Jay Carney, the former Obama White House press secretary, is leaving his role as an Amazon executive to lead Airbnb’s policy team.
Carney, who served as Amazon’s senior vice president of global corporate affairs, announced on Friday that he is leaving the Big Tech e-commerce platform to become Airbnb’s global head of policy and communications.
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Carney’s job will be to “ensure that as Airbnb grows, we strengthen the communities we are in,” Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said in a press release. “Jay has worked at the highest levels of both government and technology. When you combine that with the two decades he spent on the ground as a journalist, he brings a deep understanding of the needs of multiple stakeholders.”
“The potential for travel to promote economic and social good has never been greater,” Carney said in a statement. “I’m thrilled to be joining Airbnb to help guide its work to connect communities and people through travel, drive economic participation, and help us discover that while our differences are real, they are overwhelmed by our similarities.
Carney was a reporter at Time magazine starting in 1988, covering D.C. politics and Moscow for 20 years. He left his role as a reporter in 2008 to become Vice President Joe Biden’s director of communications. Carney was White House press secretary from January 2011 to May 2014. He stepped down for a short stint as a CNN commentator before being picked up by Amazon.
The former press secretary joined Amazon in March 2015, where he expanded Amazon’s lobbying efforts. Under Carney, Amazon’s number of registered lobbyists tripled between 2014 and 2020. Carney said that his time at Amazon “exceeded my expectations,” according to a memo acquired by CNBC. “Together, all of you will continue to make Amazon a company that does big, positive things for its customers, its employees, and its communities around the world.”
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Amazon has not announced who will replace Carney but that it will “begin a search immediately” for his replacement.
Airbnb has seen other shifts in its leadership. Company co-founder Joe Gebbia announced on Thursday that he was stepping down to pursue other projects but would still act as an adviser on the rental projects.
