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ABOUT BOB DIENER
Bob Diener is an American entrepreneur, author, investor, and travel industry executive best known for founding HRN which became Hotels.com and later Getaroom.com with his longtime business partner David Litman.
After earning his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida and his law degree from Cornell Law School, where he served as an editor of the Cornell Law Review, Diener practiced securities and corporate law at the law firm Gibson Dunn before moving into entrepreneurship.
In 1991, Diener and Litman founded Hotel Reservations Network (HRN), a telephone-based hotel booking business that evolved into Hotels.com and became one of the pioneers of online hotel reservations. The company helped popularize the merchant model for hotel bookings and was among the first travel companies to establish a significant web presence in the mid-1990s. Hotels.com later completed a highly successful IPO and was eventually sold to IAC and merged into Expedia.
Following the sale of Hotels.com, Diener and Litman launched Getaroom.com in 2009, building another major online hotel distribution business that was ultimately acquired by Booking Holdings in 2021. They later founded Travel Funders Network, focused on creating innovative distribution channels for hotel partners.
Beyond business, Diener is a frequent commentator on travel trends and entrepreneurship, appearing on major media outlets including NBC, CNN, and Fox News.He has taught at Cornell Law School and served as an entrepreneur-in-residence at the University of Florida.
Diener has been recognized as the University of Florida's Entrepreneur Alumnus of the Year and is active in philanthropy and community organizations. Outside of work, he is an avid traveler, triathlete, and kitesurfer and lives in Miami with his family.