THIS
EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT (“Agreement”) is entered into by
and between Dara Khosrowshahi (“Executive”) and
Expedia, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”),
and is effective as of May 28, 2009 (the “Effective
Date”).
WHEREAS,
the Company desires to establish its right to the services of
Executive, in the capacity described below, on the terms and
conditions hereinafter set forth, and Executive is willing to
accept such employment on such terms and conditions.
NOW,
THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual agreements hereinafter
set forth, Executive and the Company have agreed and do hereby
agree as follows:
1.A.
EMPLOYMENT . The Company agrees to employ Executive as
President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company; Executive
accepts and agrees to such employment. During Executive’s
employment with the Company, Executive shall perform all services
and acts necessary or advisable to fulfill the duties and
responsibilities as are commensurate and consistent with
Executive’s position and shall render such services on the
terms set forth herein. During Executive’s employment with
the Company, Executive shall report directly to the Chairman and
Senior Executive of the Company. Executive shall have such powers
and duties with respect to the Company as may reasonably be
assigned to Executive by the Chairman and Senior Executive, to the
extent consistent with Executive’s position and status.
Executive agrees to devote all of Executive’s working time,
attention and efforts to the Company and to perform the duties of
Executive’s position in accordance with the Company’s
policies as in effect from time to time. Executive’s
principal place of employment shall be the Company’s offices
located in Bellevue, Washington.
2.A. TERM OF
AGREEMENT . The term (“Term”) of this Agreement
shall commence on the Effective Date and shall continue through the
third anniversary of the Effective Date, unless sooner terminated
in accordance with the provisions of Section 1 of the Standard
Terms and Conditions.
(a)
BASE SALARY . During the Term, the Company shall pay
Executive an annual base salary of $1,000,000.00 (the “Base
Salary”), payable in equal biweekly installments or in
accordance with the Company’s payroll practice as in effect
from time to time. For all purposes under this Agreement, the term
“Base Salary” shall refer to Base Salary as in effect
from time to time.
(b)
DISCRETIONARY BONUS . During the Term, Executive shall be
eligible to receive discretionary annual bonuses. Any such annual
bonus shall be paid not later than March 15 of the calendar
year immediately following the calendar year with respect to which
such annual bonus relates (unless Executive has elected to defer
receipt of such bonus pursuant to an arrangement that meets the
requirements of Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986, as amended (the “Code”)).
(c)
BENEFITS . During the Term, from the Effective Date through
the date of termination of Executive’s employment with the
Company for any reason, Executive shall be entitled to participate
in any welfare, health and life insurance and pension benefit and
incentive programs as may be adopted from time to time by the
Company on the same basis as that provided to similarly situated
executives of the Company generally. Without limiting the
generality of the foregoing, Executive shall be entitled to the
following benefits:
(i)
Reimbursement for Business Expenses . During the Term, the
Company shall reimburse Executive for all reasonable and necessary
expenses incurred by Executive in performing Executive’s
duties for the Company, on the same basis as similarly situated
executives of the Company generally and in accordance with the
Company’s policies as in effect from time to time.
(ii)
Vacation . During the Term, Executive shall be entitled to
annual paid vacation in accordance with the plans, policies,
programs and practices of the Company applicable to similarly
situated executives of the Company generally.
4.A.
NOTICES . All notices and other communications under this
Agreement shall be in writing and shall be given by first-class
mail, certified or registered with return receipt requested or hand
delivery acknowledged in writing by the recipient personally, and
shall be deemed to have been duly given three days after mailing or
immediately upon duly acknowledged hand delivery to the respective
persons named below:
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If
to the Company:
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Expedia, Inc.
333 108 th Avenue NE
Bellevue, Washington 98004
Attention: General Counsel
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If
to Executive:
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At
the most recent address on record for Executive at the
Company
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Either party
may change such party’s address for notices by notice duly
given pursuant hereto.
5.A.
