After leaving Apple earlier this year, Airbnb’s travel service today announced that Angela Ahrendts will join the board of directors of the company as an independent non-affiliated member.
Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb, commented in a statement (via CNN) on today’s announcement:
Angela has a reputation for pushing brands to dream big, and she told me that’s exactly what she hopes to bring to Airbnb’s Board. She has led global brands through transformation, completely redefined the retail experience, and has done it all while putting customers and communities first. I’m so excited for her to join our Board and know her innovative thinking will make us a better company.
Previously, Chesky had noted that he hoped to bring new perspectives to the board of Airbnb. Angela Ahrendts ‘ appointment follows business executive Ann Mather’s addition in August 2018. Ahrendts added that for years she has known Chesky and Joe Gebbia and Nathan Blecharczyk co-founders.
Regardless of the hypothesis of distress inside Apple, Ahrendts’ flight is accepted to have been a friendly authority change. In correspondence to representatives following Apple’s legitimate declaration in February, Ahrendts noticed that she wished to invest more energy with family and have a calmer existence. Apple’s retail locations and groups are presently overseen by Deirdre O’Brien.
After Ahrendts was spotted at a Ralph Lauren fashion show in February, where she is also a board member, rumors of a return to the fashion industry spread rapidly. Ahrendts noted at the time that she had no other plans than to take off for travel the summer.
Earlier this month, Ahrendts was asked in an interview on the Hello Monday podcast about the lessons she learned from her time at Apple and specifically called Airbnb as a relevant company in the changing technology landscape:
The second thing was move faster than you could ever fathom because they’re waiting, and they see how much their technology is changing everything. They’re living on Uber, they’re staying at Airbnb, right? They’re living on YouTube and Instagram. They expect your leadership to be just like that because that’s the world they are living in today.
