Ringier's Nils Körber on ArtificiaI Intelligence, Training the Machine, and Talking about Problems

"What would you do with one million interns?" The award for the best question at the PropTech and Portal Watch...

Read More
Untitled Design 13
As OnTheMarket Hits 15,000 Advertisers, Zoopla Fights Back with Big Agency Deal

The British property portal Zoopla has announced a new long-term listings deal with Dexters, one of London's top agencies with...

Read More
Untitled Design 12
LeBonCoin Suffers Data Leak and Boliga Comes Under Cyber Attack on Same Weekend

LeBonCoin, the leading French horizontal marketplace owned by Adevinta, has acknowledged that some of its users' personal information was exposed...

Read More
Number 2S Challenging Hero Image 2
Analysis: Can Zoopla, Realtor.com and Domain See Off Challengers and Close the Gap to Market Leaders?

Well-funded challenger portals have been generating a lot of headlines in the industry recently. CoStar has been explicit about its...

Read More

Editor's Pick