Tripadvisor’s Board Members to Step Down as Starboard Circles

Tripadvisor's Greg Maffei, who has chaired the company’s board since 2013, will not seek re-election at Tripadvisor’s annual shareholder meeting in June 2026. Board member Albert Rosenthaler will also leave when his term ends.

In July 2025, activist investor Starboard Value took a 9 percent stake in Tripadvisor and wants to replace much of the board. It plans to nominate its own slate of directors at the June meeting, raising the pressure on the company at a time when Tripadvisor is already in the middle of a long business transition.

Tripadvisor has been under pressure for years

Tripadvisor was once one of the strongest names in online travel. Its reviews helped shape travel decisions, and its hotel metasearch business made it an important marketing channel for hotels and online travel agencies.

But that position weakened over time. Google expanded its own travel tools, including Google Hotels and Google Flights, and gave them stronger visibility in search results.

The company kept changing strategy as the market evolved

As its older hotel-focused model lost strength, Tripadvisor adjusted its strategy several times. It moved through hotel metasearch, instant booking, subscription efforts, and then a stronger push into experiences and restaurants.

That shift made Viator and TheFork more important to the company’s future. Tripadvisor now presents itself less as a hotel metasearch leader and more as a broader travel experiences business.

Maffei’s departure marks the end of the Liberty era

Tripadvisor has expanded across several streams, including advertising, subscriptions, and commissions generated through brands such as Viator and TheFork.

Maffei’s exit is also symbolic because of his close connection to Liberty’s long period of control over Tripadvisor. Liberty took a controlling stake in late 2012, and that structure shaped the company for more than a decade.

That pressure was already visible when Starboard had been criticizing Tripadvisor’s weak share performance and slow strategic progress. Seen in that context, Maffei’s planned departure adds to the sense that Tripadvisor is moving into a more decisive new phase.

Photo by Yibei Geng on Unsplash