When Dara Khosrowshahi He was barely nine years old, a revolution changed the course of his life. He was born in 1969 in Tehran, Iran, into a family that seemed destined to maintain a privileged position for generations. According to review Business Insiders, The Khosrowshahi fortune was based on a pharmaceutical, chemical, food and distribution business conglomerate, founded decades before by their grandparents and uncles. His home, in the exclusive Farmanieh neighborhood, was a kind of paradise for a child: double pools, tennis courts and a soccer field They were part of the daily routine.
But the panorama changed radically in 1979, when the Islamic Revolution transformed the country. His family’s businesses were nationalized, his assets confiscated and his security compromised. One day, while playing at home, members of the Revolutionary Guard They shot while crossing the street to attack the home of a neighbor linked to the old regime. The bullets went through the windows of the family room, leaving everyone lying on the floor.
As revealed Fast Companythat incident was the turning point for his mother, who decided that the family should flee. “We leave and we don’t look back,” It was his unwavering decision.
The Khosrowshahi family left Iran with what they could carry in their suitcases. His father, in a leap of faith, later returned to resolve family matters, but was trapped in the country for six years due to regime restrictions. According to the New York Times, Meanwhile, Dara, her mother, and her siblings took refuge in Tarrytown, a small town near New York, where they lived with an uncle who offered them his house as temporary support. They went from an opulent lifestyle to sharing space with other family members in a modest three-bedroom apartment.
The transition to exile was not easy for adults. Her mother, accustomed to an environment of abundance and security, faced a completely new world. But for Dara and her cousins, life in USA offered advantages.
He attended the Hackley School, a prestigious private high school, where he began to stand out as a brilliant student. Sports, especially soccer, helped him integrate. As a goalkeeper and then defender, he early understood the value of collective responsibility, a lesson he would later apply to his professional life.
According to Business Insiders, Upon graduation, Dara entered Brown University to study engineering electrical. His time there provided him with a network of contacts that would prepare him for the business world. After obtaining his degree, he began his career in Allen & Co., a financial firm that offered him a seat at the table where multimillion-dollar deals were discussed and closed.
In 2001, Barry Diller, the legendary media mogul, invited him to join USA Networks, But Khosrowshahi made a decision that would change his life. Although his first foray into online streaming failed, Diller saw extraordinary potential. Together, they acquired Expedia of Microsoft for USD 1.3 billion in 2001, just two months before the September 11 attacks. The travel industry was crippled, but Khosrowshahi and Diller decided to move forward with the acquisition. “People will continue to travel. “You can’t stop the world forever,” Diller told him, according to Business Insiders. This optimistic vision would be a hallmark of Dara’s leadership style.
In 2005, Dara became CEO of Expedia. Over the next twelve years, he led a transformation that elevated the company to the top of the global online travel market. Revenue increased five-fold, from $2.1 billion to $8.7 billion. His achievements did not go unnoticed: in 2015, he was the highest-paid executive on the S&P index, with compensation reaching $94 million in a single year.
But fate had bigger plans for Khosrowshahi. In 2017, Uber, the then-troubled star of Silicon Valley, chose him as its new CEO after a series of scandals that had sunk the company’s reputation. The challenges were monumental: the corporate culture was plagued by accusations of harassment, discrimination and aggressive business practices. The company needed a drastic change, and Dara was the man to carry it out.
From the beginning, Khosrowshahi took a pragmatic approach. According to the New York Timesstarted what he called the “apology tour” visiting regulators and business leaders around the world to rebuild bridges and clean up Uber’s image. He restyled the company for a more ethical and collaborative culture, replacing his predecessor’s “bigger, faster” mantra with a more sustainable vision.
One of his greatest tests came in 2019, when Uber went public with an initial value of USD 75.5 billion. Although the process faced ups and downs, Khosrowshahi stayed the course, championing the idea that Uber was not just a transportation company, but a multimodal platform capable of transforming urban mobility. Under his leadership, UberEats became a key growth driver, expanding into new areas such as grocery and medication delivery.
However, not everything has been an upward path. He New York Times states that, in 2018an Uber self-driving vehicle hit and killed a pedestrian, forcing the company to temporarily suspend its testing. Then, during the pandemic, Khosrowshahi faced the difficult decision of firing the 25% of your workforce. Despite these challenges, he remained committed to the mission of reinventing Uber, even taking an active role as an UberEats delivery driver for two days in San Francisco to better understand his drivers’ experience.
In his personal life, Khosrowshahi is known for his affable and calm character. He lives with his wife, Sydney Shapiro, and their four children in a house on Whidbey Island, near Seattle.
Passionate about video games and technology, he combines his personal interests with his work, always looking for ways to innovate and improve the user experience.
