Apple's Former Retail Chief Angela Ahrendts Named to Airbnb's Board of Directors

Apple's former retail chief Angela Ahrendts, who left the company last month after five years, has joined Airbnb's board of directors.

angela ahrendts airbnb
In May 2018, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said that he planned to appoint at least one woman to the company's board, according to CNN. Ahrendts will be the second woman to join Airbnb's board after Ann Mather of Pixar and Disney last August.

"Angela has a reputation for pushing brands to dream big, and she told me that's exactly what she hopes to bring to Airbnb's Board," said Chesky.

Ahrendts reflected on her time at Apple in February:

The last five years have been the most stimulating, challenging and fulfilling of my career. Through the teams' collective efforts, Retail has never been stronger or better positioned to make an even greater contribution for Apple. I feel there is no better time to pass the baton to Deirdre, one of Apple's strongest executives. I look forward to watching how this amazing team, under her leadership, will continue to change the world one person and one community at a time.

Here's what Apple CEO Tim Cook had to say:

I want to thank Angela for inspiring and energizing our teams over the past five years. She has been a positive, transformative force, both for Apple's stores and the communities they serve. We all wish her the very best as she begins a new chapter.

Prior to joining Apple in 2014, Ahrendts was the CEO of famous fashion company Burberry, and before that, she held positions at Liz Claiborne and Donna Karan. Ahrendts joined Apple at a time when Apple was experimenting with luxury products, such as the $10,000-plus 18-karat gold Apple Watch Edition.

Ahrendts was succeeded by longtime Apple executive Deirdre O'Brien, who now oversees both human resources and retail aspects of the company.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Colors

Apple Announces iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max With New Design, Larger Battery, and More

Tuesday September 9, 2025 10:59 am PDT by
Apple today introduced the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Both devices feature a new aluminum unibody design, with the Ceramic Shield now protecting both the front and back sides. Apple says the front side is now Ceramic Shield 2, which offers 3x better scratch resistance, while the rear Ceramic Shield is advertised as 4x more resistant to cracks compared to the back glass on previous...
iPhone 17 Pro Colors

iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro Models Are eSIM-Only in These Countries

Tuesday September 9, 2025 12:23 pm PDT by
Apple continues to phase out the physical SIM card tray on iPhones, with the latest models relying solely on eSIM technology in more countries. The new iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max support eSIMs only in these countries and regions, according to Apple: Bahrain Canada Guam Japan Kuwait Mexico Oman Qatar Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates Un...
airpods translate

AirPods Live Translation Blocked for EU Users With EU Apple Accounts

Thursday September 11, 2025 4:01 am PDT by
Apple's new Live Translation feature for AirPods will be off-limits to millions of European users when it arrives next week, with strict EU regulations likely holding back its rollout. Apple says on its feature availability webpage that "Apple Intelligence: Live Translation with AirPods" won't be available if both the user is physically in the EU and their Apple Account region is in the EU....
iPhone 17 Pro Colors

iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro: Release Date and Pre-Orders

Wednesday September 10, 2025 12:30 am PDT by
Apple held its annual iPhone event on Tuesday, September 9, to unveil the iPhone 17, ultra-thin iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. All of the new iPhone models will be available to pre-order starting Friday, September 12 at 5 a.m. Pacific Time / 8 a.m. Eastern Time in the U.S. and dozens of other countries, according to Apple. The release date for the devices is one week...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

Skipping the iPhone 17 Pro? Here's What's Rumored for iPhone 18 Pro

Wednesday September 10, 2025 8:33 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are still a year away, there are already a few rumors about the devices that offer an early look ahead. If you are skipping the iPhone 17 Pro and want to know about what to expect from the iPhone 18 Pro models, we have recapped a few of the key rumors below. Under-Screen Face ID In April 2023, display industry analyst Ross Young shared a...
better iphone 17 lineup

Apple Lists iPhone 17, iPhone Air, and iPhone 17 Pro Battery Capacities

Tuesday September 9, 2025 1:25 pm PDT by
Apple has confirmed the battery capacities for the iPhone 17, iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max models that were announced earlier today. Apple is required to publish energy labels on its iPhone product pages in the EU, and they reveal the official mAh battery capacities for the devices. Here are the battery capacities for each model, according to Apple: iPhone 17:...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air A19 Pro Feature

iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Benchmarks Reveal Speed of A19 Pro Chip

Wednesday September 10, 2025 7:33 am PDT by
The first benchmark results for the A19 Pro chip in the iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air surfaced in the Geekbench 6 database today. Based on these early results — which are unconfirmed — the A19 Pro chip across the Pro models and the iPhone Air appears to deliver up to 13% to 15% faster multi-core CPU performance compared to the A18 Pro chip in the iPhone 16 Pro...

Top Rated Comments

JessWinter Avatar
83 months ago
Nice. She should be great for getting those AirBNB retail stores going strong!
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AZREOSpecialist Avatar
83 months ago
These corporations have more money than sense.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AMTYVLE Avatar
83 months ago
Airbnb's will now be AirTownSquares.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MrGimper Avatar
83 months ago
Do Airbnb have much retail? Seems odd.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jona2125 Avatar
83 months ago
Can't wait for Airbnb's new "social mixer" events
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Zxxv Avatar
83 months ago
In May 2018, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said that he planned to appoint at least one woman to the company's board, according to CNN ('https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/16/tech/airbnb-angela-ahrendts/index.html')
Diversity hire then. Not there on own merit but to fill a quota. Ouch that gotta sting, but I guess the huge pay packet eases the pain.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)