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Booking Holdings Inc.

Online Travel & AccommodationsFounded 1997
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Company data updated: October 2026

Leadership History

Booking Holdings: CEO History

3 leaders · 2002 to present

Who is the CEO of Booking Holdings?

Glenn Fogel is the CEO of Booking Holdings, in the role since 2017. The first chief executive was Jeffery H. Boyd, from 2002.

Current CEO
Glenn Fogel (since 2017)
First CEO
Jeffery H. Boyd (2002)
Leaders documented
3
Founded
1997
NameRoleFromToYears in role
Glenn FogelPresident and Chief Executive Officer2017Present9
Darren HustonChief Executive Officer201420162
Jeffery H. BoydChief Executive Officer (2002 to 2013; interim CEO in 2016)2002201311
Who was CEO of Booking Holdings before Glenn Fogel?
Darren Huston was CEO of Booking Holdings from 2014 to 2016, before Glenn Fogel took over in 2017.

Company Overview

Booking Holdings owns no hotels or planes. It runs the booking sites between travelers and properties: Booking.com for hotels and homes worldwide, Priceline for US deal seekers, Agoda in Asia, KAYAK for price comparison and OpenTable for restaurant tables. The group started as Priceline.com's 'Name Your Own Price' auction in 1997, nearly collapsed in the 2000 dot-com crash, and was rebuilt around Booking.com after buying the Amsterdam start-up in 2005. The company is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut. The absolute behemoth of global online travel was famously forged in Amsterdam, Netherlands, quietly growing to completely dominate global hotel reservations while maintaining incredibly high profit margins.

Glenn Fogel

President and Chief Executive Officer

2017 – Present

9 years (current)

Key Decisions & Impact

Fogel joined Priceline in February 2000 and ran corporate development during the purchases of Active Hotels, Booking.com, Agoda, KAYAK and OpenTable. As CEO from January 2017, and also CEO of Booking.com from June 2019, he set the 'Connected Trip' strategy, shifted Booking.com toward merchant payments, cut costs through the COVID-19 collapse, started a quarterly dividend in 2024, approved a 25-for-1 stock split in 2026, and backed AI products including the Lola assistant launched in September 2026.

Legacy

Under Fogel revenue rose from $12.7 billion in 2017 to $26.9 billion in 2025, and room nights passed 1.2 billion a year. He also led Booking through the EU's 2023 veto of the Etraveli deal, which the General Court upheld in September 2026.

Source →

Darren Huston

Chief Executive Officer

2014 – 2016

2 years

Key Decisions & Impact

Huston ran Booking.com from 2011 and became CEO of The Priceline Group in January 2014. He closed the $2.6 billion OpenTable deal in 2014 and expanded Booking.com's holiday home listings.

Legacy

Huston resigned in April 2016 after the board found he had broken company policy through a personal relationship with an employee; Jeffery Boyd became interim CEO until Glenn Fogel took over in January 2017.

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Jeffery H. Boyd

Chief Executive Officer (2002 to 2013; interim CEO in 2016)

2002 – 2013

11 years

Key Decisions & Impact

Boyd became CEO in November 2002 after the dot-com crash, cut non-travel bidding ventures, and approved the purchases of Active Hotels in 2004 and Booking.com in 2005, moving the company toward commission bookings in Europe. He later served as chairman and returned as interim CEO in 2016 after Darren Huston resigned.

Legacy

Boyd led Priceline from near-failure to one of the largest internet companies. The KAYAK and OpenTable deals were agreed during his tenure as CEO and chairman.

Source →

Challenges & Strategic Context

Booking Holdings faces EU and national antitrust pressure (Digital Markets Act gatekeeper status since May 2024, a ~$467 million (€413 million) Spanish competition fine in 2024 that it is appealing, and a September 2026 court defeat over its blocked Etraveli deal), heavy dependence on paid search traffic, Airbnb's lead in holiday rentals, AI assistants that could sit between travelers and booking sites, and travel shocks such as the 2026 Middle East conflict that slowed room-night growth to a 3% to 5% guidance range for Q3 2026.

Booking Holdings CEO and Leadership FAQ

Who is the CEO of Booking Holdings?

Glenn D. Fogel has been President and CEO of Booking Holdings since 1 January 2017, and has also been CEO of Booking.com since June 2019. A lawyer and former investment banker, he joined Priceline in February 2000 and ran its corporate development before becoming CEO.

Which deals did Glenn Fogel lead before becoming CEO?

As head of corporate development and later head of strategy, Fogel worked on the purchases of Active Hotels (2004), Bookings BV (2005), Agoda (2007), KAYAK (2013) and OpenTable (2014).

Who was Jeffery H. Boyd?

Boyd was CEO from November 2002 to the end of 2013, then chairman, and returned as interim CEO in 2016. He led the recovery from the dot-com crash, cut non-travel bidding ventures and approved the Active Hotels and Booking.com purchases that turned Priceline toward European hotels.

Who was Darren Huston?

Huston, CEO of Booking.com from 2011, became CEO of The Priceline Group in January 2014 and closed the OpenTable deal that year. He resigned in April 2016 after the board found he had broken company policy through a relationship with an employee.

Who is Booking Holdings' CFO?

Ewout Steenbergen has been Executive Vice President and CFO since 15 March 2024, succeeding David Goulden. He was previously CFO of S&P Global.

How did Glenn Fogel handle the COVID-19 crash?

With 2020 revenue down 55% to $6.8 billion, Booking cut costs and staff and raised $4 billion of bonds in April 2020. It kept investing in payments and flights, and revenue passed its 2019 level in 2022 at $17.1 billion.

What has changed in Booking's leadership in 2026?

In February 2026 Peer Bueller became CEO of KAYAK, and co-founder Steve Hafner became KAYAK executive chair with a new AI role at Booking Holdings. Hafner, reporting to Fogel, launched the Lola AI assistant with Paul English on 29 September 2026.

What is Glenn Fogel's strategy for Booking?

Fogel's stated aim is the Connected Trip: one itinerary and payment for every part of a trip, with AI that can predict and fix problems such as a cancelled connection before the traveler has to ask. About $700 million is being reinvested in 2026 in AI, the Connected Trip, payments, and growth in Asia and the US.

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Content is for informational purposes only. Not financial advice. Data sourced from SEC filings, annual reports, and public records. See our full disclaimer and methodology.