Expedia, Inc.

Expedia Group, Inc. is an American online travel shopping company for consumer and small business travel. Its websites, which are primarily travel fare aggregators and travel metasearch engines, include Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Vrbo (previously HomeAway), Travelocity, Hotwire.com, Orbitz, Ebookers, CheapTickets, CarRentals.com, Expedia Cruises, Wotif, and Trivago.

According to Rich Barton, the company's first CEO, the word "Expedia" is derived from a combination of "exploration" and "speed".

History

Founded as a division of Microsoft in October 1996, Expedia was spun off into a public company in 1999.

In 2001, IAC/InterActiveCorp (known at the time as USA Networks Inc) bought a controlling interest in the company for an estimated $1.5 billion.

In 2003, it was fully purchased by IAC/InterActiveCorp and became part of IAC Travel. Rich Barton resigned as CEO and was replaced by Erik Blachford.

In December 2004, IAC announced plans to spin off IAC Travel into Expedia. Dara Khosrowshahi was announced as the new CEO.

In August 2005, IAC spun off Expedia Inc., which owned its travel group of businesses, including Expedia, Expedia Corporate Travel (now Egencia), TripAdvisor, Classic Vacations, eLong, Hotels.com, and Hotwire.com.

In 2011 Expedia acquired Travel Smart Vacations travel company in Mexico for 11.3Million Dollars.

In December 2011, Expedia, Inc. spun out TripAdvisor Media Group, retaining its portfolio of travel transaction brands.

On December 21, 2012, Expedia bought a majority stake in travel metasearch engine Trivago in a combined cash and stock deal worth €477 million (approximately $630 million).

In 2012, Expedia's Egencia unit acquired Via Travel, the largest travel company in Norway.

In 2014, Expedia acquired Wotif.com for $658 million.

In September 2014, Expedia Inc. partnered with Citigroup and created the Expedia+ card whose members can earn bonus points and earn benefits and priority customer service through the website.

In January 2015, Expedia acquired Travelocity from Sabre Corp for $280 million. Expedia previously partnered with Travelocity to provide the technology platform for Travelocity's US and Canada points of sale.

In 2015, Expedia acquired Orbitz for $1.6 billion in cash.

In February 2015, the company announced it would be moving its headquarters to Seattle.

In July 2015, Expedia and Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com participated in an investment of $11M in Wingz.

In 2015, Expedia bought HomeAway for $3.9 billion.

In 2016 Expedia acquired Trip World Vacations travel company in Mexico for 10.7 Million Dollars.

In March 2017, Chelsea Clinton was named to the board of Expedia. In her newly named position, Ms. Clinton will get $45,000 a year in cash, plus $250,000 a year in stock vesting over three years.

In August 2017, Mark Okerstrom became the President and CEO of Expedia, Inc.

In March 2018, Expedia, Inc. announced that it had changed its name to Expedia Group, Inc.

On Dec. 4, 2019, Mark Okerstrom and Alan Pickerill resigned as CEO and CFO, respectively. At that time, Expedia Group's chairman, Barry Diller, took over day-to-day operations, while the Chief Strategy Officer, Eric Hart, became acting CFO.

In February, 2020, Expedia announced it was cutting 3,000 jobs, roughly 12% of the workforce, citing a "disappointing 2019." Diller, in his role as acting CEO, stated the company had become "sclerotic and bloated" and that employees were "all life and no work."

On 23 April 2020, Peter Kern was appointed as CEO of Expedia Group.

Expedia's revenue dwindled from $12 billion in 2019 to $5.2 billion in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Travel Market Report, from January to December 2020 the U.S. Department of Transportation received 14,604 complaints about Expedia and other online travel agencies (OTAs) from customers trying to get refunds for cancelled flights. As the source notes: "On social media, customers complained of excessively long call times and being unable to get through to a representative, leading to travelers being unable to make any changes to their travel plans or start refunds. Some people said they could not get a hold of someone for as much as 24 hours and one person said they called over 30 times."

