Mark Okerstrom

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Mark Okerstrom
In The Hotseat (32586159277).jpg
Born1972or1973(age 51–52)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Alma mater
Occupation(s)Lawyer, technology executive
Known forFormer President/CEO Expedia Group
TitlePresident/COO Convoy

Mark Okerstrom (born 1972/1973) is a Canadian lawyer and technology executive in the hospitality sector. He was the president and CEO of Expedia Group until December 4, 2019 when he resigned over disagreements on strategy with Barry Diller and the Expedia board. Mark then joined as president and COO of Convoy until the company ceased core operations and was sold to Flexport. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Okerstrom was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and is the son of two school teachers. [3]

Okerstrom earned a certificate of liberal arts from Simon Fraser University in 1995, a Juris Doctor from the University of British Columbia in 1998, and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School in 2004. [4] [5]

Career

In his early career, Okerstrom was an associate at the law firms Fasken Martineau and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer from 1998 to 2002. [4] [6] In 2003, he became an associate at investment bank UBS in London. [5] [7] Okerstrom later became a consultant at Bain & Company in Boston and San Francisco from 2004 to 2006, handling mergers and acquisitions. [3] [8] [6] Okerstrom was recruited to join Expedia Inc. [5] in 2006 as head of Expedia's corporate development and strategy group. [3] [4] He then became Expedia's chief financial officer in 2011 and later served also as executive vice president of operations, and served as the main negotiator in the company's investment stake in Trivago, and led the company's acquisitions of Travelocity and Wotif. [8] [4] [5] [9] [7]

In August 2017, Okerstrom became CEO of Expedia, succeeding Dara Khosrowshahi. [9] [10] He also served on the organisation's board of directors. [11] [9] Okerstrom led the rebrand of Expedia, Inc. to Expedia Group in 2018. [7] [12]

According to the New York Times, Okerstrom was 23rd on the list of the highest paid CEOs of companies with revenues of at least $1 billion for 2017. [13]

On December 4, 2019, Okerstrom and his CFO Alan Pickerill resigned from their respective roles at Expedia Group due to a difference of opinion on strategic alignment with the board. [11]

On August 27, 2020, Mark joined Seattle-based digital freight startup Convoy as President, COO. [14]

Personal life

Okerstrom is married and has two daughters. [4]

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References

  1. ↑ Isidore, Chris (October 12, 2023). "Digital Startup Convoy Is Winding Down Its Freight Business". Wall Street Journal.
  2. ↑ Bishop, Todd (October 13, 2023). "From 'amazing heights' to sudden shutdown: Read the memo detailing Convoy's collapse". GeekWire.
  3. 1 2 3 Greenstone, Scott (September 25, 2017). "New Expedia CEO Mark Okerstrom has a hard act to follow" . The Seattle Times . Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Higgins, Laine (November 23, 2018). "Expedia's Mark Okerstrom on His Quest To Build One 'Incredible Synthetic Mentor'" . The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Broberg, Brad (March 14, 2014). "CFO of the Year 2014: Mark Okerstrom". Puget Sound Business Journal. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  6. 1 2 "Mark D Okerstrom". Bloomberg . Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  7. 1 2 3 Murphy, Margi (December 14, 2018). "From 'complete failure' to boss of Expedia: Mark Okerstrom on being a travel tycoon". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  8. 1 2 "Expedia's New CEO: Who's Who in Executive Leadership". Skift . August 28, 2017. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  9. 1 2 3 Day, Matt (August 30, 2017). "Expedia picks CFO Mark Okerstrom to fill CEO spot" . The Seattle Times . Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  10. ↑ Hook, Leslie (September 18, 2017). "New Expedia chief to step up global expansion" . Financial Times . Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  11. 1 2 "Expedia CEO and CFO resign in surprise shakeup, as Barry Diller asserts control over travel giant". Geekwire . December 4, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  12. ↑ Schaal, Dennis (March 26, 2018). "Expedia Tweaks Name After Priceline Rebrand". Skift . Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  13. ↑ "The Highest-Paid C.E.O.s in 2017" . The New York Times . May 25, 2018. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  14. ↑ "Convoy hires former Expedia CEO as president and COO as digital freight startup tops 1k employees". Geekwire . August 27, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
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