Former Expedia Group CFO Eric Hart returns to lead strategy, business development

Expedia Group has brought Eric Hart back as chief strategy, business and corporate development officer.

Hart left the company in 2022 after 13 years in various roles, including as chief financial officer and chief strategy officer between 2019 and 2022. Prior to that he had been general manager of Expedia Group brand CarRentals.com and also was a corporate development executive.

A year after leaving Expedia Group, Hart became chief financial officer at financial technology company Plaid. He is also the chair of the supervisory board of Trivago, which is majority-owned by Expedia Group.

Hart will report directly to CEO Ariane Gorin, who took the helm at Expedia Group just over a year ago.

“Eric and I worked closely together on the leadership team for years, and I’ve seen firsthand his strategic acumen, creativity and deep understanding of the travel industry,” Gorin said.

Gorin said Hart brings strong relationships spanning the industry and an ability to develop beneficial partnerships.

“His recent experience scaling a high-growth tech company adds a fresh perspective as we expand our platform and explore new opportunities powered by AI,” Gorin said.

Since Gorin stepped into the CEO role, the company has made a number of shifts in its C-suite. Last year, the company named Scott Schenkel the company’s chief financial officer, Shilpa Ranganathan chief product officer and Ramana Thumu chief technology officer, after the ousting of Rathi Murthy. 

Expedia Group said in a release that Hart’s appointment “underscores Expedia Group’s commitment to strengthening its leadership team and executing a long-term vision centered on innovation, growth and partnership.”

The news comes on the heels of Expedia Group’s spring release, in which it shared that it is leaning further into its B2B business with new application programming interfaces, advertising tools and AI capabilities.