Mr. Huston resigned following an investigation overseen by independent members of the Board of Directors of the facts and circumstances surrounding a personal relationship that Mr. Huston had with an employee of the Company who was not under his direct supervision. “It is hard to gauge this risk, given details of Huston’s misconduct were not disclosed”, Kopelman wrote.
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As a result of Huston’s actions, Priceline said he will forfeit part of his unvested stock rewards and won’t receive any severance payments.
Former CEO and current Chairman Jeffery Boyd will fill the vacated role while the company’s board searches for a successor.
Priceline also tapped Gillian Tans as CEO of Booking.com to replace Huston, who also served as the head of that division.
“This resignation was not related in any way to the company’s operational performance or financial condition”, Leslie Cafferty, a spokeswoman for Priceline Group, told Bloomberg, adding there were no accounting or financial issues either.
Huston’s resignation is a loss for the Norwalk, Connecticut-based company but Priceline has a respected and experienced interim leader in Boyd, Dan Wasiolek, an analyst with Morningstar Inc., said in an interview. “The Board and I continue to see tremendous potential to build the Group’s global platform and create value for our stockholders”.In addition to its namesake site, Priceline also owns Kayak.com, Rentalcars.com and restaurant reservations site OpenTable. He added that he’s “satisfied” with the “thorough review” of the Huston situation.
With Boyd as CEO, Priceline bought Booking.com in 2005 for $133mm and now makes up “a majority of its business and helped propel the company into its strong market position today”, Devitt said. Compensation data for 2015 was not available.
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Priceline (PCLN) shares closed Wednesday up 1.48% to $1,353.74.
