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# Lessons from Glenn Fogel
- URL: https://www.antoinebuteau.com/lessons-from-glenn-fogel/
- Published: 2026-07-31T01:35:25.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-05T03:01:54.000Z
- Description: As CEO of Booking Holdings, Glenn Fogel oversees a travel portfolio that includes Booking. com, Kayak, Priceline, and OpenTable.
- Author: Antoine Buteau
- Tags: Profile, AI & Machine Learning Profiles

As CEO of Booking Holdings, Glenn Fogel oversees a travel portfolio that includes Booking.com, Kayak, Priceline, and OpenTable. He drove the early acquisitions that turned a dot-com survivor into a global network, and is now using AI to build a fully connected trip. This profile covers his take on navigating industry crises, fighting corporate complacency, and rethinking customer service for the AI era.

![Visual summary of operating lessons from Glenn Fogel.](https://www.antoinebuteau.com/content/images/2026/07/lessons-from-glenn-fogel-profile-infographic.webp)

## Part 1: Navigating Career Setbacks and Crises

1. **On recovering from a stroke:** Experiencing a severe stroke at 17 that wiped out his language capabilities and paralyzed his right side taught him the value of daily effort and resilience. — *Reference:* [*The CEO of Booking Holdings On Making Tough Choices & Battling Back From Having A Stroke*](https://thefutureorganization.com/the-ceo-of-booking-holdings-on-making-tough-choices-being-yourself-battling-back-from-having-a-stroke/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **On handling layoffs:** Getting fired from an investment bank in 1995 with a cold, scripted HR meeting left a lasting impact that informed his approach to managing corporate layoffs years later. — *Reference:* [*The CEO of Booking Holdings Shares What Being Laid Off Taught Him - Business Insider*](https://www.businessinsider.com/ceo-booking-holdings-lessons-learned-being-laid-off-2025-9?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **On pausing after failure:** Losing a job is traumatic, but taking time to reflect instead of rushing into a new role can open unexpected doors, like writing a novel and meeting a future spouse. — *Reference:* [*The CEO of Booking Holdings Shares What Being Laid Off Taught Him - Business Insider*](https://www.businessinsider.com/ceo-booking-holdings-lessons-learned-being-laid-off-2025-9?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. **On avoiding anger:** Experiencing a job loss should never be something you wish for, but if it happens, it is important to extract lessons from the situation rather than simply letting it make you angry. — *Reference:* [*The CEO of Booking Holdings Shares What Being Laid Off Taught Him - Business Insider*](https://www.businessinsider.com/ceo-booking-holdings-lessons-learned-being-laid-off-2025-9?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. **On market timing:** Joining Priceline just before the dot-com bubble burst and watching the stock plummet to a dollar a share was a clear lesson in market volatility that convinced him he was not meant to be a trader. — *Reference:* [*An Interview with Booking CEO Glenn Fogel About Travel and Aggregation – Stratechery by Ben Thompson*](https://stratechery.com/2025/an-interview-with-booking-ceo-glenn-fogel-about-travel-and-aggregation/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
6. **On surviving crises:** Having steered through the dot-com crash, 9/11, and the SARS outbreak, he learned that enduring past crises prevents panic and helps leaders calmly assess their options during new emergencies like the pandemic. — *Reference:* [*An Interview with Booking CEO Glenn Fogel About Travel and Aggregation – Stratechery by Ben Thompson*](https://stratechery.com/2025/an-interview-with-booking-ceo-glenn-fogel-about-travel-and-aggregation/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
7. **On managing adversity:** Everyone faces daily obstacles of varying sizes, and since life offers no guarantees of constant good times, building resilience is necessary to navigate inevitable difficulties. — *Reference:* [*The CEO of Booking Holdings On Making Tough Choices & Battling Back From Having A Stroke*](https://thefutureorganization.com/the-ceo-of-booking-holdings-on-making-tough-choices-being-yourself-battling-back-from-having-a-stroke/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
8. **On playing the long game:** He attributes his success less to speed and more to discipline and endurance, recognizing his ability to try harder and work longer than the competition. — *Reference:* [*The CEO of Booking Holdings On Making Tough Choices & Battling Back From Having A Stroke*](https://thefutureorganization.com/the-ceo-of-booking-holdings-on-making-tough-choices-being-yourself-battling-back-from-having-a-stroke/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
9. **On self-improvement:** Realizing early on that he lacked natural athletic exceptionalism taught him that reaching an elite level requires a deliberate, structured plan of action rather than just putting in the hours. — *Reference:* [*Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel: Why Deliberate Practice Beats Just Putting In The Hours*](https://chiefexecutive.net/booking-holdings-ceo-glenn-fogel-why-deliberate-practice-beats-just-putting-in-the-hours/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
10. **On career pivoting:** Realizing early that you lack natural talent for a specific technical role, like coding, can be the necessary catalyst to pivot toward a more fitting career path in finance or management. — *Reference:* [*An Interview with Booking CEO Glenn Fogel About Travel and Aggregation – Stratechery by Ben Thompson*](https://stratechery.com/2025/an-interview-with-booking-ceo-glenn-fogel-about-travel-and-aggregation/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)

