Victor Kaufman resigned from the Expedia Group board on March 5, according to a SEC filing made public on Wednesday.
Kaufman is vice chairman at internet conglomerate IAC. He’s been a director at Expedia Group since IAC spun out the company in 2005, after acquiring it in 2003. Kaufman served as vice chairman of Expedia Group until June 2018.
“Mr. Kaufman’s decision to resign was based on the demands on his time from other professional commitments and not the result of any disagreement between Mr. Kaufman and the Company,” according to the filing.
Kaufman previously was chairman and CEO of Savoy Pictures Entertainment. He was also the founding chairman and CEO of Tri-Star Pictures.
There are now 11 board members at Expedia Group.
Fellow media mogul and IAC Chairman Barry Diller took over leadership duties at Expedia Group in December after the ouster of its CEO and CFO. Diller has served as Expedia chairman since 2005.
Seattle-based Expedia Group is one of many travel and tourism companies facing extraordinary circumstances amid the spread of novel coronavirus and the resulting respiratory disease, COVID-19, including airlines, hotels, resorts, conventions and others.
Citing the uncertainty in global travel amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, a veteran Wall Street analyst issued lower estimates for Expedia Group’s key financial results, predicting a decline of 18 percent, or more than $470 million, in the company’s first quarter revenue vs. the same period last year.
The challenge comes at especially difficult time for Expedia Group: The company cut 3,000 jobs on Feb. 24, including 500 at its new Seattle waterfront headquarters, saying it had been “pursuing growth in an unhealthy and undisciplined way” and needed to refocus.
Expedia stock fell more than 10 percent Wednesday amid a stock market plunge.
