internal
Brian Chesky
President & Chief Executive Officer
Executive
18 yr
16 reports
Airbnb, Inc. ·ABNB
Founder-led Airbnb runs without a COO layer
Technology · Fortune #382 · Functional structure · 7K employees · San Francisco, California
View as of:
7
CEO span
↓ tighter than peers (avg 10)
3.1
Avg span
moderate
3
Max depth
3 levels
7.3 yr
Avg tenure
stable vs FY2024
57%
Internal hires
near industry avg
Consolidated financials FY2025 · period end 2025-12-31 · 10-K
Revenue
$12.2B
Operating income
$2.5B
Net income
$2.5B
Total assets
$22.2B
Sourced from Airbnb, Inc. DEF 14A · filed 2026-04-24 ↗ View on SEC
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Airbnb, Inc. organizational chart
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Founder-led Airbnb runs without a COO, with all major functions reporting directly to CEO Brian Chesky. This page details Airbnb’s flat executive structure, leadership team, board, compensation, recent changes, and peer comparisons for quick organizational insight.
What to model
Use the chart to test org decisions, not just view reporting lines
Start with the public baseline, then use the scenario views and source-backed changes to ask what happens when leadership, span, or team ownership shifts.
Latest signal Elinor Mertz moved into Chief Financial Officer
Promoted to CFO effective March 1, 2024.
Source · See change logScenario views in the chart
- Add Chief Operating Officer Introduce a COO to absorb operational complexity and reduce CEO span as Airbnb scales services.
- Recreate unified product & tech role Combine product and engineering leadership under a single executive to replace the former CTO model.
Atlas work this supports
- Connect Workday or UKG Get these analytics for YOUR org — tenure, span of control, headcount, automatically from your HRIS.
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- Plan a Reorg Use this as a starting point. Model scenarios, compare structures, present options to your board.
The people
Who's running this
7 executives identified as Named Executive Officers in the most recent SEC proxy. Bar length scales with tenure.
internal
Elinor Mertz
Chief Financial Officer
Finance
2 yr
2 reports
Dave Stephenson
Chief Business Officer
Business
6 yr
2 reports
internal
Nathan Blecharczyk
Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer
Strategy
18 yr
2 reports
Open Role
Chief Product Officer
Product
1 yr
2 reports
Ronald A. Klain
Chief Legal Officer
Legal
4 yr
1 reports
Open Role
Chief People Officer
HR
1 yr
1 reports
The pay
Executive compensation
From the most recent DEF 14A Summary Compensation Table. 3 named executive officers disclosed. Bar length scales with total compensation.
Brian Chesky $242K
- Base salary
- $0K
- Stock awards
- $242K
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
- Source
- SEC DEF 14A ↗
Elinor Mertz $11.5M
- Base salary
- $671K
- Bonus
- $6.66M
- Stock awards
- $3.53M
- Option awards
- $675K
- Other
- $15K
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
- Source
- SEC DEF 14A ↗
Nathan Blecharczyk $7.8M
- Base salary
- $471K
- Bonus
- $4.24M
- Stock awards
- $2.25M
- Option awards
- $285K
- Other
- $554K
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
- Source
- SEC DEF 14A ↗
The skin in the game
Beneficial ownership
Insider stock holdings and the company's ownership requirements for executives and directors. Disclosed in the most recent DEF 14A.
Stock ownership requirements
Executive stock ownership guidelines referenced but specific multiples not disclosed.
| Holder | Shares | % of class |
|---|---|---|
| Brian Chesky | 4.21M | — |
| Nathan Blecharczyk | 387K | <1% |
| Elinor Mertz | 545K | <1% |
The businesses
How Airbnb, Inc. divides the work
4 divisions report into the group CEO. Tile size scales with estimated headcount.
Finance
400 employees
Chief Financial Officer (Elinor Mertz)
Oversees accounting, treasury, investor relations, and financial planning.
Product & Design
2K employees
Chief Product Officer (Open Role)
Responsible for platform product strategy, design, and user experience.
Business & Marketing
2K employees
Chief Business Officer (Dave Stephenson)
Leads global marketing, partnerships, and commercial strategy.
Legal & Policy
300 employees
Chief Legal Officer (Ronald A. Klain)
Manages legal, regulatory, and public policy matters globally.
The thesis
Why this org is unusual
Founder-led Airbnb operates without a chief operating officer, an unusual choice for a global platform at its scale.
All major functional leaders—including finance, strategy, business, product, legal, and people—report directly to CEO Brian Chesky, producing a wide CEO span. This structure reinforces Chesky’s hands-on role in product and culture while avoiding an intermediary operational layer.
The absence of a COO concentrates coordination risk at the CEO level but aligns with Airbnb’s emphasis on design, product coherence, and long-term strategy over near-term operational optimization. The recent departure of long-tenured CTO Aristotle Balogh further simplified the top team, leaving technology leadership distributed under product and engineering rather than represented by a single C-suite owner.
- No COO role
- Founder retains chair and CEO roles
- Recent CTO departure without replacement
The comparison
How Airbnb, Inc. stacks up
Compared with peers like Booking Holdings and Expedia, Airbnb’s structure is more founder-centric and flatter at the top. Most large internet platforms maintain a COO or equivalent to manage scale operations; Airbnb instead relies on direct CEO oversight. This mirrors Meta’s earlier structure but contrasts with …
C-suite size
Reporting depth
Airbnb, Inc.
