Uber chief voting powers weakened

FORMER Uber boss Travis Kalanick’s grip on the boardroom was weakened yesterday.

Corporate governance changes were voted for unanimously by the board, including Kalanick – who was ousted as chief executive in June even though they dilute his voting rights.

The number of seats on the board will rise from 11 to 17 and a two-thirds majority will be needed to oust new chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi, who is working to prepare the fastgrowing firm for a public listing.

Uber is also adopting a one-vote-per-share policy, sources told Reuters, and removing ‘supershare’ powers enjoyed by founders.

The changes are conditional on the firm securing an investment of up to £940m from a consortium led by Japanese tech giant SoftBank. But the deal could still face opposition. Early Uber investors Shervin Pishevar and Steve Russell said they would sue to block the change, which cuts the super-voting rights that give them ten votes per share.