Uber pushes its founder out
DETROIT - Under Travis Kalanick’s leadership, Uber’s “Animal House”style business plan was to grow as quickly as possible, steamrolling regulators while flouting the rules of workplace conduct.
Behavior at the maledominated company didn’t seem to matter. Riders embraced the app-based ridehailing system as an inexpensive, easy-to-use alternative to taxis.
But now Kalanick is out as CEO, resigning under pressure as the company he co-founded eight years ago tries to clean up its act and deal with a federal investigation and widespread claims of sexual harassment inside its offices.
In stepping down, Kalanick, 40, said his departure would help Uber return to growth “rather than be distracted by another fight.” That referred to efforts by the board and investors to oust him despite his outsized ownership stake. He will remain on the board.
By some measures, Uber was performing pretty well. While it’s losing billions, the quarterly red ink is shrinking. But outside experts said the CEO had to go.
“Even though Kalanick was driving performance, the company is not sustainable in this form,” said Jennifer Chatman, a business professor at the University of California at Berkeley. “The company is quite vulnerable to very, very expensive lawsuits. He couldn’t stay.”