Rearden Commerce on Wednesday announced that former top
American Express Business Travel executive Andrew McGraw joined the company as
senior vice president of travel services, filling a role vacated two weeks ago
by Tony D'Astolfo.
According to a company statement, McGraw will "oversee
the sale and distribution of" Rearden's Deem relevance engine products,
which display online travel search results in accordance with determined user
preferences, "to the entire ecosystem of travel."
McGraw left American Express Business Travel in March 2011
as senior vice president and general manager for worldwide sales and global
field effectiveness. He had joined the company in 1998 when Amex acquired New
Jersey super-regional agency Travel One.
American Express in 2006 paid $22.5 million for an equity stake in Rearden, which powered Amex's online Axiom marketplace. Rearden's
statement today quoted McGraw as saying, "I know firsthand the exceptional
innovations Rearden Commerce is producing to change the way in which buyers and
sellers interact.”
D'Astolfo announced his departure in a Dec. 22 blog post and
email to industry colleagues. He had served at the company for more than seven
years. "I'll be taking a short break primarily to get my bowling game back
in order," he said in the post, "but will also be looking for my next
opportunity and challenge, so I'm sure I'll see you all out there very
shortly."