TECHNOLOGY Uber settles dispute to fix reputation with SoftBank investment set to close

Uber Technologies’ fractured board declared peace on Tuesday, attempting to put months of strife behind it by unanimously passing a series of measures to shore up corporate governance, bring in major investor SoftBank and diminish the power of former chief executive Travis Kalanick.

The agreement could shore up Uber’s reputation after a series of scandals and a legal battle between Mr Kalanick and an Uber investor group led by Silicon Valley’s Benchmark Capital. The deal could be subject to a lawsuit and is contingent on the multibillion dollar investment by Japan’s SoftBank Group closing in the coming weeks.

The terms preserve Uber’s US$69 billion valuation, highest among the world’s venture-backed start-ups, as SoftBank and others invest about $10bn.

“SoftBank’s interest is an incredible vote of confidence in Uber’s business and longterm potential,” the board said.

Benchmark general partner Bill Gurley, who was replaced by a colleague on Uber’s board in June, said by email, “It was a good day for Uber, a good day for Uber’s employees, and good day for Uber’s new CEO.”

Mr Kalanick described Tuesday’s actions as “a major step forward inUber’s journey to becoming a world-class public company.” He added that the governance changes should serve Uber well under Dara Khosrowshahi, who is a month into the chief executive job since leaving the same post at Expedia.

Governance policies adopted by the board would make it difficult for Mr Kalanick to return as CEO. He resigned in June under pressure from the Benchmark-led investor group over employee sexual harassment investigations, a trade secrets misappropriation lawsuit by Waymo and efforts to interfere with government investigations.

A two-thirds majority vote of the board would be required to hire a replacement for Mr Khosrowshahi before the San Francisco start-up holds an initial public offering, according to a person familiar with the matter. The board set a deadline for an IPO of autumn 2019, the sources said.

Uber’s board will expand from 11 directors, including a pair of Mr Kalanick appointees seated on Monday, to 17 directors, the person and another source said.

The increase would include four new independent directors for a total of seven. Five board seats would go to company insiders or co-founders, and five would be representatives of investors. The chairperson would be one of the independent directors.

Two of the six new seats would go to SoftBank, the sources said. The other four would be selected by a nominating committee of the board.

Governance policies adopted by the board would make it difficult for Mr Kalanick to return as CEO