Brian Chesky Ties Airbnb Stays to a $500 Million Crisis-Housing Commitment
Brian Chesky, Airbnb’s co-founder and CEO, is opening the company’s doors to people in crisis with a funding plan meant to provide $500 million to Airbnb.org over five years. It ties donations to completed stays on his travel platform. The nonprofit aims to turn that support into one million free nights of housing a year by 2030.
The company reported on Nov. 5 that revenue in the three months ended Sept. 30 increased 19 percent year over year to $4.9 billion.
The company’s shares climbed about 12 percent Nov. 6 after it raised its full-year revenue growth forecast.
Deutsche Bank analyst Benjamin Black argued that Airbnb’s improving core business and model requiring relatively little capital could sustain market-share gains, according to TheStreet’s account of his analysis in a Nov. 6 note.
How Airbnb’s housing commitment works
Airbnb announced the plan Oct. 28 and will donate 10 cents from its revenue for each completed stay to Airbnb.org, the independent nonprofit it founded in 2020. The donation will not increase what guests pay or reduce what hosts receive, according to the company.
The $500 million funding total includes cash and in-kind contributions, plus additional support from Airbnb and other donors. Airbnb covers operating costs; Airbnb.org provides housing credits, guests stay free and hosts get paid.
The company says the funding will also expand support for families traveling for medical care and survivors fleeing domestic violence and exploitation.
On Nov. 10, Airbnb.org announced partnerships with Fisher House Foundation and Operation Healing Forces to provide free stays for service members, veterans, and their families traveling for medical treatment. Through Dream Foundation’s Dreams for Veterans program, Airbnb.org will also provide stays for veterans facing terminal or life-limiting illness and their families.
Ken Fisher, Fisher House Foundation’s chairman and CEO, said in the announcement that the partnership would help families stay together through extended medical treatment.
A starry gala and Chesky’s parks pledge
Chesky announced the commitment at Airbnb.org’s first gala on Oct. 28, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and featuring Charlize Theron and Charli XCX.
Speaking about survivors of domestic violence, Theron said that “somewhere to stay isn’t just a small thing—it’s actually everything,” according to Los Angeles magazine’s event reporting.
“Every time someone books a home on Airbnb, they’ll help someone else find a place to stay when they need it most. That’s Airbnb at its best,” Chesky stated in the company’s Oct. 28 announcement.
Less than two weeks after the gala, Chesky pledged $100 million personally for San Francisco parks on Nov. 9. That personal gift is distinct from Airbnb.org’s five-year housing funding plan.
Murray Cox, founder of Inside Airbnb, tells Observer the pledge is a way to “distract people from the bigger issue, which is the housing crisis.” Airbnb also faces a Los Angeles lawsuit alleging wildfire-related price gouging on at least 2,600 properties; the company disputed the allegations to Reuters. A June procedural ruling allowed the case to proceed without establishing liability. Chesky acknowledged to the Associated Press that some hosts take a small fraction of their area’s housing off the market.
“I don’t like this idea that somehow you create a nonprofit to make up for or apologize for your core business,” Chesky told the Associated Press in an Oct. 29 report. “Our core business, independently, is gonna affect a lot more lives than this organization. And our core business needs to be responsible. And if we’re doing something that’s not responsible, we need to correct it.”
