Trivago Chief Financial Officer Axel Hefer will replace co-founder and CEO Rolf Schrömgens at the end of the year, the company announced.
Hefer told Cheddar in an interview Tuesday the company had been working on a succession plan since he joined the company three years ago.
Schrömgens's co-founders Peter Vinnemeier and Stephan Stubner left the company in 2018. Hefer told Cheddar Schrömgens felt it was time for him "to move into a more passive role." Schrömgens will join the advisory board and give up his board of directors seat.
Trivago's stock was down about 19 percent after the surprising announcement, made along with the Q3 earnings report.
"Our third quarter overall came in softer than expected," he said. The company expects a smaller Q4 revenue than last year.
Hefer said the stock price reaction "is a combination of both filings and, obviously, very difficult to say which part of the drop is associated to the different news."
Hefer said the company has been focused on profitability after losing a "substantial sums of money" in the first half of 2018.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said Thursday that the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. in the current fiscal quarter will be sourced from India, while iPads and other devices will come from Vietnam as the company works to avoid the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on its business. Apple’s earnings for the first three months of the year topped Wall Street’s expectations thanks to high demand for its iPhones, and the company said tariffs had a limited effect on the fiscal second quarter’s results. Cook added that for the current quarter, assuming things don’t change, Apple expects to see $900 million added to its costs as a result of the tariffs.
