CEO at GE on short list in Uber’s search

Uber Technologies Inc. has set its sights on the business world’s most seasoned chief executives to fill the leadership vacuum left by the departure of co-founder Travis Kalanick. Candidates for Uber CEO, including Jeffrey Immelt, must be capable of restoring confidence in the ride-hailing company after months of controversy.

Immelt, the outgoing CEO of General Electric Co., is on a short list of candidates to run Uber and prepare the business for an initial public offering, people familiar with the matter said. The company has been moving to narrow the list and name a successor to Kalanick, who was ousted under pressure from some of the company’s major investors last month. Meg Whitman, CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co., had also been under consideration, but she publicly withdrew her name Thursday night, saying speculation of a possible move had been a distraction.

Uber’s board met Thursday night to discuss the search and other matters, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. The San Francisco-based company hopes to name a successor to Kalanick by early September. GE and Uber declined to comment.

Immelt, 61, is scheduled to step down this week from the CEO position at GE that he’s held since 2001. John Flannery, a 30-year GE veteran, will take over, with Immelt remaining chairman until the end of the year.

Immelt embraced Silicon Valley in recent years and directed the creation a digital division in 2015 that he said could make GE a top 10 software company by the end of the decade. He has tried to bring startup strategies to the manufacturing behemoth, and GE even adopted the slogan “the digital industrial company.” — Bloomberg News