INTERNATIONAL - Airbnb announced that it's current chief financial officer (CFO) will be leaving the company.
Laurence Tosi, who had held the CFO role since 2015, is departing the company and has said He will be dedicating his full time and energy to his investment fund, Weston Capital Partners.
Airbnb also announced the promotion of Belinda Johnson, previously the company’s chief business affairs and legal officer, to the No. 2 role of chief operating officer.
She’ll add the oversight of the trust and safety, customer service and payments teams to her existing responsibilities.
Johnson has been at Airbnb for six years, after spending more than 11 years at Yahoo in roles including deputy general counsel.
In a blog post, Brian Chesky CEO of Airbnb said:
“As our COO, Belinda will be responsible for the systems and teams that enable our businesses to function, as well as our legal, policy and communications teams. Belinda will also be a partner to me. Belinda and I often approach things differently, and this is one of the reasons we’ve worked so well together over the years. I learn from her every day, and I’m a better leader because she is my partner.”
The changes come at a critical time for Airbnb, which now does billions of dollars in annual revenue and is seen as a IPO candidate one day.
In the blog post, the company said it is now profitable on an Ebitda basis with more than $5 billion on its balance sheet.
Chesky said the company’s IPO will not happen this year.
Airbnb’s head of financial planning and analysis, Ellie Mertz, will serve as the finance chief on an interim basis while the executive search firm Crist Kolder Associates helps Airbnb hire a new CFO.