Airbnb taps Ron Klain as chief legal officer

Ron Klain, President Biden’s former chief of staff, will join Airbnb next year as its chief legal officer, the company announced Monday.

“Ron is both a big-picture strategic thinker and a highly skilled operator, and I’m thrilled he’ll be a close advisor,” Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky said in a statement. “People have described Ron as one of the smartest people they’ve ever met, but more than his intelligence, he’s known for his excellent judgment and his big heart. Ron is the perfect addition to our team.”

Klain, 62, served as Biden’s top adviser from the beginning of his presidency in 2021 through late January of this year. Klain played a key role in the White House’s negotiations over the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

He previously served as Biden’s chief counsel when Biden was chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and earlier served as Biden’s chief of staff when he became vice president during the Obama administration.

In April, it was announced he would rejoin the global law firm O’Melveny & Myers as a partner. Klain was previously a partner at the firm from 1999-2004.

Airbnb pointed to Klain’s experience in the private legal sector, where he “represented numerous technology and marketplace businesses in complex litigation.”

“I was proud to rejoin O’Melveny & Myers earlier this year and work with outstanding colleagues and clients, and I had planned to finish my career there, but the opportunity to work for Brian [Chesky] and join his incredible executive team was impossible to pass up,” Klain wrote in a statement Monday.

Klain said he has “always believed that travel is such an important part of creating connection and cultural understanding,” and that he is “honored” to join the property rental company.

Klain will start at the San Francisco-based company in January, the company said.

Jay Carney, who served as White House press secretary under former President Obama, joined Airbnb as the head of policy in September 2022, after leaving Amazon, where he was the top policy and communications executive.