Airbnb Is Cooperating With A Subpoena From NYC

Airbnb is reportedly complying with a New York City subpoena that wants information about some of its listings, according to reports.

The online housing marketplace is giving anonymized data on hosts and listings from the start of last year through Feb. 18 of this year. The data has listings that lasted less than 30 days that offered customers the whole home, multiple rooms or shared rooms in the same residence.

According to the agreement, the city is permitted to follow up by submitting another request for de-anonymized data.

In other Airbnb news, Angela Ahrendts, the former retail head at Apple, joined the board of Airbnb, according to a report by CNBC.

Before she was at Apple, Ahrendts was the CEO of Burberry. She led online and retail stores for half a decade before it was announced that she was leaving earlier this year.

Ahrendts was one of the most highly compensated employees at Apple. She made $26.5 million in 2018, while Tim Cook, the company’s CEO, made $15.7 million. She was instrumental in using the company’s stores to attract customers through brand development, and also created programs like “Today at Apple.”

Airbnb, which is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO), said Ahrendts’ experience in “building community among customers” would be a good addition to the board. Former American Express CEO Ken Chenault and ex-Pixar CFO Ann Mather are also on the board. Ahrendts will be an independent board member.

Also, Airbnb has been facing competition from Europe, as a group of four short-term stay startups started a new company in May.

BNBbuddy, The London Residents Club, Hintown and Rent Experience announced all joined forces to launch a new company called Altido. On its website, the company said the combination of BNBbuddy and The London Residents Club in the U.K., Hintown in Italy and Rent Experience in Portugal is the first for the industry. The company said it is aiming to reinvent the industry and take on rivals including Airbnb. Altido is actively looking for more brands to join it.

“Altido was born and founded on three key principles: We are stronger together; there is strength in diversity; there is no substitute for local expertise,” the company states on its website.

According to a report, all four of the startups were profitable ahead of the merger. The combined company will use its scale and outside funding to continue to grow, noted Michael Allen, the managing director of BNBbuddy.