Dara Khosrowshahi Quick Info | |
---|---|
Height | 5 ft 10 in |
Weight | 76 kg |
Date of Birth | May 28, 1969 |
Zodiac Sign | Gemini |
Spouse | Sydney Shapiro |
Dara Khosrowshahi is an American business executive who is best known as the chief executive officer of Uber Technologies, Inc., a company that provides mobility as a service via ride-hailing, food delivery/package delivery/couriers, and freight transport. It has operations in more than 70 countries and 10,500 cities with more than 131 million monthly active users. He has also served as a member of the board of directors of BET (Black Entertainment Television, an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences) and Hotels.com (a website for booking hotel rooms online and by telephone). Dara had previously served on the board of The New York Times Company (an American mass media company that publishes The New York Times, a daily newspaper based in New York City).
Born Name
Dara Khosrowshahi
Nick Name
Dara
Sun Sign
Gemini
Born Place
Tehran, Iran
Residence
Pacific Heights, San Francisco, California, United States
Nationality
Education
Dara had attended Hackley School, a private college preparatory school located in Tarrytown, New York. It is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League, a high school athletic conference of university-preparatory schools in New York City and its suburbs. He graduated from there in 1987. The Ivy Preparatory School League has no affiliation with the Ivy League universities
After his high school graduation, he joined Brown University, an Ivy League (a group of 8 private research universities in the Northeastern United States that symbolize academic excellence, selectivity in admissions, and social elitism) research university in Providence, Rhode Island. He graduated from there in 1991 with a B.S. (Bachelor of Science) degree in electrical and electronics engineering.
Occupation
Business Executive
Family
- Father – Asghar ‘Gary’ Khosrowshahi
- Mother – Lili Khosrowshahi
- Siblings – Kaveh Khosrowshahi (Older Brother) (Business Executive), Mehrad Khosrowshahi (Older Brother) (Business Executive)
- Others – Nasrollah Khosrowshahi (Second Cousin, Once Removed), Hassan Khosrowshahi (Second Cousin, Once Removed) (Business Magnate, Investor, Philanthropist, Founder of Future Shop, a now-defunct Canadian electronics store chain), Behzad Khosrowshahi (Third Cousin) (Owner of DRI Capital, a pharmaceutical royalty firm), Golnar Khosrowshahi (Third Cousin) (Founder and CEO of Reservoir Media, a music licensing business), Ali Khosrowshahi (First Cousin, Twice Removed) (Businessman, Founder of the Minoo Industrial Group, a conglomerate specializing in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and food distribution), Amir Khosrowshahi (Cousin) (Co-Founder of Nervana Systems, an artificial intelligence software company). Dara is also related to Darian Shirazi, the co-founder of Radius Intelligence (a now-defunct American software company that provided a marketing platform for targeting small businesses) and the first intern hired by Facebook (an online social networking service that is the 3rd most visited website worldwide).
Net Worth
Dara Khosrowshahi’s net worth had been $250 million according to CelebrityNetWorth.com.
Build
Athletic
Height
5 ft 10 in or 178 cm
Weight
76 kg or 167.5 lbs
Girlfriend / Spouse
Dara has dated –
- Kathleen Grant (1998-2009) – Dara married Kathleen Grant in 1998 and they have 2 children together – a son named Alex and a daughter named Chloe. Dara and Kathleen got divorced in 2009.
- Sydney Shapiro (2012-Present) – Dara married actress and former preschool teacher Sydney Shapiro on December 12, 2012, in a ceremony held in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. The couple has a pair of twin sons named Hayes Epic and Hugo Gubrit.
Race / Ethnicity
White
He is of Iranian descent.
Hair Color
Salt-and-Pepper
Eye Color
Dark Brown
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
- Toned physique
- Receding hairline
- Affable smile
- Sports a rugged beard
Dara Khosrowshahi Facts
- Dara was born into a wealthy family in Iran. His family had founded the Alborz Investment Company – a conglomerate that was involved in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and packaging.
- In 1978, when he was about 9 years old, his family was targeted for its wealth, and their business was later nationalized. This was a part of the Iranian Revolution – a series of events that culminated in the replacement of the monarchical government of Iran by an Islamic theocratic government in 1979. Nasrollah Khosrowshahi (Dara’s second cousin, once removed) is one of the very few Iranians who have won a case in the Hague Tribunal (a popular name for any of the various international courts located in The Hague, Netherlands) for damages incurred by the Iranian Revolution.
- When the family’s business was attacked, Dara’s mother decided to flee Iran and the family first settled in southern France. They were planning to return to Iran if the revolution failed. However, when that did not happen, they immigrated to the United States.
- In 1982, Dara’s father returned to Iran to look after his grandfather. He was apprehended there and not allowed to leave Iran for 6 years. Hence, Dara had to spend his late teenage years without seeing his father.
- In 1991, soon after his graduation from Brown University, he joined Allen & Company, an American privately held boutique investment bank based in New York. In 1998, Dara left the company to work at USA Networks, an American basic cable TV channel. There, he held the position of senior vice president for strategic planning after which he was appointed as the organization’s president.
- He later worked as the chief financial officer of IAC Inc., an American holding company that owns brands in more than 100 countries, mostly in media and the Internet. In 2001, IAC Inc. was acquired by Expedia Group, Inc., an organization that owns and operates multiple travel fare aggregators and travel metasearch engines.
- In August 2005, Dara was appointed the CEO of Expedia Group, Inc. During his tenure, the gross value of the company’s hotel and other travel bookings more than quadrupled and its pre-tax earnings more than doubled.
- In 2015, the group offered him USD 90 million in stock options, provided he stayed with the company until 2020. By 2016, he was one of the highest-paid CEOs in the United States.
- In August 2017, Dara was appointed the CEO of Uber Technologies, Inc., succeeding Travis Kalanick, the founder of the mobility service provider. He forfeited his un-vested stock options of Expedia Group, Inc. (worth USD 184 million by that time) and Uber Technologies, Inc. reportedly paid him more than USD 200 million to take the CEO’s position.
- In May 2019, he led the company’s initial public offering, a stock launch in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually, also to retail (individual) investors.
- In November 2019, Dara faced severe backlash for calling the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi ‘a mistake that can be forgiven’ – during an interview. Jamal, a Saudi Arabian dissident journalist, was assassinated at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, in October 2018. He had been ambushed and strangled by a 15-member squad of Saudi assassins, and his body was dismembered and disposed of. The Saudi government was engaged in an extensive effort to cover up the assassination.
- Independent investigations into the matter, however, concluded that the assassins were closely connected to Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. Many people who took offense to Dara’s aforementioned comment also noted the fact that the Saudi government is an investor in Uber Technologies, Inc., and also has representation on its board of directors.
Featured Image by Wall Street Journal / Instagram