Airbnb Inc. CFO Laurence Tosi is leaving the home-rental companyamid tensions and a shakeup in the senior ranks. His departureraises questions about the timeline for an initial public offering(IPO), which now won't come until next year at the earliest.

The San Francisco company said Thursday that it named BelindaJohnson as chief operating officer. Johnson, 50, joined Airbnb in2011 as the first executive hired by co-founder and CEO BrianChesky. As chief business affairs and legal officer, Johnson ledefforts to work with city governments and is at the forefront ofthe company's many legal battles.

“The COO is one of the most critical positions in any company,”Chesky said in a statement. “Before the holidays, I made a decisionabout who was right for this role, and I'm incredibly excited toannounce that we have appointed Belinda Johnson.”

Tosi, who was CFO at Blackstone Group and one of the mostvisible executives on Wall Street before joining Airbnb in 2015,learned of Chesky's decision to name Johnson as operating chief onMonday evening, said people familiar with the matter. Tosi hadenvisioned the role for himself but was butting heads with Cheskyrecently as he jostled for more control, said the people, who askednot to be identified discussing personnel issues. Tosi told Cheskyhe would leave Airbnb later that night.

Although Airbnb grew up alongside Uber Technologies Inc., thetravel-accommodations company isn't known for palace intrigue.Chesky presented an amiable, mostly drama-free demeanor as hetransformed his scrappy upstart into a global business valued at$31 billion. Also unlike Uber, Airbnb has been profitable sincelast year, thanks largely to Tosi's financial discipline. Now thetwo most valuable U.S. technology startups are without financialchiefs.

“I know people will ask what these changes mean for a potentialIPO. Let me address this directly. We are not going public in2018,” Chesky said in the statement. “We're working on gettingready to go public, and we will make decisions about going publicon our own timetable.”

Before joining Airbnb, Johnson served as general counsel atYahoo and Mark Cuban's Broadcast.com. She was named to the board ofPayPal Holdings a year ago. As Airbnb's operating chief, shebecomes one of the most powerful women in Silicon Valley.

While Tosi was at Blackstone, Apple's Steve Jobs tried to hirehim as CFO early this decade. Tosi told Blackstone CEO SteveSchwarzman and declined the Apple job. At Airbnb, Tosi was seen byemployees as a shrewd operator who failed to adapt to Airbnb'sprogressive culture and follow Chesky's grand ambitions, said threepeople who worked with him. Tosi, who turns 50 next week, wasfocused more on cutting costs and pursuing businesses that wererevenue-generating instead of world-changing, they said.

“The two and half years I've spent at Airbnb have been some ofthe most thrilling of my career,” Tosi said in a statement. “Weachieved much of what I set out to accomplish when I joined.” Hedeclined to comment on the circumstances of his departure.

Tosi plans to spend more time on his personal investment fund,Weston Capital Partners. Airbnb has hired executive search firmCrist Kolder Associates to find a new CFO, according to Nick Papas,a spokesman for the company. Ellie Mertz, Airbnb's head of globalfinancial planning and analysis, will serve as interim head offinance while the company searches for Tosi's replacement.

From: Bloomberg

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