## Part 2: Leadership, Empathy, and Talent Management

1. **On delivering bad news:** Even though layoffs are a corporate necessity, approaching them with respect and humanity is important for helping affected employees transition to their next roles. — *Reference:* [*The CEO of Booking Holdings Shares What Being Laid Off Taught Him - Business Insider*](https://www.businessinsider.com/ceo-booking-holdings-lessons-learned-being-laid-off-2025-9?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **On retaining staff:** Before making cuts, a company should make a real effort to find new positions for employees within the broader organization. — *Reference:* [*The CEO of Booking Holdings Shares What Being Laid Off Taught Him - Business Insider*](https://www.businessinsider.com/ceo-booking-holdings-lessons-learned-being-laid-off-2025-9?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **On the limits of empathy:** While leaders should execute layoffs with as much care as possible to minimize hurt, no words can completely fix the pain of a corporate decision made for the entity's future. — *Reference:* [*The CEO of Booking Holdings On Making Tough Choices & Battling Back From Having A Stroke*](https://thefutureorganization.com/the-ceo-of-booking-holdings-on-making-tough-choices-being-yourself-battling-back-from-having-a-stroke/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. **On intellectual humility:** True leadership means resisting the urge to weigh in on every issue; when reviewing marketing campaigns like Super Bowl ads, he defers to his team's expertise rather than his own opinions. — *Reference:* [*Glenn Fogel | How Leaders Lead*](https://howleaderslead.com/leaders/217/Glenn-Fogel/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. **On authentic communication:** During turbulent times, projecting a false sense of optimism is unhelpful; sharing the painful truth helps employees grasp the reality of the situation. — *Reference:* [*The CEO of Booking Holdings On Making Tough Choices & Battling Back From Having A Stroke*](https://thefutureorganization.com/the-ceo-of-booking-holdings-on-making-tough-choices-being-yourself-battling-back-from-having-a-stroke/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
6. **On corporate purpose:** Transitioning from Wall Street, where the primary goal was generating wealth, to travel, where the mission is helping people experience the world, provided him with a much deeper source of motivation. — *Reference:* [*Glenn Fogel | How Leaders Lead*](https://howleaderslead.com/leaders/217/Glenn-Fogel/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
7. **On balancing risk:** Managing a global business requires constantly weighing the costs of mitigation against the actual likelihood of negative scenarios occurring. — *Reference:* [*The CEO of Booking Holdings On Making Tough Choices & Battling Back From Having A Stroke*](https://thefutureorganization.com/the-ceo-of-booking-holdings-on-making-tough-choices-being-yourself-battling-back-from-having-a-stroke/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
8. **On short-term execution:** You have to consistently hit short-term financial targets so that investors and stakeholders trust your ability to execute on long-term goals. — *Reference:* [*The CEO of Booking Holdings On Making Tough Choices & Battling Back From Having A Stroke*](https://thefutureorganization.com/the-ceo-of-booking-holdings-on-making-tough-choices-being-yourself-battling-back-from-having-a-stroke/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
9. **On workforce evolution:** Instead of viewing AI purely as a tool for job displacement, he stresses the importance of upskilling employees so they can adapt to these new technologies in their careers. — *Reference:* [*Travel Through the Lens of AI with with Booking.com CEO Glenn Fogel - No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Technology | Startups | Podcast on Spotify*](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2pgshyRR3bNMAoforjFp7R?ref=antoinebuteau.com)