GOVERNING LAW; JURISDICTION . This Agreement and the legal
relations thus created between the parties hereto shall be governed
by and construed under and in accordance with the internal laws of
the State of Washington without reference to the principles of
conflicts of laws. Any and all disputes between the parties which
may arise pursuant to this Agreement will be heard and determined
before an appropriate federal court in Washington, or, if not
maintainable therein, then in an appropriate Washington state
court. The parties acknowledge that such courts have jurisdiction
to interpret and enforce the provisions of this Agreement, and the
parties consent to, and waive any and all objections that they may
have as to, personal jurisdiction and/or venue in such
courts.
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6.A
COUNTERPARTS . This Agreement may be executed in several
counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original but
all of which together will constitute one and the same instrument.
Executive expressly understands and acknowledges that the Standard
Terms and Conditions attached hereto are incorporated herein by
reference, deemed a part of this Agreement and are binding and
enforceable provisions of this Agreement. References to “this
Agreement” or the use of the term “hereof” shall
refer to this Agreement and the Standard Terms and Conditions
attached hereto, taken as a whole.
IN
WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused this Agreement to be
executed and delivered by its duly authorized officer and Executive
has executed and delivered this Agreement.
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EXPEDIA,
INC.
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/s/ Burke F.
Norton
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By: Burke F.
Norton
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Title:
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Executive Vice
President, General Counsel
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/s/ Dara
Khosrowshahi
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Dara
Khosrowshahi
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STANDARD TERMS AND
CONDITIONS
1.
TERMINATION OF EXECUTIVE’S EMPLOYMENT .
(a)
DEATH . Upon termination of Executive’s employment
prior to the expiration of the Term by reason of Executive’s
death, the Company shall pay Executive’s designated
beneficiary or beneficiaries, within 30 days of
Executive’s death in a lump sum in cash,
(i) Executive’s Base Salary from the date of
Executive’s death through the end of the month in which
Executive’s death occurs and (ii) any Accrued
Obligations (as defined in Section l(f) below) in a lump sum in
cash.
(b)
DISABILITY . If, as a result of Executive’s incapacity
due to physical or mental illness (“Disability”),
Executive shall have been absent from the full-time performance of
Executive’s duties with the Company for a period of four
consecutive months and, within 30 days after written notice is
provided to Executive by the Company (in accordance with
Section 4A hereof), Executive shall not have returned to the
full-time performance of Executive’s duties,
Executive’s employment under this Agreement may be terminated
by the Company for Disability. During any period prior to such
termination during which Executive is absent from the full-time
performance of Executive’s duties with the Company due to
Disability, the Company shall continue to pay Executive’s
Base Salary at the rate in effect at the commencement of such
period of Disability, offset by any amounts payable to Executive
under any disability insurance plan or policy provided by the
Company. Upon termination of Executive’s employment due to
Disability, the Company shall pay Executive within 30 days of
such termination (i) Executive’s Base Salary through the
end of the month in which Executive’s termination of
employment for Disability occurs in a lump sum in cash, offset by
any amounts payable to Executive under any disability insurance
plan or policy provided by the Company; and (ii) any Accrued
Obligations in a lump sum in cash.
(c)
TERMINATION FOR CAUSE; RESIGNATION WITHOUT GOOD REASON . The
Company may terminate Executive’s employment under this
Agreement with or without Cause at any time and Executive may
resign under this Agreement with or without Good Reason at any
time. As used herein, “Cause” shall mean: (i) the
plea of guilty or nolo contendere to, conviction for, or the
commission of, a felony offense by Executive; provided ,
however , that after indictment, the Company may suspend
Executive from the rendition of services, but without limiting or
modifying in any other way the Company’s obligations under
this Agreement; (ii) a material breach by Executive of a
fiduciary duty owed to the Company or any of its subsidiaries;
(iii) a material breach by Executive of any of the covenants
made by Executive in Section 2 hereof; (iv) the willful
or gross neglect by Executive of the material duties required by
this Agreement; or (v) a knowing and material violation by
Executive of any Company policy pertaining to ethics, legal
compliance, wrongdoing or conflicts of interest that, in the case
of the conduct described in clauses (iv) or (v) above, if
curable, is not cured by Executive within 30 days after
Executive is provided with written notice thereof. Upon
Executive’s (A) termination of employment by the Company
for Cause prior to the expiration of the Term or
(B) resignation without Good Reason prior to the expiration of
the Term, this Agreement shall terminate without
further
obligation by the Company, except for the payment of any Accrued
Obligations in a lump sum in cash within 30 days of such
termination.
