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Expedia Group appointed Scott Schenkel, a former interim CEO and chief financial officer at eBay, as its new chief financial officer. He’ll be based in Seattle and will start his role at Expedia around February 8.
Schenkel replaces Julie Whalen, who will remain in her post during the transition. Expedia had announced in November that Whalen would be leaving. She began her role in September 2022 and was the first woman chief financial officer at Expedia.
The official handoff will take place the day after Expedia Group files its 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said, and that’s expected to occur around February 7.
Before eBay, Schenkel spent 17 years at General Electric and General Electric Healthcare in a variety of financial leadership posts. He currently has board seats on Pinterest, Forter, and NetApp, according to his LinkedIn profile.
“Scott joins Expedia Group with extensive financial leadership experience across global businesses, particularly in e-commerce.” said Ariane Gorin, Expedia Group CEO, in a statement. “His expertise, operational acumen, and strategic insight will be instrumental as we strengthen our position as a global leader in travel. I look forward to working with Scott to drive our strategic goals forward.”
The Compensation Package
Schenkel’s compensation package is larger than his predecessor’s. He’s slated to receive a $5.2 million signing bonus, including $3 million at the start of his employment and $2.2 million in mid-December 2025. Schenkel’s base salary is $1 million, he’ll be awarded an initial grant of restricted stock units worth about $15.6 million, and he’s in line for annual equity grants of $10 million.
Whalen, who was already an Expedia board member when she started her full-time employment, didn’t receive a signing bonus when she started as chief financial officer in 2022. Her base salary was $950,000, she got an initial grant of $17.5 millon in restricted stock units, and was eligible for equity awards worth around $6 million.
The C-Suite Gender Equation
Gorin took over as CEO in May, the first woman in the position at Expedia. Early in her tenure, Expedia Group had women in the roles of CEO, chief financial officer and chief technology officer, but now Gorin is the only woman among the trio.
Then-Chief Technology Officer Rathi Murthy, who’d been on the job since 2021, exited her post around May 17 for what the company cited as “a violation of company policy.” Expedia replaced her in October with Ramana Thumu.
And Schenkel takes over for Julie Whalen a day after Expedia’s annual financial report gets filed in February.
