Booking Holdings
American travel technology company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Booking Holdings Inc. is an American travel technology company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, that owns and operates several travel fare aggregators and travel fare metasearch engines including namesake and flagship Booking.com, Priceline.com, Agoda, Kayak, Cheapflights, Rentalcars.com, Momondo, and OpenTable. It operates websites in about 40 languages and 200 countries.
- Priceline.com Incorporated (1998–2014)
- The Priceline Group Inc. (2014–2018)
 | |
| Formerly |
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|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
| |
| Industry | |
| Founded | 1996[1] in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Founder | Jay S. Walker |
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
Key people |
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| Products |
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| Revenue |  US$26.9 billion (2025) |
| US$8.83 billion (2025) | |
 US$5.40 billion (2025) | |
| Total assets | US$29.3 billion (2025) |
| Total equity | US$−5.6 billion (2025) |
Number of employees | 24,300 (2025) |
| Website | bookingholdings |
| Footnotes / references [2] | |
The company is ranked 243rd on the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue.[3] The company primarily derives its revenue from commissions, with a small portion derived from advertising.[2] In 2023, consumers booked 1.235 billion room nights of accommodation, 88 million rental car days, and 68 million airplane tickets using websites owned by Booking Holdings.[2]
History
In 1996, Jay S. Walker founded the company in Stamford, Connecticut, which launched Priceline.com, an online travel site, that used a Name Your Own Price bidding model.[4]
In March 1999, the company became a public company via an initial public offering, making Walker, who owned a 35% stake in the company, a multi-billionaire.[5][4]
The company experimented with selling other products and services such as groceries, gasoline, home mortgages, and cars, but these offerings were discontinued in 2000.[6][7]
In July 2005, the company acquired Booking.com for $133 million and was merged with ActiveHotels.com, a European online hotel reservation company, purchased by Priceline Group for $161 million in September 2004.[8]
In April 2014, the name of the company was changed from priceline.com Incorporated to The Priceline Group Inc.[2]
In August 2017, Kayak acquired the assets of Mundi, a Brazilian metasearch company.[9][10]
In February 2018, the company changed its name to Booking Holdings.[11][12]
In 2021, the company offered to acquire GoToGate; however, the deal was blocked by European regulators in 2023.[13]
Management history
Jeffery H. Boyd was named chief executive officer in 2002 and remained in that role until becoming chairman in 2013.[14]
Effective January 2014, Darren Huston was named chief executive officer of the company, replacing Jeff Boyd.[15] In April 2016, Huston was forced to resign following an undisclosed personal relationship with an employee, and Boyd was named interim CEO.[16]
Effective January 2017, Glenn D. Fogel was named chief executive officer and president.[17]
Finances
The key trends for Booking Holdings are (as at the financial year ending December 31):[18]
| Revenue (US$ bn) | Net profit (US$ bn) | Total assets (US$ bn) | Employees | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 10.7 | 2.1 | 19.8 | 18,500 |
| 2017 | 12.6 | 2.3 | 25.4 | 22,900 |
| 2018 | 14.5 | 3.9 | 22.6 | 24,500 |
| 2019 | 15.0 | 4.8 | 21.4 | 26,400 |
| 2020 | 6.7 | 0.06 | 21.8 | 20,300 |
| 2021 | 10.9 | 1.1 | 23.6 | 20,300 |
| 2022 | 17.0 | 3.0 | 25.3 | 21,600 |
| 2023 | 21.3 | 4.2 | 24.3 | 23,600 |
| 2024 | 23.7 | 5.8 | 27.7 | 24,300 |
| 2025 | 26.9 | 5.4 | 29.3 | 24,300 |
Acquisitions
| # | Year | Company | Price | Ref(s). |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Priceline.com | [19] | ||
| 1 | 2004 | Major stakes in Travelweb and Active Hotels | [20] | |
| 2 | 2005 | Booking.com | $133 million | [19] |
| 3 | 2007 | Agoda.com | [21] | |
| 4 | 2010 | TravelJigsaw / Rentalcars.com | [22] | |
| 5 | 2013 | Kayak.com | $1.8 billion | [23] |
| 6 | 2014 | OpenTable | $2.6 billion | [24] |
| 7 | 2014 | Buuteeq and Hotel Ninjas | $98 million | [25] |
| 8 | 2015 | Rocketmiles | [26] | |
| 9 | 2017 | Momondo and Cheapflights | $550 million | [27] |
| 10 | 2017 | Mundi | [28] | |
| 11 | 2018 | FareHarbor | $250 million | [29] |
| 12 | 2018 | Minority stake in DiDi | $500 million | [30] |
| 13 | 2018 | HotelsCombined | $140 million | [31] |
| 14 | 2019 | Venga | [32] | |
| 15 | 2022 | Getaroom | $1.2 billion | [33] |
