Airbnb Inc. has appointed Rich Baer, an in-house leader with experience overseeing global legal teams for public companies, to take over as chief legal officer, as the home-sharing site moves toward an initial public offering.

Baer begins his new position at the company's San Francisco headquarters in early October and will report to chief operating officer Belinda Johnson. She served as CLO until last year, when she was promoted to COO.

"As someone who has served as the general counsel for fast-scaling, large, complex, globally branded and publicly traded companies, Rich will be an incredible advocate for all our stakeholders and we are thrilled to welcome him to the Airbnb team," Johnson said in a statement.

Airbnb announced Baer's hiring on Tuesday, days after the home-sharing site issued a brief statement about its intention to go public next year. Airbnb also has a general counsel, Rob Chesnut, who joined the firm in 2016. 

Baer most recently served as the CLO and chief administrative officer of Liberty Media Corp., a group of five public companies that own or hold large stakes in several major brands, including TripAdvisor Holdings Inc., Sirius XM Holdings Inc., Charter Communications Inc., and the Atlanta Braves. Attempts to speak with him on Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Earlier this year, Baer was tapped to take on the new role of chief administrative officer at Liberty, with a focus on recruiting and developing talent. 

"You have to practise what you preach. I can't be out there focusing on talent development without doing that within my own organisation. I want to make sure that whatever I'm learning and whatever we're developing more broadly, the legal function has the benefit of that as well," he told Corporate Counsel in August. 

"You have to give your talent within the legal organisation other opportunities. Those many times may involve lateral moves or lateral areas of experience that you give them exposure to," he added. 

Before joining Liberty, Baer served as executive vice-president and CLO of UnitedHealth Group Inc.; and as executive vice-president, GC and chief administrative officer of Qwest Communications International Inc. He began his career as a homicide prosecutor in Brooklyn, before joining Sherman & Howard's office in Denver, where he led the firm's litigation department. 

Baer chairs the National Jewish Health board of directors, and the National Law Journal has listed him as one of the top in-house leaders in the country. He is a graduate of Columbia University and Duke University School of Law. 

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