How Did I Get Here? Interview with Darren Huston | Booking Holdings

Education

· Revelstoke Secondary School, Revelstoke, B.C., class of 1983

· Trent University, Peterborough, Ont., class of 1989

· Harvard Business School, class of 1994

Work Experience

· 1990–1992

Policy adviser on the environment, Department of Finance Canada

Darren Huston Says “I helped negotiate the climate change agreement that led to the Kyoto Protocol.”

· 1994–1998

Engagement manager, McKinsey

· 1998–2003

Senior vice president for branded products and new ventures, Starbucks

He Says “Everyone was jumping to the Internet, and I chose coffee.”

· 2003–2005

Corporate vice president, Microsoft U.S.

“At Starbucks, [CEO] Howard Schultz asked Darren, ‘Can we do Internet access without cords?’ because cords are dangerous around coffee shops. So he met people like Steve Ballmer, and he recruited huston.”

· 2005–2008

President and CEO, Microsoft Japan

“Darren Huston learned how valuable attention to detail is. The Japanese just do things better — they really think of everything.”

· 2008–2011

Corporate VP, Microsoft

· 2011–2014

CEO, Booking.com

· 2014

President and CEO, Priceline Group

He Said “We have six brands, including Priceline, Booking.com, and OpenTable. My challenge is to continue growing — we’re the third-largest e-commerce company in the world after Alibaba and Amazon.”