Amazon SVP of global corporate affairs Jay Carney plans to join Airbnb in September 2022 as global head of policy and communications, succeeding Chris Lehane
top adviser to @amazon founder @JeffBezos and frmr @BarackObama press secretary — to @Airbnb as global head of policy/communications, reporting to @bchesky Chesky: “Jay is ... committed to ensuring Airbnb is a force for good” https://www.axios.com/... Asawin Suebsaeng / @swin24 : Jay (and Matt Pottinger) are case studies in why I intend to not have “former reporter” in my bio unless I'm retired https://twitter.com/... Liz Jarvis-Shean / @liz_jarv : All-star new leader of a world-class team at a phenomenal company. Congrats @JayCarney!! https://twitter.com/... Ken Klippenstein / @kenklippenstein : Jay Carney is leaving Amazon https://www.axios.com/... See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
Carney’s move closes a seven-year Amazon tenure that began with his appointment to lead worldwide corporate affairs and later placed him on Jeff Bezos’ S-team overseeing PR and policy. Airbnb is replacing a policy chief it recruited in 2015, when Chris Lehane took the role.
Airbnb has already drawn operating and finance leadership from Amazon, including Prime executive Greg Greeley and CFO Dave Stephenson. Carney adds Amazon’s former corporate-affairs leader to that established executive pipeline.
First-order effects
- Airbnb installs Carney as global head of policy and communications, reporting to Brian Chesky, while Chris Lehane departs the role.
- Amazon loses the executive responsible for global corporate affairs after seven years with the company.
Second-order effects
- Airbnb’s policy and communications organization gains a leader with experience running those functions at Amazon, extending its concentration of former Amazon executives across operating, finance, and external-affairs roles.
Third-order effects
- The sequence of hires points to a durable executive-talent channel from Amazon to Airbnb, with Airbnb using leaders from a larger technology company to build core corporate functions as well as operating teams.
The trend: Airbnb is deepening its use of former Amazon leadership beyond operations and finance into policy and communications.