Expedia News

Expedia's purchase price for a majority stake in SilverRail was double the sum that SilverRail had raised from investors. The price tag was a multiple of the investment but not a stellar exit for shareholders.

Khosrowshahi takes over a unicorn in Uber and will have the challenge of his life to get the ride-share company speeding along and toward an IPO with a trunk-full of controversies and problems. The choice of the next Expedia CEO to succeed him is indeed a critical one that will have far-reaching implications.

With a two-decade track record in online travel, Khosrowshahi has had his duck-and-cover as well as been-on-a-mountaintop moments. If Uber's looking for a steady hand, and a guy with experience who isn't afraid to take a U-turn when called for, then they could have done a helluva lot worse.

We can't blame Khosrowshahi for seizing a nearly once-in-a-lifetime challenge to right the trajectory of a unicorn, Uber, but this is also a very awkward time to leave Expedia. Now there will be two big-time CEOs under the gun: Priceline's new top guy, Glenn Fogel, and Khosrowshahi's successor at Expedia.

Expedia has promising candidates if it chooses to look internally for a permanent replacement for outgoing CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Our guess for the interim pick is CFO Mark Okerstrom.

Khosrowshahi has been reflective and honest as CEO of Expedia, taking ownership of his failures along the way. At Uber, the company will have a leader who has overseen both explosive growth and clever repositioning.

So much for taking a summer vacation. This year, the hotel industry was busy making major moves and investments, as well as launching new brands, properties, and policies.

There are five tons of heavy lifting to be done to reenergize and transform Uber — and it all has to be done in one of the brightest business spotlights that there is. Uber has made its selection — let's see how Khosrowshahi begins to handle it.

This pick came out of left field, but totally makes sense considering the path that Khosrowshahi has led Expedia along over the past decade and more.

Any potential crisis has now been definitively averted, at least until this contract expires.