Kalanick quits as Uber boss
• Campaign to convince CEO to resign comes amid power vacuum as several top posts are advertised
Travis Kalanick has resigned from his job leading Uber Technologies, giving up on his effort to hold onto power as a torrent of self-inflicted scandals enveloped him and the global leviathan he co-founded.
Travis Kalanick has resigned from his job leading Uber Technologies, giving up on his effort to hold on to power as a torrent of self-inflicted scandals enveloped him and the global leviathan he co-founded.
Pressure from investors, who have poured more than $15bn into a company that has burned through billions, ultimately did what the board could, or would, not: it convinced the 40-year-old CEO to step aside.
Five of Uber’s major investors, including Fidelity and Benchmark, asked Kalanick to step aside in a letter to him entitled Moving Uber Forward, according to people familiar with the matter.
Kalanick, who grew Uber’s bookings to $20bn in 2016, has played a starring role in most of its controversies.
He called the company “Boob-er”. He argued with a driver about pay in a published video. He is said to have questioned whether a female passenger had been raped by a driver who was convicted of the crime in India.
Kalanick co-authored corporate values such as Let Builders Build, Always Be Hustlin’, Meritocracy and Toe-Stepping, and Principled Confrontation. Uber now plans to scrap many of those tenets on the advice of former US attorney-general Eric Holder, who has just concluded an investigation into the cultural failings of a company built in Kalanick’s image.
“I love Uber more than anything in the world and at this difficult moment in my personal life I have accepted the investors’ request to step aside so Uber can go back to building rather than be distracted with another fight,” Kalanick said.
He would remain on the board of directors, Uber said.
The campaign to convince Kalanick to quit as CEO could not have come at a more painful time in his life.
His mother died in a freak boating accident in May that severely injured his father.
Benchmark partner Bill Gurley tweeted: “There will be many pages in the history books devoted to @travisk — very few entrepreneurs have had such a lasting impact on the world.”
Representatives for Fidelity and Benchmark did not immediately respond to e-mailed requests for comment.
Kalanick began an indefinite leave of absence on June 13 and left the day-to-day management of the company to a committee of 14 top executives.
Regional operations heads continue to oversee much of the company’s business.
Uber has been searching for a chief operating officer. With Kalanick’s departure, the company is now also looking for a CEO — a far more desirable position for a business leader.
Whoever takes the helm will have to plug a leadership vacuum. Uber needs to hire a chief operating officer, an independent board chairperson, a chief marketing officer and a general counsel. Many of the top executives were promoted internally after their bosses left, including heads of business, policy and communications, and product.
Kalanick’s closest confidant, Emil Michael, was ousted by Uber’s board following Holder’s recommendations. Like Kalanick, Michael was tied to the mishandling of an Indian rape case and attended an outing to a karaoke bar in South Korea that triggered a human resources (HR) complaint.
In June, the company shared the recommendations of Holder’s law firm. More than 20 people were fired as part of a separate probe by another firm into sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and other HR complaints.
Despite recent turmoil, Uber’s business is growing. Revenue increased to $3.4bn in the first quarter, while losses narrowed — though they remain substantial at $708m. Kalanick remains a paper billionaire given his stake in the company, with a net worth of $6.7bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires index. Uber itself has been valued at $69bn. And there are signs the company is willing to give in. It has sought to head off a defection of drivers by adding a function to its app that lets customers provide tips, a feature offered by US rival Lyft.
Kalanick was against letting riders tip, calling his opposition “principled” since he believed restaurants and taxi companies use tips to underpay their workers. Now, in Kalanick’s absence, the company is trying to take a new tack.
Uber’s board of directors said Kalanick’s resignation was “a bold decision”.
I HAVE ACCEPTED THE REQUEST SO UBER CAN GO BACK TO BUILDING RATHER THAN BE DISTRACTED WITH A NEW FIGHT