Airbnb has appointed Laurence Tosi as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), reporting to co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky. Tosi will be responsible for finance, treasury, tax, and finance systems.
Before joining Airbnb, Tosi was the CFO of the Blackstone Group, one of the world’s leading investment firms. Not only was he a member of Blackstone’s management committee, which managed the firm’s global industry-leading businesses, he was also responsible for the global finance, accounting, audit, treasury, tax, and technology groups.
Under Tosi’s leadership, Blackstone created an industry leading finance and technology platform connecting the world’s largest portfolio of alternative assets, including the largest range of public and private hospitality holdings. During his tenure, Blackstone’s market capitalization increased from $4.3 billion to $46 billion, and in 2014, Tosi was the only CFO with top rankings by both buy side and sell side analysts in non bank financial services.
“L.T.’s expertise in hospitality and finance is the perfect combination to help take Airbnb to the next level,” Chesky said. “We know that our goal of fundamentally reimagining the travel experience is an audacious one, so we’re thrilled to have someone join our team who thinks just as boldly and creatively about building great businesses as we do about our platform, culture and community.”
Prior to his time at Blackstone, Tosi held a number of senior operating and finance roles at Merrill Lynch, including Chief Operating Officer of Global Investment Banking division and Finance Director, where he focused on building out the finance, technology and product platforms. Tosi also held senior positions at NBC, where he played key leadership roles in launching the company’s technology platforms and investments including CNBC.com.
“Airbnb is redefining the travel and hospitality industries and provides enormous economic opportunity to its hosts around the world,” Tosi said. “So I’m thrilled to be joining Airbnb, and excited to help this global community realize its incredible potential.”