## Part 3: The Connected Trip and AI as a Travel Agent

1. **On travel logistics:** The mechanics of travel resemble a game of dominoes, where a single disruption can knock over an entire itinerary, highlighting the need for a fully connected booking system. — *Reference:* [*The Agentic Travel Agent with Glenn Fogel, CEO of Booking Holdings | Bain & Company*](https://www.bain.com/insights/winning-with-ai-podcast-Glenn-Fogel/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **On AI assistants:** Generative AI has the ability to act as a highly personalized, always-on travel agent that lives directly in a user's pocket. — *Reference:* [*Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel Talks AI and the Future of Travel – Washington AI Network*](https://washingtonainetwork.com/2026/03/22/booking-holdings-ceo-glenn-fogel-talks-ai-and-the-future-of-travel/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **On seamless disruption management:** A fully integrated connected trip powered by AI will be able to automatically adjust itineraries, rebook flights, and salvage dining reservations when unexpected disruptions like weather occur. — *Reference:* [*Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel Talks AI and the Future of Travel – Washington AI Network*](https://washingtonainetwork.com/2026/03/22/booking-holdings-ceo-glenn-fogel-talks-ai-and-the-future-of-travel/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. **On customer service speed:** AI tools are poised to reduce wait times heavily, with the ultimate goal of eliminating hold times entirely so travelers receive instant assistance. — *Reference:* [*Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel Talks AI and the Future of Travel – Washington AI Network*](https://washingtonainetwork.com/2026/03/22/booking-holdings-ceo-glenn-fogel-talks-ai-and-the-future-of-travel/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. **On dealing with angry customers:** An overlooked benefit of AI in customer support is that a chatbot lacks emotional fragility and will not care if a frustrated traveler swears at it during a crisis. — *Reference:* [*The head of Booking and Priceline wants you to yell at AI chatbots, not humans | The Verge*](https://www.theverge.com/24212137/booking-ceo-glenn-fogel-priceline-kayak-travel-ai-chatbots-decoder-podcast-interview?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
6. **On AI returns:** While there is an ongoing debate over the high capital expenditures required for AI, his platforms are already demonstrating concrete numerical benefits and improved returns from these technologies. — *Reference:* [*Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel at Skift Global Forum – Full Video*](https://skift.com/2025/09/21/booking-holdings-ceo-glenn-fogel-at-skift-global-forum-full-video/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
7. **On dual-sided benefits:** To be truly effective, AI implementations in the travel sector must be designed to deliver value to both the end traveler and the service supplier. — *Reference:* [*Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel at Skift Global Forum – Full Video*](https://skift.com/2025/09/21/booking-holdings-ceo-glenn-fogel-at-skift-global-forum-full-video/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
8. **On regulatory lag:** The dawn of the AI era is moving so fast that policymakers and global regulators are struggling to keep up with the shifting rules. — *Reference:* [*Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel Talks AI and the Future of Travel – Washington AI Network*](https://washingtonainetwork.com/2026/03/22/booking-holdings-ceo-glenn-fogel-talks-ai-and-the-future-of-travel/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
9. **On retaining humans:** Even as AI takes over routine planning and support tasks, preserving a layer of human assistance remains necessary for dealing with highly complex or sensitive user problems. — *Reference:* [*Travel Through the Lens of AI with with Booking.com CEO Glenn Fogel - No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Technology | Startups | Podcast on Spotify*](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2pgshyRR3bNMAoforjFp7R?ref=antoinebuteau.com)

