An Uber App is displayed on a phone in London. Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP
Barney Harford, the former CEO of Orbitz, will be joining Uber as its new chief operating officer, he announced on Twitter. Harford, who has been advising Uber's CEO Dara Khosrowshahi since October, used to work with him at Expedia about a decade ago. When Harford transitioned to Orbitz, they competed against one another until Harford sold Orbitz to Expedia in 2015, per Bloomberg.
Why it matters: Uber's executive team has several empty roles waiting to be filled, and this is Khosrowshahi's second major hire since taking the helm in September after a tumultuous year of revelations about Uber's culture.