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    Amazon Prime Veteran Heads to Airbnb

    Greg Greeley, an Amazon employee since 1999, to run rental listing company’s Homes unit

    Greg Greeley presenting at an Amazon.com event in Mexico City last year. The longtime Amazon.com employee is joining Airbnb to run its core home-rental business.
    Greg Greeley presenting at an Amazon.com event in Mexico City last year. The longtime Amazon.com employee is joining Airbnb to run its core home-rental business. Photo: Susana Gonzalez/Bloomberg News
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    Greg Greeley, one of Amazon.com Inc.’s AMZN 0.92% most-senior and longest-serving executives, is leaving the company to run Airbnb Inc.’s core home-rental business.

    Mr. Greeley has overseen Amazon’s Prime membership unit since 2013 and helped to develop the program. An employee since 1999, he was slated to work on integrating natural foods chain Whole Foods into the operations of the Seattle e-commerce giant, according to Amazon.

    Airbnb’s Homes business has been overseen by co-founder and chief executive Brian Chesky while he conducted a search for a head of the unit, according to the company. Airbnb said in a statement that it selected Mr. Greeley, who will start March 18, due to his operational experience and customer focus. Donna Boyer, director of product for the Homes unit, left the company in January and Airbnb has seen other high profile departures, including its CFO Laurence Tosi, who stepped down last month.

    The Homes unit—which includes the apartment and whole-home rentals for which Airbnb is known—represents nearly all of the San Francisco startup’s $2.57 billion in 2017 revenue.

    Last month Airbnb announced a series of sweeping changes to Homes, adding options like hotels, a higher-end tier of homes called Plus, and a loyalty program.

    The company is grappling with limited inventory in some of its most popular destinations as well as customer complaints of inconsistent home quality. It also has addressed renters’ claims that hosts had discriminated against them. The company implemented changes in late 2016 to ensure hosts couldn’t discriminate.

    Mr. Greeley, 54, announced in a LinkedIn post on Monday that he was leaving Amazon, calling the work “an honor and a privilege.” He didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

    “We thank Greg for his contributions to Amazon,” said an Amazon spokeswoman in a statement. Neil Lindsay, vice president of world-wide marketing for Amazon, is heading the Prime business.

    Airbnb is considering an initial public offer as soon as 2019, after Mr. Chesky dismissed the idea of going public this year.

    Write to Greg Bensinger at greg.bensinger@wsj.com