## Part 4: Competitive Advantage and Industry Dynamics

1. **On defensibility:** Because true defensive moats do not exist, an organization cannot rely on its current advantages to permanently protect it from innovation. — *Reference:* [*Travel Through the Lens of AI with with Booking.com CEO Glenn Fogel - YouTube*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nj%5F0wZkbtA&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **On continuous innovation:** Because any current competitive advantage can vanish overnight, long-term survival demands a constant focus on developing new services and better ways to operate. — *Reference:* [*No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Technology | Startups - Travel Through the Lens of AI with with Booking.com CEO Glenn Fogel Transcript and Discussion*](https://podscripts.co/podcasts/no-priors-artificial-intelligence-technology-startups/travel-through-the-lens-of-ai-with-with-bookingcom-ceo-glenn-fogel?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **On complacency:** The comfort of success is dangerous; leaders must keep a restless mindset and accept that yesterday's winning formula will not guarantee tomorrow's results. — *Reference:* [*Glenn Fogel | How Leaders Lead*](https://howleaderslead.com/leaders/217/Glenn-Fogel/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. **On the value of intermediaries:** Despite major hotel chains pushing for direct bookings, platforms like Booking remain valuable because they manage the immense complexity of offering customer service in a hundred languages and processing dozens of regional payment methods. — *Reference:* [*The head of Booking and Priceline wants you to yell at AI chatbots, not humans | The Verge*](https://www.theverge.com/24212137/booking-ceo-glenn-fogel-priceline-kayak-travel-ai-chatbots-decoder-podcast-interview?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. **On hidden complexity:** Outsiders and new entrants often vastly underestimate the operational details of the global travel business, committing capital before they truly understand the market. — *Reference:* [*No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Technology | Startups - Travel Through the Lens of AI with with Booking.com CEO Glenn Fogel Transcript and Discussion*](https://podscripts.co/podcasts/no-priors-artificial-intelligence-technology-startups/travel-through-the-lens-of-ai-with-with-bookingcom-ceo-glenn-fogel?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
6. **On interpreting data:** While data is an essential tool, it is not infallible and should never be followed blindly without experienced human synthesis to contextualize it. — *Reference:* [*Glenn Fogel | How Leaders Lead*](https://howleaderslead.com/leaders/217/Glenn-Fogel/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
7. **On global forces:** The travel industry is highly sensitive to external shocks, with geopolitics and global conflicts acting as constant forces that reshape worldwide travel patterns. — *Reference:* [*Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel Talks AI and the Future of Travel – Washington AI Network*](https://washingtonainetwork.com/2026/03/22/booking-holdings-ceo-glenn-fogel-talks-ai-and-the-future-of-travel/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
8. **On avoiding delisting:** Doing a reverse split when stock plummets below a dollar can save a company from being delisted during a major market crash. — *Reference:* [*An Interview with Booking CEO Glenn Fogel About Travel and Aggregation – Stratechery by Ben Thompson*](https://stratechery.com/2025/an-interview-with-booking-ceo-glenn-fogel-about-travel-and-aggregation/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)

## Part 5: M&A Strategy and Business Scale

1. **On corporate roll-ups:** His approach to mergers departed from the traditional Wall Street roll-up model; instead of aggressively slashing costs and consolidating operations, he focused on letting acquired brands thrive on their own. — *Reference:* [*The head of Booking and Priceline wants you to yell at AI chatbots, not humans | The Verge*](https://www.theverge.com/24212137/booking-ceo-glenn-fogel-priceline-kayak-travel-ai-chatbots-decoder-podcast-interview?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **On founder autonomy:** To successfully integrate entrepreneurial companies, it is helpful to offer their founders an independent management structure that preserves their original culture and agility. — *Reference:* [*The head of Booking and Priceline wants you to yell at AI chatbots, not humans | The Verge*](https://www.theverge.com/24212137/booking-ceo-glenn-fogel-priceline-kayak-travel-ai-chatbots-decoder-podcast-interview?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **On structural growth:** The acquisition of Booking.com was highly important, scaling an initially small European entity into a powerhouse that now accounts for roughly 90 percent of the parent company's profits. — *Reference:* [*The head of Booking and Priceline wants you to yell at AI chatbots, not humans | The Verge*](https://www.theverge.com/24212137/booking-ceo-glenn-fogel-priceline-kayak-travel-ai-chatbots-decoder-podcast-interview?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. **On physical scale as an asset:** Amassing and managing a large, complicated portfolio of physical hotel properties across the globe creates a durable barrier to entry that is exceptionally difficult for digital-only competitors to bypass. — *Reference:* [*Travel Through the Lens of AI with with Booking.com CEO Glenn Fogel - No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Technology | Startups | Podcast on Spotify*](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2pgshyRR3bNMAoforjFp7R?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. **On multidisciplinary backgrounds:** His varied career path, spanning IT, law, and investment banking, equipped him with a blend of technical and financial literacy that proved valuable when executing Priceline's early M&A strategy. — *Reference:* [*An Interview with Booking CEO Glenn Fogel About Travel and Aggregation – Stratechery by Ben Thompson*](https://stratechery.com/2025/an-interview-with-booking-ceo-glenn-fogel-about-travel-and-aggregation/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
6. **On capital allocation:** A company can successfully fund massive investments in emerging technologies like AI while simultaneously returning value to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks. — *Reference:* [*Travel Through the Lens of AI with with Booking.com CEO Glenn Fogel - YouTube*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nj%5F0wZkbtA&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
7. **On M&A success:** Analyzing patterns in both successful and failed deals is essential for mastering acquisitions, especially when navigating complex regulatory hurdles. — *Reference:* [*EP 125: Glenn Fogel (CEO, Book… - The Logan Bartlett Show - Apple Podcasts*](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-125-glenn-fogel-ceo-booking-holdings-building-a/id1606770839?i=1000679471418&ref=antoinebuteau.com)

