Stephen Kaufer

President & CEO, Tripadvisor

Steve co-founded Tripadvisor in 2000 with the mission to help travelers around the world plan and book the perfect trip. Under his leadership, Tripadvisor has grown into the largest travel site in the world. As CEO, Steve has led the growth of Tripadvisor, Inc., which includes 24 other travel media brands that operate in 48 markets worldwide. Prior to co-founding Tripadvisor, Steve was president of CDS, Inc., an independent software vendor, and prior to that, was co-founder and vice president of engineering of CenterLine Software. Steve holds several software patents. Over the years Steve has won a number of awards for his entrepreneurship and leadership in the travel industry including being inducted into the 2015 British Travel & Hospitality Hall of Fame, receiving the 2015 Pioneer Award by the International Society of Hospitality Consultants and 2005 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Mr. Kaufer serves on the boards of CarGurus and the Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation (formerly known as Caring for Carcinoid Foundation). He's a fan of his brother-in-law's robot sculptures at Lipson Robotics (www.lipsonrobotics.com). Steve has a degree in computer science from Harvard University.

Steve's favorite travel destination is Jerusalem, Israel.