EP 125: Glenn Fogel (CEO, Booking Holdings) Building a $170B Travel Empire: On AI, Acquisitions, and Shaping Travel’s Future

Glenn Fogel, CEO of Booking Holdings, has built a $170B travel empire that includes brands like http://Booking.com, Priceline, Kayak, and OpenTable. Glenn shares insights into how Booking has grown into a global powerhouse, weathering challenges like tsunamis, wars, 9/11, and the COVID-19 pandemic. We dive into the strategy behind the transformative acquisition of http://Booking.com, which now drives 90% of the company’s revenue, and the key lessons Glenn has learned about M&A success. Glenn also discusses how AI could revolutionize travel, from automating customer service to creating seamless traveler-first experiences.   (00:00) Intro (01:37) Overview of Booking Holdings (02:31) Early Days of Priceline and Joining the Company (03:33) Dot-Com Boom and Financial Challenges (07:28) Travel Industry Resilience (07:47) Cultural and Economic Factors in Travel (09:17) Stock Splits and Employee Incentives (13:34) Acquisition of Booking.com and Active Hotels (24:20) Growth and Integration of Acquired Companies (29:11) Artificial Intelligence in Travel (30:57) Future of Travel and AI Integration (38:54) The Greatest Acquirers in History (39:16) Teamwork in Business Acquisitions (40:48) Challenges in M&A and Regulatory Hurdles (41:49) Patterns in Successful and Failed Deals (46:06) Cultural Alignment in Mergers (50:31) Brand Management and Integration (54:14) Regulatory Environment and Smart Regulations (01:00:11) Post-COVID Business Travel Trends (01:08:24) Leadership Through Crises (01:15:33) Technological Advancements in Travel Executive Producer: Rashad Assir Producer: Leah Clapper Mixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky   Check out Unsupervised Learning, Redpoint's AI Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@UCUl-s_Vp-Kkk_XVyDylNwLA   🎙 Listen to the show   Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-logan-bartlett-show/id1606770839 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5WqBqDb4br3LlyVrdqOYYb?si=3076e6c1b5c94d63&nd=1 Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9zb0hJZkhWbg   🎥 Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCugS0jD5IAdoqzjaNYzns7w?sub_confirmation=1   Follow on Socials   📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theloganbartlettshow 🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/loganbartshow 🎬 Clips on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theloganbartlettshow   About the Show   Logan Bartlett is a Software Investor at Redpoint Ventures - a Silicon Valley-based VC with $6B AUM and investments in Snowflake, DraftKings, Twilio, and Netflix. In each episode, Logan goes behind the scenes with world-class entrepreneurs and investors. If you're interested in the real inside baseball of tech, entrepreneurship, and start-up investing, tune in every Friday for new episodes.