CEO Compensation and Performance in the Online Travel Industry

On today’s episode, Clay and Kyle give an overview of their best quality stock idea for Q2 2025. This quarter, they discuss Booking Holdings.

To our surprise, Booking Holdings is the world’s largest travel company. We explore how the company built a dominant position in Europe through its network effect, asset-light business model, and sound capital allocation decisions. We also cover Booking’s competitive advantages, financial performance, and key risks facing the business. 

Clay finds Bookings Holdings to be a compelling long-term compounder, which led him to initiate a position in the company earlier this year.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:

00:00 - Intro

06:42 - How Booking built its dominant position in Europe and other markets globally.

11:47 - Why Booking Holdings is one of the most dominant and profitable online travel agencies in the world.

16:59 - An overview of the competitive landscape for online travel agencies.

38:21 - Booking Holdings’ competitive advantages.

40:46 - An overview of Bookings’ management team and incentive structure.

01:00:59 - How we view Bookings’ valuation today.

And so much more!

Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences.

BOOKS AND RESOURCES

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• Related Episode TIP698: Best Quality Idea Q1 2025 w/ Clay Finck & Kyle Grieve.
• Related Episode TIP675: Best Quality Idea Q4 2024 w/ Clay Finck & Kyle Grieve.
• Related Episode TIP652: Best Quality Idea Q3 2024 w/ Clay Finck & Kyle Grieve.
• Related Episode TIP627: Best Quality Idea Q2 2024 w/ Clay Finck & Kyle Grieve.
• Related Episode TIP604: Best Quality Idea Q1 2024 w/ Clay Finck & Kyle Grieve.
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