Vacasa announced today it has appointed Matt Roberts, former OpenTable CEO and independent Vacasa board director, as interim chief executive officer. This appointment follows founder Eric Breon’s decision to initiate a search for a CEO to lead the company’s next phase of growth. Breon will remain on Vacasa’s board of directors and continue to guide the company’s vision and strategy. Vacasa has engaged Russell Reynolds Associates, a leading executive search firm, to assist the company with finding a long-term CEO.
“Vacasa has grown from a small team around my dining table to North America’s largest full-service vacation rental management platform,” said Breon. “After 10 years of leading Vacasa, the time was right for me to step away from day-to-day operations and focus on the strategic vision for our business. As we look to the tremendous growth opportunity ahead, we’re seeking the best long-term CEO to lead the large and dynamic organization that Vacasa has become.”
Since founding Vacasa in 2009, Breon has grown the organization to more than 25,000 homes under management and 6,000 employees worldwide. On the heels of purchasing Wyndham Vacation Rentals, Vacasa is on track to exceed $1 billion in gross bookings and in excess of $500 million in net revenue in 2020.
“As a founder-CEO, I’ve been deeply involved with all aspects of the business, which can be a challenging scenario for a new CEO to step into,” added Breon. “To facilitate the search for a long-term leader, we’re fortunate to have someone with Matt’s strong operational experience and familiarity with Vacasa assume the role of interim CEO.”
Roberts is recognized for his tenure at restaurant booking service OpenTable where he served as CFO from 2005 to 2011 and CEO from 2011 to 2015. As CFO, Roberts successfully led OpenTable through an IPO in 2009, and as CEO he negotiated the sale of the company to the Priceline Group (now Booking Holdings) for $2.6 billion in cash. Roberts was also CFO of online consumer lending group E-LOAN (NASDAQ: EELN) and a member of the digital money transfer provider XOOM board of directors as they transitioned from the private to the public markets. In addition to Vacasa, he currently serves on the board of Quantcast, a provider of data-driven programmatic and digital advertising, and Snag an online staffing platform.
“Eric’s entrepreneurial skill to build Vacasa into North America’s largest vacation rental management platform is incredibly impressive,” said Roberts. “With the recent acquisition of Wyndham Vacation Rentals and completion of a new round of funding, this is an exciting time in Vacasa’s development and we’re well poised for continued growth into our large market opportunity. I look forward to supporting that growth while we search for the best long-term CEO to lead Vacasa into the future.”
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