Expedia Group, a Seattle-based online travel giant, recently abruptly dismissed its CTO Rathi Murthy and senior vice president Sreenivas Rachamadugu due to a violation of company policy. The company did not provide specific details about the departures of the two engineering leaders but confirmed that they are no longer employed at the company. Expedia Group is actively searching to fill these roles and remains confident in its technology, strategy, and employees. The company did not provide further comments on the matter due to confidentiality.
The surprise exits of Murthy and Rachamadugu come shortly after Expedia held its annual partner conference in Las Vegas, where it announced various tech-related initiatives, including a new AI assistant. Murthy, who joined Expedia in 2021, had previously served as a CTO at Verizon Media and held executive roles at companies such as Gap, American Express, eBay, and Yahoo. Rachamadugu, also a 2021 hire from Verizon Media, had over 15 years of experience working in various engineering roles within Verizon entities. Both executives are yet to comment on their departures.
Expedia Group’s new CEO, Ariane Gorin, who recently replaced former CEO Peter Kern in February, started in her role on Monday. Expedia Group owns brands such as vrbo, Orbitz, Hotwire, Trivago, and Hotels.com in addition to Expedia.com. The company has been working on combining the tech platform beneath its different brands in recent years and launched a unified travel loyalty program called One Key for Expedia, Hotels.com, and vrbo. In the first quarter of the year, Expedia Group reported $2.9 billion in revenue, which was an 8% year-over-year increase.
Expedia Group had previously laid off tech workers in September as part of a series of moves to overhaul its workforce. The company has experienced challenges, including a recent tech migration that did not progress as expected, leading to a decline in shares after the earnings release. The company also incurred an outage earlier in the month. Expedia is focused on moving forward under the leadership of its new CEO and ensuring that its technology, strategy, and employees continue to drive the company’s success. Despite the sudden departures of key engineering leaders, Expedia remains committed to its growth and innovation within the online travel industry.