## Part 6: Discipline, Distribution, and Durable Growth

1. **On cash-flow discipline:** Coming close to running out of cash forced the company to identify hotels as its strongest profit engine and concentrate there instead of spreading scarce resources across every travel category. — *Reference:* [*Thirty Minute Mentors*](https://www.adammendler.com/blog/glenn-fogel?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **On marketplace flywheels:** A two-sided marketplace compounds when each improvement helps both groups: more travelers create demand for suppliers, while more suppliers give travelers greater selection. — *Reference:* [*Thirty Minute Mentors*](https://www.adammendler.com/blog/glenn-fogel?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **On executive boundaries:** The leader of a large organization should set the vision, choose strong unit leaders, and hold them to their commitments; taking over their specialist work becomes micromanagement and drives good people away. — *Reference:* [*Thirty Minute Mentors*](https://www.adammendler.com/blog/glenn-fogel?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. **On hiring for drive:** Intelligence matters, but disciplined execution, ambition, and a real desire to win are what keep a company competitive after smart people have joined it. — *Reference:* [*Thirty Minute Mentors*](https://www.adammendler.com/blog/glenn-fogel?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. **On individual personalization:** The goal of modern travel marketing should be to treat each traveler as an individual rather than as a generic member of an age, income, gender, or geographic cohort. — *Reference:* [*Fortune Leadership Next*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6ZKXgwTBdM&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
6. **On earning awareness:** Before spending heavily to make travelers associate Booking with homes and apartments, he wants the product and supplier experience to be as strong as the category leader's. — *Reference:* [*Fortune Leadership Next*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6ZKXgwTBdM&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
7. **On planning under uncertainty:** Scenario plans cannot predict whether a shock will end quickly or overturn an entire forecast, so leaders must adjust as events unfold while keeping their long-term thesis intact. — *Reference:* [*Fortune Leadership Next*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6ZKXgwTBdM&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
8. **On loyalty that helps suppliers:** A loyalty program is more durable when it creates incremental demand rather than merely discounting existing demand; Genius members improve visibility and occupancy for participating properties, especially in off-peak periods. — *Reference:* [*Booking Holdings Q3 2025 Earnings Call*](https://s201.q4cdn.com/865305287/files/doc%5Ffinancials/2025/q3/CORRECTED-TRANSCRIPT%5F-Booking-Holdings-Inc-BKNG-US-Q3-2025-Earnings-Call-28-October-2025-4%5F30-PM-ET.pdf?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
9. **On measuring AI:** AI progress should be judged by operating outcomes such as faster search, higher conversion, fewer cancellations, and stronger customer satisfaction, not by the novelty of the model itself. — *Reference:* [*Booking Holdings Q3 2025 Earnings Call*](https://s201.q4cdn.com/865305287/files/doc%5Ffinancials/2025/q3/CORRECTED-TRANSCRIPT%5F-Booking-Holdings-Inc-BKNG-US-Q3-2025-Earnings-Call-28-October-2025-4%5F30-PM-ET.pdf?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
10. **On owning customer relationships:** Growing direct traffic and loyalty reduces dependence on continually renting demand from search platforms, while new media channels should be added wherever traveler attention moves. — *Reference:* [*Skift Global Forum 2024*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9emNDJ8w4U&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
11. **On regulating collective-action problems:** When no hotel can reveal mandatory fees upfront without making its headline price look worse, a uniform federal transparency rule can create the fair baseline that competitors cannot coordinate privately. — *Reference:* [*Skift Global Forum 2024*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9emNDJ8w4U&ref=antoinebuteau.com)