Priceline's Longtime CEO Hands Over Reins

Thanks to Matt for passing this along. I guess it's one to add to the 100 to 1 in the stock market list.

Priceline.com Inc. replaced its longtime chief executive with the boss of its most profitable hotel-booking unit, ending an 11-year tenure that oversaw one of the most dramatic turnarounds of the past decade.

Chief Executive Jeffery Boyd, 56 years old, said he would hand the reins of the online travel company to Darren Huston, 47, a former Microsoft Corp. executive who has been running its Booking B.V. unit since 2011. Mr. Boyd will remain chairman of the company.

The executive transition comes just weeks after Priceline's share price exceeded the $1,000 mark—a redemption after the company's spectacular collapse as the dot-com bubble burst when its share price fell to single digits, the company laid off staff and questions emerged about its future.

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And the part of the article that is very much in line with the CEOs profiled in the book The Outsiders:

Travel-industry observers credit the company's hands-off management style for its successful acquisitions. In a business that depends heavily on brand loyalty—websites spend billions of dollars a year to get travelers to visit their portal first—Priceline has kept names like Agoda.com, Booking.com, Kayak and Rentalcars.com under relatively independent leaders.

"Great autonomy has been given to the general managers and CEOs of the respective businesses," said Sequoia Capital Chairman Michael Moritz, a well-known venture capitalist who invested early in travel brands including ITA Software, Kayak, Skyscanner and Google. "They have allowed those businesses to run for a large part as their managers see fit."