AP sources: Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi to lead Uber

DETROIT -- Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has been named Uber's top executive, taking the job of mending the dysfunctional ride-hailing giant and turning it from money-losing behemoth to a profitable company.

Uber's fractured eight-member board voted to hire Khosrowshahi late Sunday, capping three days of meetings and the withdrawal of former top candidate Jeffery Immelt, former CEO and still chairman of General Electric, two people briefed on the decision said. They didn't want to be identified because the decision had not been officially announced Sunday night.

Khosrowshahi has been CEO of Expedia since August of 2015. The online booking site is one of the largest travel agencies in the world.

He'll replace ousted CEO Travis Kalanick and faces the task of changing Uber's culture that has included sexual harassment and allegations of deceit and corporate espionage.

Uber also is losing millions every quarter as it continues to expand and invest in self-driving cars.

The company currently is being run by a 14-person group of managers and is without top executive positions that will be filled by Khosrowshahi.

Khosrowshahi has served as a member of Expedia's board since it was spun off from IAC/InterActiveCorp. two years ago. An engineer who trained at Brown University, Khosrowshahi helped to expand IAC's travel brands that were combined into Expedia, the company's website states. He also serves on the boards of Fanatics Inc. and The New York Times Co.

He will face troubles on many fronts, including having to deal with board factions that once had pushedfor Immelt and Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO Meg Whitman. Several factions of the board are suing each other.

Whitman, an investor in Uber, denied several times she was interested in the job. Although she spoke to some board members Friday night, they could not guarantee an end to their infighting or that Kalanick would not become board chairman, said another person with knowledge of the board discussions. That person also didn't want to be identified because board discussions are supposed to be private.

Khosrowshahi must bring together a culture an outside law firm found was rampant with sexual harassment and bullying of employees. He must deal with driver discontent, although Uber has started to fix that by allowing riders to tip drivers.