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.
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]
Acquisitions
External links
References
- Booking.com: The largest selection of hotels, homes, and vacation rentals Booking.com^
- Booking Holdings 2025 Annual Report (Form 10-K) United States Securities and Exchange Commission, February 18, 2026^
- Booking Holdings Fortune^
- Thomas E. Weber, Andrea Petersen. Priceline's Initial Public Offering Turns Founder Into Billionaire The Wall Street Journal, April 1, 1999^
- Beth Piskora. Priceline Blasts Off – Online Ticketing Enterprise IPO Up 3 331% New York Post, March 31, 1999^
- Nancy Rivera Brooks. Priceline.com to Put Gas Up for Bid on Web Los Angeles Times, October 5, 2000^
- Priceline Runs Out of Gas, Groceries CBS News, February 26, 2000^
- Dennis Schaal. The Oral History of Travel's Greatest Acquisition: Booking.com Skift, 2018^
- Michele McDonald. Kayak acquires Brazilian travel metasearch site Mundi Phocuswire, August 3, 2017^
- Sean O'Neill. Kayak Acquires Assets of Struggling Brazilian Metasearch Company Mundi Skift, August 4, 2017^
- Leslie Josephs. Online travel giant Priceline Group changes name to Booking Holdings CNBC, February 21, 2018^
- JONATHAN VANIAN. Why Priceline Group Is Changing Its Name to Booking Holdings Fortune, February 21, 2018^
- Dennis Schaal. After Booking Deal Went Bust, Etraveli CEO Says Price 'No Longer in Play' Skift, October 3, 2023^
- Kevin Lincoln. Meet The Man Who Turned Priceline Into A $24 Billion Company Business Insider, January 19, 2012^
- Jason Clampet. Priceline Replaces CEO With Booking.com Boss Skift, November 7, 2013^
- Priceline Group CEO Darren Huston Resigns; Chairman Jeffery H. Boyd Appointed Interim CEO PR Newswire, April 28, 2016^
- The Priceline Group Names Glenn Fogel CEO PR Newswire, December 15, 2016^
- Booking Holdings Fundamentalanalyse boerse.de^
- Priceline Posts Profit, Buys Travelweb The Wall Street Journal, May 3, 2004^
- Sean O'Neill. Why Priceline's Purchase of Booking.com Was the Most Profitable Deal of the 2000s Phocuswire, October 2, 2012^
- Priceline.com Acquires Asian Online Hotel Reservation Service Company Agoda Reuters, November 8, 2007^
- Dennis Schaal. Priceline Acquires Car Rental Firm Travel Jigsaw As Part of Expansion Drive Phocuswire, May 18, 2010^
- Frederic Lardinois. Priceline.com Acquires Kayak For $1.8 Billion, Will Allow Kayak To Continue To Operate Independently TechCrunch, November 8, 2012^
- Samantha Sharf. Priceline Reserves OpenTable for 2.6 Billion Forbes, June 13, 2014^
- Dennis Schaal. Priceline Group Paid $98 Million for Buuteeq and Hotel Ninjas Skift, August 11, 2014^
- Amina Elahi, Gregory Karp. Priceline to acquire Chicago startup Rocketmiles, says report Chicago Tribune, February 19, 2015^
- The Priceline Group Completes the Acquisition of Momondo Group PR Newswire, July 24, 2017^
- Sean O'Neill. Kayak Acquires Assets of Struggling Brazilian Metasearch Company Mundi Skift, 4 August 2017^
- Booking Holdings Announces it has Signed an Agreement to Acquire FareHarbor PR Newswire, April 19, 2018^
- Cate Cadell. China's Didi gets $500 million funding from Booking.com parent Reuters, July 17, 2018^
- Dennis Schaal. Booking Holdings Bought HotelsCombined for Only $140 Million Skift, August 13, 2018^
- Booking Holdings Agrees to Acquire Venga PR Newswire, May 2, 2019^
- Dennis Schaal. Booking Holdings Buys Getaroom for $1.2 Billion to Expand Partnerships Skift, November 12, 2021^