Kees was an early investor in booking in 1997 and became one of the key persons from 2001 until the end of 2011 to build booking.com from the start-up phase into what is today the largest online hotel reservation company in the world. COO booking.com 2001-2008. CEO booking.com 2008-2011. Chairman booking.com 2011-2014. Grew up at a dairy farm in the South of The Netherlands. Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering (1988). Master of Business Administration (not completed) 1988-1992. Started a management consultancy firm in 1988. Started and invested in more than 50 tech companies since 1997, booking.com and Uber being the best known of them.