3 levels
5 levels
5 levels
6 levels
5 levels
Avg C-suite tenure
Has COO / Has CAIO
Airbnb, Inc. — no COO — no CAIO
Current signals
What changed recently
The most significant recent change was the December 2025 departure of long-tenured CTO Aristotle Balogh without a direct replacement.
- promoted
- Date not confirmed departedAristotle Balogh Chief Technology Officer
Departed CTO role effective December 2025; remained through Feb 2026 in advisory capacity.
Source
Leadership Timeline
Year-over-year executive structure based on SEC proxy and annual filings.
FY2025
DEF 14A filed 2026-04-24
- CEO
- Brian Chesky
- CEO span
- 4
- C-suite
- 4
- Avg tenure
- 8.5 yr
CTO role exited at end of year, reducing C-suite size.
Named executive officers (4)
- Brian Chesky - CEO since 2008
- Elinor Mertz - CFO since 2024
- Nathan Blecharczyk - Chief Strategy Officer since 2008
- Aristotle Balogh - CTO since 2018
FY2024
DEF 14A filed 2025-04-25
- CEO
- Brian Chesky
- CEO span
- 5
- C-suite
- 5
- Avg tenure
- 7.9 yr
Expanded business role under CBO.
Named executive officers (5)
- Brian Chesky - CEO since 2008
- Elinor Mertz - CFO since 2024
- Nathan Blecharczyk - Chief Strategy Officer since 2008
- Dave Stephenson - Chief Business Officer since 2019
- Aristotle Balogh - CTO since 2018
FY2023
DEF 14A filed 2024-04-26
- CEO
- Brian Chesky
- CEO span
- 5
- C-suite
- 5
- Avg tenure
- 7.2 yr
Pre-CFO promotion structure.
Named executive officers (5)
- Brian Chesky - CEO since 2008
- Dave Stephenson - CBO since 2019
- Nathan Blecharczyk - Chief Strategy Officer since 2008
- Aristotle Balogh - CTO since 2018
- Elinor Mertz - VP Finance since 2015
Year-over-year changes
CTO departure reduced C-suite size and CEO span.
- CEO span: 5 → 4
- C-suite size: 5 → 4
- Avg tenure: 7.9 → 8.5 yr
- departed Aristotle Balogh - Chief Technology Officer (was CTO) (8-K filed Nov 21, 2025)
The board
Board of directors
9 directors. 6 of 9 independent (67%). Source: most recent DEF 14A.
Brian Chesky
Chair Inside
CEO, Airbnb
Kenneth Chenault
Lead Indep. Independent
Former CEO, American Express
Angela Ahrendts
Independent
Former SVP, Apple
Amrita Ahuja
Independent
CFO, Warby Parker
Jeffrey Jordan
Independent
Partner, Andreessen Horowitz
Alfred Lin
Independent
Partner, Sequoia Capital
James Manyika
Independent
SVP, Google
Joseph Gebbia
Inside
Co-Founder, Airbnb
Nathan Blecharczyk
Inside
Co-Founder, Airbnb
The board, organized
Board committees
3 standing committees. Audit and Compensation must be 100% independent under SEC rules; the rest vary.
Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee
100% independent
- Kenneth Chenault Chair
- Jeffrey Jordan
- Alfred Lin
People and Compensation Committee
100% independent 5 mtgs/yr
- Angela Ahrendts Chair
- Kenneth Chenault
- Alfred Lin
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
100% independent 3 mtgs/yr
- Jeffrey Jordan Chair
- Kenneth Chenault
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the CEO of Airbnb?
Brian Chesky has served as Airbnb’s President and CEO since co-founding the company in 2008.
What type of organizational structure does Airbnb use?
Airbnb uses a primarily functional structure with all major executives reporting directly to the CEO.
How many direct reports does Airbnb's CEO have?
As of 2026, Brian Chesky has seven direct executive reports.
How has Airbnb's leadership changed recently?
The most notable change was the departure of CTO Aristotle Balogh in December 2025, with no successor named.
Does Airbnb have a COO?
No. Airbnb does not have a Chief Operating Officer; operational leaders report directly to the CEO.
Sources
- Company Proxy, Apr 2024
- 8-K Filing, Nov 2025
- SEC EDGAR: Airbnb, Inc. DEF 14A Proxy Statement
- SEC EDGAR: Airbnb, Inc. 10-K Annual Report
Reference
Cite this page
If you reference this page in research, analysis, or news writing, use one of the formats below. Citation includes the SEC filing source where applicable.
APA 7th
Creately. (2026). Airbnb, Inc. organizational structure. Creately. Retrieved , from https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/airbnb/MLA 9th
"Airbnb, Inc. Organizational Structure." Creately, April 1, 2026, https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/airbnb/. Accessed .Chicago 17
Creately. "Airbnb, Inc. Organizational Structure." Last modified April 1, 2026. https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/airbnb/.Original SEC source View on SEC ↗
Airbnb, Inc.. DEF 14A. Filed 2026-04-24. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1559720/000119312526175062/d936646ddef14a.htmPermanent URL: https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/airbnb/ · last updated 2026-04-01