Airbnb is the most valuable private firm in America. Here's why. - Business Insider

The most valuable private firm in America is Airbnb.

I believe this time next year, Airbnb will be the most valuable hospitality firm in the world and one of the world's 10 strongest brands.

(Note: Rankings of "the world's best brands" are a desperate yelp for relevance from ad agencies begging clients to buy more media and cling to the nineties, the Brand Era.) The SF platform will likely be worth more than the three largest hotel firms, combined.

Hotels need local supply (hotel rooms) and regional demand (guests)?

But a global hotel brand requires both local supply and global demand, as guests are from all over the world?

Airbnb has global supply, boasting more than seven million listings worldwide — more than Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide, InterContinental Hotels Group, Wyndham Hotel Group, and Hyatt Hotels, combined.

More impressive, and singular, Airbnb is the only hospitality brand that has the global awareness to generate unrivaled demand. .

Google searches reflect that Airbnb has eclipsed the equity of century-old brands, in one decade, across markets big and small.

While competitors may have equity in a specific market, no brand sits on the iron throne across all markets as Airbnb does. .

This equity also bests that of airlines and online booking engines that may have global awareness (like Qantas) but only regional relevance (i.e., not an option for intracontinental travel in markets outside Australia). .

It's clearly not a hotel business, but not a SaaS firm either.

However, Airbnb is a tech firm and highly "disruptive." The firm has a greater share of employees with an engineering background than Amazon or Uber.

The only firms I can think of that have global demand/supply and brand equity, and an asset-light high-margin business are the credit card companies, which trade at 20+ multiples of revenue.

In 2020, in the private markets, Airbnb shares have traded at a valuation ranging between $15-30 billion.

No hotel owner or management firm modeled occupancy dropping to 0%.

Airbnb will not electrify the world, but it will host it and reshape the resources required to let people tap into a basic instinct: to explore with others