Dara Khosrowshahi

Dara Khosrowshahi
Born	Dara Khosrowshahi 28 5, 1969
Birthplace	Tehran, Iran
Nationality	Iranian, American
Occupation	CEO of Uber
Known for	CEO of Uber, former CEO of Expedia Group
Education	Brown University (BS)
Spouse(s)	Kathleen Grant (before 2009) Sydney Shapiro (2012–present)
Children	4
Website	[https://www.uber.com/iq/en/about/leadership/dara-khosrowshahi/ Official site]

Dara Khosrowshahi (Template:Lang-fa; born May 28, 1969) is an Iranian-American business executive who serves as the chief executive officer of Uber. Born in Tehran before his family fled Iran in the wake of the Iranian Revolution, Khosrowshahi rose through the ranks of American corporate life to lead two of the country's most prominent technology companies. He served as CEO of Expedia Group from 2005 to 2017, overseeing the travel company's growth into a global aggregator of travel fare services. In August 2017, he was selected to lead Uber at a time when the ride-hailing giant was engulfed in a series of corporate scandals and leadership crises. Since taking the helm, Khosrowshahi has managed the company's operations across more than 70 countries and guided it through its initial public offering in 2019 and a dramatic financial turnaround from billions of dollars in annual losses to profitability. He has also served on the board of directors of BET.com and Hotels.com, and was formerly a member of the board of The New York Times Company.

Early Life

Dara Khosrowshahi was born on May 28, 1969, in Tehran, Iran, into a prominent and wealthy Iranian family. His family had significant business interests in Iran before the Iranian Revolution of 1979. His uncle, Hassan Khosrowshahi, was also a prominent business figure.

The Khosrowshahi family fled Iran during the revolution when Dara was a young child. The upheaval forced the family to leave behind much of their wealth and established life in Iran. The family eventually settled in the United States, where Dara would grow up and pursue his education and career.

Khosrowshahi's experience as an immigrant and refugee has been a recurring theme in his public life and professional identity. The family's escape from Iran during a period of political turmoil shaped his worldview and, by his own accounts, influenced his approach to business leadership. He has spoken publicly about the experience, including in interviews where he described the circumstances of his family's departure from Iran.

Khosrowshahi is recognized among prominent Iranian Americans who have achieved distinction in the United States.

Education

Khosrowshahi attended Brown University, an Ivy League institution in Providence, Rhode Island, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree. His education at Brown provided the foundation for his subsequent career in finance and technology.

Career

Early Career and Rise at IAC

After completing his degree at Brown University, Khosrowshahi entered the world of finance and corporate management. He eventually joined IAC/InterActiveCorp, the media and internet conglomerate controlled by Barry Diller. At IAC, Khosrowshahi gained significant experience in the digital economy and corporate dealmaking, rising through the executive ranks. His work at IAC positioned him as a key figure in the company's portfolio of internet businesses, which included Expedia.

CEO of Expedia Group (2005–2017)

In 2005, Khosrowshahi was appointed chief executive officer of Expedia Group, following the company's spin-off from IAC as an independent publicly traded entity. Under his leadership over the next twelve years, Expedia grew into one of the world's largest online travel companies, overseeing a portfolio of brands that included Hotels.com, Orbitz, Travelocity, and other travel fare aggregation services.

Khosrowshahi was recognized for his acumen as a dealmaker during his tenure at Expedia. He orchestrated a series of acquisitions that expanded the company's reach and market share in the online travel industry. Under his stewardship, Expedia consolidated its position as one of the dominant players in online travel booking.

His compensation at Expedia drew attention in 2016, when he was identified as one of the highest-paid CEOs in the United States. The combination of his base salary, bonuses, and stock awards placed him among the top earners in the American corporate landscape.

Khosrowshahi's long tenure at Expedia established his reputation as a steady, experienced operator capable of managing complex, global technology businesses. This track record would later prove instrumental in his selection as CEO of Uber.

Appointment as Uber CEO (2017)

In August 2017, Uber's board of directors selected Khosrowshahi to serve as the company's new chief executive officer, replacing co-founder Travis Kalanick, who had resigned amid a cascade of scandals involving allegations of workplace harassment, corporate espionage, and a toxic corporate culture.

The selection of Khosrowshahi was reported as a choice that signaled the board's desire for a mature, experienced leader who could stabilize the company and repair its damaged reputation. The Economist noted that he faced the challenge of tackling enormous financial losses, ongoing lawsuits, and the influence of his predecessor.

Khosrowshahi's departure from Expedia required significant financial consideration. Bloomberg reported that Uber may have needed to provide at least $200 million in compensation to entice him to leave Expedia, where he had accumulated substantial unvested stock awards. The Mercury News reported on the key details of Khosrowshahi's background and qualifications at the time of his selection.

