GOOD DAY, READERS.
While digging into the $6.3 billion Amex GBT take-private, Skift CEO Rafat Ali kept finding one name in the fine print: Kenneth Chenault. The former American Express CEO hasn't run a company since 2018, but his fingerprints are everywhere in travel. He's chairman of General Catalyst, which backs Long Lake Management, the company taking Amex GBT private. He's the lead director at Airbnb. He chairs Bilt Rewards, the $10.75 billion loyalty startup. And he sits on Berkshire Hathaway's board.
Skift Global Forum
The decisions reshaping travel rarely happen in public. The people behind them show up in one room.
Sébastien Bazin, Group Chairman and CEO of Accor, joins Skift Global Forum, September 22-24 in New York, alongside the CEOs of Hilton, Booking Holdings, Expedia, and Wyndham, and 1000+ senior leaders from 600 companies.
DON’T MISS THESE STORIES
How Ken Chenault Became Travel’s Most Consequential Non-Operator
by Rafat Ali
One person connects the Amex GBT take-private, Airbnb’s board, a $10.75 billion travel loyalty startup, and Berkshire Hathaway’s governance committee.
Aviation’s 2050 Net-Zero Target Could Slip: ‘The More Likely Outcome’
by Darin Graham
Willie Walsh has acknowledged that the industry's flagship climate target may need to move, but a revised timeline will only mean something if it comes with binding commitments, not another round of aspirational pledges.
MakeMyTrip Co-Founder on India IPO and the AI Question Investors Stopped Asking
by Peden Doma Bhutia
MakeMyTrip is trying to answer three questions at once: can it stay relevant as AI reshapes travel discovery, can a string of small acquisitions build real value rather than just organizational sprawl, and does a domestic listing finally make sense after 16 years on Nasdaq?
MSC CRUISES + SKIFT
A million cruise passengers a year sailing through humpback feeding grounds. MSC Cruises just put a marine biologist on the bridge to figure out who gives way.
For $7 a week, Skift gives you something the industry is missing – the full picture. Subscribe today for 25% off.
MORNING HEADLINES
SKIFT PODCAST NETWORK
AI might sound human, but hotels run on hard facts.
In this bonus episode of Good Morning Hospitality, Wil Slickers sits down with Cloudbeds CEO and co-founder Adam Harris to break down one of the biggest challenges facing AI adoption in hospitality.
The conversation explores why hotel data is often scattered across dozens of systems and why AI's probabilistic nature can clash with an industry built on deterministic answers like room availability, occupancy, and rates.
As AI becomes more integrated into hotel operations, solving the data problem may be just as important as building the technology itself.
SKIFT TRAVEL 200
How are public travel companies performing around the world? The Skift Travel 200 pulls the data you need to understand global market movements. Paid subscribers get full access here.
See more essential travel news in your search results.
