Uber co-founder and CEO resigns
After announcing an indefinite leave of absence earlier this month, the co-founder and CEO of the popular ride share company, Travis Kalanick, has resigned.
Since Kalanick helped to create the company back in 2009, Uber has expanded to operate in over 560 cities worldwide, and see a solid eight years of financial growth. However, the company has seen some difficulties while transitioning from a start-up to a maturing business. Not only has Uber suffered substantial profit losses over the last two quarters, they have also been a part multiple unsavory situations that have been detrimental to their image. Under Kalanick’s leadership incidences of sexual harassment within the office have surfaced, as well as allegations of trade secrets theft and a federal investigation into efforts to mislead local government regulators. These issues, paired with Kalanick’s brash attitude, lead major investors to put pressure on him to resign.
“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 that Uber can go back to building rather than be distracted with another fight,” Kalanick said of this resignation.
The current board of directors issued a statement saying that while Kalanick “always put Uber first” his resignation will be a turning point, giving the company “room to fully embrace this new chapter in Uber’s history”.
The company has wasted no time embracing this new chapter, as they informed their drivers Tuesday that they will soon have the ability to accept tips, something that their now former CEO was against. This marks the first of many changes Uber wants to put in place over the next 180 days.
“Over the next 180 days we are committed to making driving with Uber better than ever,” the company said. “We know there’s a long road ahead, but we won’t stop until we get there.”
Moving forward, Kalanick will still remain on Uber’s board of directors, but it is unclear as to who will be replacing him as CEO.