Airbnb creates a new leadership role as it reaches an ‘inflection point’

Airbnb Inc (NASDAQ: ABNB) says its CFO Dave Stephenson will assume a newly created role of Chief Business Officer in January. Shares of the vacation rental company are up 1.0% at writing.

Elie Mertz will replace Stephenson as the CFO of Airbnb

The California-based company also named Ellie Mertz its new Chief Financial Officer on Tuesday.

Mertz joined Airbnb Inc in 2013 and has served as its vice president of finance over the past five years. She will transition into the CFO role in February.

Airbnb saw a need for the new position as it’s now at an “inflection point”. The Nasdaq-listed firm plans on focusing on growth from here on out, as per its note to employees today.

Dave Stephenson will oversee international expansion at Airbnb

Stephenson was a key personnel that helped Airbnb navigate through the tumultuous period of the pandemic as well as its initial public offering in late 2020.

Now he will oversee “all business and corporate development activities” at the vacation rental company including international expansion and “growing global host supply”.

Last month, Airbnb spent under $200 million to acquire Gameplanner.AI – a San Francisco-headquartered artificial intelligence startup in pursuit of growth.

Note that Bernstein analyst Richard Clarke recently named $ABNB his top pick in travel stocks for 2024 – shortly after the company posted market-beating results for its fiscal third quarter.