In March 2020, Airbnb was nearing an IPO that would cap one of Silicon Valley’s most closely watched growth stories. Then global travel stopped.
Within weeks, the company’s business effectively collapsed as borders closed, flights were grounded, and consumers retreated indoors. For Ellie Mertz, now Airbnb’s CFO, it was the kind of corporate crisis that rendered the usual finance playbook almost meaningless. Scenario planning, she recalled in a wide-ranging interview on Fortune Next to Lead, broke down under uncertainty that was “orders of magnitude beyond” what any company would normally prepare for.