On 1 March 2021, Najafi Companies acquired the website, brand and employees of Classic Vacations from Expedia Group. The transfer of the ownership of Classic Vacations will be complete by April 2, 2021.

On 2 November 2021, American Express Global Business Travel completed the acquisition of Egencia from Expedia Group

Mergers and acquisitions

Expedia's first acquisition was Travelscape for US$89.75 million and VacationSpot.com for US$80 million on March 17, 2000. It subsequently acquired Classic Custom Vacations in March 2002 for $78 million. The company has made four divestments, in which parts of the company are sold to another company. On December 31, 2000, Technology Crossover Ventures acquired a 7% minority stake in Expedia for $50 million. IAC acquired a 65% majority stake in the company on February 5, 2002, for $1.372 billion, and a year later, on August 8, 2003, USA Interactive acquired Expedia for $3.636 billion. Expedia was ultimately spun off as a separate entity with a value of $7.981 billion. The company made the most acquisitions in 2002 when it acquired three companies: Classic Custom Vacations, Metropolitan Travel, and Newtrade Technologies.

In January 2015, Expedia acquired the online travel agency Travelocity from the tech firm Sabre Corporation for $280 million.

Acquisitions

Divestitures

South Carolina sales tax suit

On January 18, 2011, Travelscape, a subsidiary of Expedia Inc. based in Las Vegas, was ordered to pay $6.3 million in back sales taxes to South Carolina by the state's supreme court. Travelscape argued that South Carolina's efforts to tax online retailers located out-of-state violate the Dormant Commerce Clause. In a unanimous ruling, the court determined that the company has a presence in the state sufficient to be required to collect sales tax. While Travelscape does not have physical facilities in South Carolina, the court determined that frequent sales trips made by its employees and the fact that the company furnished hotel rooms in the state establish its presence for tax purposes.Travelscape told to pay back sales-tax revenue
by Valerie Miller, Las Vegas Business Press, January 31, 2011,

Office locations

Expedia Group has its headquarters on Elliott Bay in Seattle.

On April 2, 2015, Expedia announced that it would move its headquarters to the Interbay neighborhood of Seattle by the end of 2018, purchasing the Amgen campus on the Elliott Bay waterfront for $228.9 million and investing an additional $900 million on renovation. As part of the move, Expedia is proposing an expansion of office space at the campus to to accommodate employees, designed by ZGF Architects.

The move was later delayed to 2019, citing some logistical hurdles including the commute from the Eastside to Seattle as well as traffic congestion near the campus. Incentives for employees to seek alternative forms of transportation were also announced, with the company exploring company shuttle services from park and rides in Redmond.

In addition to the campus, Expedia gained ownership of the Helix bridge, now named Expedia Group Bridge, and a plot of land now used as a transportation hub for Expedia employees.

In India, Expedia Group has a newly built campus located in DLF Cyber Park, Gurugram in 2021.

Criticism

Involvement in Israeli settlements

On 12 February 2020, the United Nations published a database of all business enterprises involved in certain specified activities related to the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Golan Heights. Expedia Group has been listed on the database in light of its involvement in activities related to "the provision of services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of settlements". The international community considers Israeli settlements built on land occupied by Israel to be in violation of international law.

Legal issues

Expedia was involved in a number of lawsuits including class action lawsuits during the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular for refusing refunds for flights canceled over the coronavirus outbreak.

In August 2016, Buckeye Tree Lodge and Sequoia Village Inn, LLC filed a class-action lawsuit in California accusing the company and its partners of "brazen deceit" by coordinating with internet search engines and social media institutions to return false results on lodging entities in favor of those affiliated with their websites, in violation of the Lanham Act. The lawsuit was settled in April 2021, after the company promised not to engage in false advertising.

See also

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Explanatory notes

References

External links

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{{Authority control

1999 initial public offerings
2003 mergers and acquisitions
American companies established in 1996
Companies based in Seattle
Companies listed on the Nasdaq
Corporate spin-offs
Former Microsoft subsidiaries
Hospitality companies established in 1996
Internet properties established in 1996
Online retailers of the United States
Online travel agencies
Retail companies established in 1996
Travel management