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Tripadvisor just got a serious vote of confidence from a heavyweight on Wall Street.
On Thursday, shares of the travel review and booking giant surged by 17% after Starboard Value, a well-known activist investment firm, disclosed that it had taken a more than 9% stake in the company. According to regulatory filings, the value of that stake was estimated at around $160 million as of Wednesday’s closing bell.
For context, Tripadvisor’s stock hasn’t exactly been having a vacation this year. After a brutal 2024 that saw shares tumble more than 30%, the company has spent much of 2025 trying to regroup. This sudden stock rally, however, signals that investors are finally seeing some sunshine through the clouds.
What do you need to know about Starboard Value?
Starboard Value isn’t just any hedge fund; it’s the kind that shows up with a suitcase full of ideas, often calling for changes to leadership, cutting unnecessary costs, or streamlining operations. Think of them as the tough-love personal trainer of corporate America: they might not always be gentle, but they tend to get results.
This isn’t Starboard’s first time shaking things up, either. Just recently, it scored two board seats at Autodesk following a heated proxy battle. The firm also has a long track record of pushing major reforms at companies like Salesforce, Pfizer, and Match Group (the parent company of Tinder). Their involvement usually means that a company is about to be whipped into shape, or at least forced to rethink its current direction.
Tripadvisor, for its part, hasn’t confirmed or commented on Starboard’s investment just yet, nor has Starboard revealed exactly what it plans to do. But this much is clear: when a seasoned activist fund makes this kind of move, it usually leads to something, whether that’s a boardroom shakeup, a strategic pivot, or even putting the company up for sale.
What’s next for Tripadvisor?
Back in 2023, Tripadvisor hinted at some big changes when it formed a special committee to explore “strategic alternatives,” corporate speak that could mean anything from spinning off business units to finding a buyer. With Starboard now onboard, that committee may feel even more pressure to make a move.
Though the company’s core business of crowd-sourced travel reviews and bookings is still widely used, competition in the travel tech space has heated up, and Tripadvisor has struggled to keep up with more agile players and changing consumer habits.
Still, this latest stock rally shows that there’s faith, at least from some quarters, that the brand has room to bounce back. Investors are now watching closely to see whether Starboard will push for deeper changes or simply help Tripadvisor navigate its next chapter.