Expedia CEO and CFO ousted amid disagreement with board on strategy; stock rallies

Shares of Expedia Group Inc. surged 4.4% in premarket trading Wednesday, after the online travel services company said Chief Executive Mark Okerstrom and Chief Financial Officer Allan Pickerill have resigned after a little over two years in the roles, amid a disagreement with the board of directors on strategy. Chairman Barry Diller and Vice Chairman Peter Kern will oversee day-to-day operations while the board determines the long-term leadership of the company. Chief Strategy Officer Eric Hart will serve as acting CFO. Okerstrom had been CEO since August 2017 and Pickerill had been CFO since September 2017. Diller said the reorganization plan implemented earlier this year resulted in a "material loss of focus," disappointing third-quarter results and a lackluster near-term outlook. "The board disagreed with that outlook, as well as the departing leadership's vision for growth, strongly believing the Company can accelerate growth in 2020" Diller said in a statement. "That divergence necessitated a change in management." The company said it set a new 20 million share buyback program, which is in addition to the 9 million shares still available to purchase in a previous program. The stock has tumbled 22.8% over the past three months through Tuesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 5.3%.

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