Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel Tests Positive for Coronavirus – Skift

Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel tested positive for coronavirus, the company disclosed Wednesday in a financial filing. The online travel giant also said it has succession plans for all of its senior executives, suggesting they could cover temporarily for Fogel if necessary.

Fogel told employees his symptoms are mild, and he doesn’t believe he infected anyone at the company’s Norwalk, Connecticut headquarters since he’s been working from home for some time. He is currently quarantined, or “in lockdown,” as he put it, in a letter to employees. [See the letter embedded below.}

Fogel also shared the news within the company in a video message, which is embedded below.

In the letter, Fogel said he had “flu-like symptoms early last week,” got tested March 26, but only received the results Tuesday night.

“I am very grateful to have such a mild set of symptoms for just a couple of days last week and can now say that I feel fine,” Fogel wrote. “I have not had any fever since last week and no other symptoms for many days. So I feel good for myself but, of course, feel so terrible for everyone who has not been as fortunate and is dealing with more difficult times.”

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Fogel has been with the company for two decades, became CEO of Booking Holdings in January 2017, and took on the added role as CEO of its largest brand, Booking.com, last summer.

Here’s Fogel’s internal video message to employees.

Download (PDF, 41KB)

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