In this Feb. 22, 2018, file photo Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky speaks during an event in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)
By Dee-Ann Durbin
Airbnb was losing money even before the pandemic struck and cut its revenue by almost a third, the home-sharing company revealed in documents filed Monday ahead of a planned initial public offering of its stock.
The San Francisco-based company has yet set a date for the IPO but it is laying the groundwork by filing financial records with U.S. security regulators.
The documents show that leading up to the coronavirus outbreak earlier this year, Airbnb was spending heavily on technology and marketing to grow its business.
Its revenue jumped 32% to $4.8 billion in 2019, but it reported a net loss of $674 million that year. The company also lost money in 2018 and 2017.
This year, Airbnb said, revenue fell 32% to $2.5 billion in the first nine months as travelers canceled their plans after the pandemic crippled travel and forced lockdowns around the world.
Airbnb said it currently has 7.4 million listings run by 4 million hosts worldwide. Eighty-six percent of its hosts are outside the U.S. and 55% are women, the company said.
The company said it had 54 million guests in 2019.
Airbnb was founded 12 years ago by Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia — classmates at the Rhode Island School of Design — and Nate Blecharczyk, a software engineer. Their first listing was Chesky and Gebbia’s apartment in San Francisco.
For 30 years Ira Galtman’s job has been to document how American Express went from an express stagecoach company in New York in 1850, to what it is today.
The Good Charcoal Company offers eco-friendly, chemical-free charcoal sourced from Namibian acacia wood, promoting sustainable grilling practices nationwide.
After a few months of positive data, the Fed chair says he’s in no rush to cut rates – and this analyst says inflation could stick around for the near future.
As the DOJ potentially prepares to file criminal charges against Boeing, an industry expert breaks down what went wrong – and how it could make things right.
