Wrede Petersmeyer is currently head of Airbnb in New York City, the company’s largest and most high-profile market worldwide. He focuses primarily on managing the overall business, building out local operations, and representing Airbnb regionally, building coalitions among key leaders, stakeholders, and influencers at the intersection of innovation, regulation and technology. 

Prior to joining Airbnb, Wrede was with Bain & Company in New York and London, where he spent most of his time advising private equity, technology, and media companies on strategy, growth and innovation.  From 2010 to 2011, he served as an inaugural Innovation Fellow at Harvard Business School, where he worked with Clay Christensen and other faculty on how companies find ways to disrupt themselves and others.  

Prior to business school, Wrede worked for the Council on Foreign Relations in New York and spent a number of years as a foreign policy officer of the US government, serving in the United States, Middle East and Europe.  He holds an MBA from HBS, an MSc from the London School of Economics and an AB from Harvard College.