Leading Uber's Turnaround

Upon taking the reins at Uber, Khosrowshahi inherited a company that was losing approximately $3 billion per year. He set about restructuring the company's culture and financial operations, implementing a performance-driven management philosophy. In interviews, he has described an approach where employees who do not perform are removed from the organization.

One of the defining moments of his early tenure was leading Uber through its initial public offering. On May 10, 2019, Uber went public on the New York Stock Exchange. Khosrowshahi wrote a letter to employees on the occasion of the IPO, marking it as a significant milestone in the company's history.

In 2019, Uber reported that Khosrowshahi received approximately $45 million in total compensation, though the company's chief operating officer was reported to have received even more.

The financial turnaround of Uber under Khosrowshahi's leadership has been a central element of his tenure. The company transitioned from years of significant operating losses toward profitability. By 2026, Uber's network had grown to serve more than 200 million monthly active users worldwide, cementing its position as the largest ride-hailing platform globally.

Autonomous Vehicles and AI Strategy

A significant dimension of Khosrowshahi's leadership at Uber has been the company's evolving strategy around autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence. In February 2026, Khosrowshahi predicted that most Uber rides could be operated by robots within 20 years, while acknowledging the potential impact of AI-driven job displacement on the company's millions of drivers.

Khosrowshahi has argued that Uber possesses a competitive advantage in the emerging robotaxi market through its existing delivery and freight businesses. He has stated that delivering food and other items through Uber Eats and Uber Freight could be key to making autonomous vehicles economically viable, providing additional revenue streams beyond passenger transportation.

His public commentary on AI has extended beyond autonomous vehicles. In early 2026, Khosrowshahi criticized many companies for what he described as "play-acting" with artificial intelligence, arguing that while 90 percent of companies planned to increase their AI spending, few were undertaking the fundamental organizational changes required to realize the technology's potential. He stated that meaningful AI adoption required "breaking down the rules" of how companies operate.

In a widely discussed interview on The Diary of a CEO podcast in February 2026, Khosrowshahi discussed the future of driverless cars, Uber's financial transformation, and his personal background, including his family's flight from Iran.

Personal Life

Khosrowshahi has been married twice. His first marriage was to Kathleen Grant, which ended before 2009. He married Sydney Shapiro in 2012, and the couple remain together. He has four children.

In November 2019, Khosrowshahi drew significant public criticism for comments he made during an interview with Axios in which he referred to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi—the journalist killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018—as a "mistake." He drew a comparison between the killing and a fatal crash involving one of Uber's self-driving test vehicles. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund is a major investor in Uber. Khosrowshahi later walked back the remarks, stating that he had used the wrong word and that the killing of Khashoggi was "reprehensible and should not be forgotten or excused."

Records from the Federal Election Commission indicate that Khosrowshahi has made political contributions during his time as a corporate executive.

Recognition

Khosrowshahi has been recognized for his role in leading two major technology companies and for his status as one of the most prominent Iranian-American business figures. The U.S. Embassy has listed him among prominent Iranian Americans.

His compensation at both Expedia and Uber has placed him among the highest-paid executives in the technology industry. At Expedia, he was identified as one of the highest-paid CEOs in the United States in 2016. At Uber, his total compensation in 2019 was reported at approximately $45 million.

In 2026, Khosrowshahi was named to the San Francisco Business Times Newsmaker 100, a list of the most influential people in the San Francisco Bay Area business community.

His leadership of Uber has been the subject of extensive coverage in major business and technology publications, including The New York Times, Bloomberg, Fortune, The Economist, and The Washington Post, among others.

Legacy

Khosrowshahi's career is defined by his leadership of two major American technology companies during periods of significant transformation. At Expedia, he oversaw the company's growth from a newly independent public company into one of the dominant forces in online travel over a twelve-year tenure. At Uber, he was brought in specifically to stabilize and professionalize a company that had grown rapidly but was plagued by cultural and legal problems.

The financial transformation of Uber under his leadership has been one of the most closely watched corporate turnarounds in the technology sector. When he arrived in 2017, the company was losing billions of dollars annually and was embroiled in lawsuits, regulatory battles, and internal strife. By the mid-2020s, Uber had achieved profitability and continued to expand its global operations, reaching more than 200 million monthly active users.

His immigrant background has also been a notable aspect of his public identity. As an Iranian-American who fled his home country as a child during the revolution, his ascent to the top of two major American corporations has been cited as an example of immigrant achievement in the American business world.

Looking forward, Khosrowshahi's strategic vision for Uber increasingly centers on the integration of autonomous vehicle technology and artificial intelligence into the company's platform. His public statements in 2026 about the timeline for widespread adoption of robotaxis and the need for genuine organizational transformation around AI have positioned him as a prominent voice in the ongoing debate about the future of transportation and the impact of automation on the labor force.