(d)
TERMINATION BY THE COMPANY OTHER THAN FOR DEATH, DISABILITY OR
CAUSE OR RESIGNATION BY EXECUTIVE FOR GOOD REASON . Upon
termination of Executive’s employment prior to the expiration
of the Term by the Company without Cause (other than for death or
Disability) or by Executive for Good Reason (as defined below),
then:
(i) the
Company shall continue to pay Executive the Base Salary through the
longer of (x) the end of the Term over the course of the then
remaining Term and (y) 12 months (such period, the
“Salary Continuation Period” and such payments, the
“Cash Severance Payments”), in each case payable in
equal biweekly installments in accordance with the Company’s
payroll practice as in effect from time to time;
(ii) the
Company shall pay Executive within 30 days of the date of such
termination in a lump sum in cash any Accrued
Obligations;
(iii) the
Company will consider in good faith the payment of a discretionary
bonus on a pro rata basis for the year in which the
Termination of Employment occurs, any such payment to be paid (if
at all) based on actual performance during the year in which
termination has occurred and based on the number of days of
employment during such year relative to 365 days (payable in a
lump sum at the time such annual bonus would otherwise have been
paid);
(iv) other
than with respect to restricted stock units granted pursuant to the
Expedia Restricted Stock Agreement between Executive and the
Company, dated March 7, 2006, as amended, with respect to
which this clause (iv) shall not apply, any compensation
awards of Executive based on, or in the form of, Company equity
(e.g. restricted stock, restricted stock units, stock options or
similar instruments) (“Equity Awards”) that are
outstanding and unvested at the time of such termination but which
would, but for a termination of employment, have vested during the
12 months following such termination (such period, the
“Equity Acceleration Period”) shall vest (and with
respect to awards other than stock options and stock appreciation
rights, settle) as of the date of such termination of employment;
provided that any outstanding award with a vesting schedule
that would, but for a termination of employment, have resulted in a
smaller percentage (or none) of the award being vested through the
end of such Equity Acceleration Period than if it vested annually
pro rata over its vesting period shall, for purposes of this
provision, be treated as though it vested annually pro rata over
its vesting period (e.g., if 100 restricted stock units
(“RSUs”) were granted 2.7 years prior to the date
of the termination and vested pro rata on each of the first five
anniversaries of the grant date and 100 RSUs were granted
1.7 years prior to the date of termination and vested on the
fifth anniversary of the grant date, then on the date of
termination 20 RSUs from the first award and 40 RSUs from the
second award would vest and settle); provided further
that any amount that would vest under this provision but for the
fact that outstanding performance conditions have not been
satisfied shall vest (and with respect to awards other than stock
options and stock appreciation rights, settle) only if, and at such
point as, such performance conditions are
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satisfied; and
provided further that to the extent that any such
equity awards constitutes “non-qualified deferred
compensation” within the meaning of Section 409 A, such
awards shall vest, but only settle in accordance with their terms
(it being understood that it is intended that no equity awards
outstanding as of the date of this Agreement constitutes
“non-qualified deferred compensation” within the
meaning of Section 409A); and
(v) any
then vested options of Executive (including options vesting as a
result of (iv) above) granted by the Company to purchase Company
equity, shall remain exercisable through the date that is
18 months following the date of such termination or, if
earlier, through the scheduled expiration date of such
options.
The expiration
of the Term shall not give rise to any payment to Executive or
acceleration obligation under this Section 1(d). The payment to
Executive of the severance benefits described in this Section l(d)
shall be subject to Executive’s execution and non-revocation
of a general release, within 30 days of the date of
termination of Executive’s employment, of the Company and its
affiliates in a form substantially similar to that used for
similarly situated executives of the Company and Executive’s
compliance with the restrictive covenants set forth in
Section 2 (other than any non-compliance that is immaterial,
does not result in harm to the Company or its affiliates, and, if
curable, is cured by Executive promptly after receipt of notice
thereof given by the Company). Ex
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