Billionaire Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia joins Tesla board
Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia has joined the board of electric vehicle maker Tesla.
Just two months after leaving his executive role at Airbnb, Joe Gebbia is joining Tesla’s board of directors, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Gebbia, whose term as a board member began Sept. 25, according to the filing, is an independent director on Tesla’s board. He joins the board of directors after the exit of the board of directors of the president of Oracle Larry Ellison last month.
Gebbia, 41, who became a billionaire as the co-founder of home and apartment rental service Airbnb, announced in June he was leaving his full-time role at Airbnb to focus on new projects and parenting, but would remain on the Airbnb board and the board of Airbnb.org, the nonprofit arm of the company. Gebbia met Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky when they were students at the Rhode Island School of Design.
Prior to his departure from Airbnb, Gebbia sold approximately $700 million worth of stock, or approximately 8% of his stake in Airbnb. Forbes estimates his net worth at $7.4 billion. Since leaving Airbnb, Gebbia has started working on his next startup, according to an announcement on the Tesla company blog. In early 2022, Gebbia purchased a minority stake in NBA team San Antonio Spurs for an undisclosed amount.
When Tesla announced in a filing in June that Ellison would step down from the board when his term expires at the company’s annual meeting in August 2022, he said he planned to reduce the number of board seats from seven to six, that is to say he would not replace Ellison. The company seems to have changed its mind about this.
Gebbia waived cash compensation from Tesla and waived stock compensation — along with the rest of the board — through July 2023, according to the filing.
Bloomberg first broke the news of Gebbia’s new position on the board.
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