Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Vodacom, Maziv deal now looks likely after CompCom U-turn

      8 July 2025

      Icasa publishes new draft regulations for digital TV

      8 July 2025

      Fast-growing Beira port to get private mobile network

      8 July 2025

      MultiChoice hit with multimillion-rand fine for privacy ‘breaches’

      8 July 2025

      Still in play: Ramaphosa banks on talks to ease US tariff blow

      8 July 2025
    • World

      Cupertino vs Brussels: Apple challenges Big Tech crackdown

      7 July 2025

      Grammarly acquires e-mail start-up Superhuman

      1 July 2025

      Apple considers ditching its own AI in Siri overhaul

      1 July 2025

      Jony Ive’s first AI gadget could be … a pen

      30 June 2025

      Bumper orders for Xiaomi’s YU7 SUV heighten threat to Tesla

      27 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025
    • TCS

      TCS | Connecting Saffas – Renier Lombard on The Lekker Network

      7 July 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E4: Takealot’s big Post Office jobs plan

      4 July 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      3 July 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on the latest and greatest cloud technologies

      27 June 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on data governance in hybrid cloud environments

      27 June 2025
    • Opinion

      In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

      30 June 2025

      E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

      30 June 2025

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » In-depth » Behind the dramatic departure of Uber’s CEO

    Behind the dramatic departure of Uber’s CEO

    By Agency Staff22 June 2017
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp
    Travis Kalanick addressing Uber partner-drivers in Boston in December 2015

    [dropcap]A[/dropcap]s Travis Kalanick was in Chicago interviewing a candidate to be his deputy at Uber Technologies, two investors were on a plane to deliver the news that they wanted the CEO gone.

    Matt Cohler and Peter Fenton, partners at venture capital firm Benchmark, hand delivered a letter urging Kalanick’s resignation, people familiar with the matter said. It was the result of a multi-week campaign led behind the scenes by Bill Gurley, another Benchmark partner who occupied the firm’s board seat at Uber, with the goal of ousting Kalanick. The memo was signed by five major backers, who account for as much as 40% of shareholder votes.

    A contentious board meeting led to Kalanick’s decision a week earlier to take an indefinite leave of absence, but many investors — worried about the company’s reputation as well as their own — believed the move didn’t go far enough. They crafted a two-page letter outlining their grievances. It blames Kalanick for putting the company at legal risk, citing a trade secrets lawsuit by Alphabet’s Waymo and the use of a software tool called Greyball that’s the subject of a US criminal probe, according to two people who have seen it but asked not to be identified discussing private matters.

    I have accepted the investors’ request to step aside so that Uber can go back to building rather than be distracted with another fight

    The letter obliquely references private findings from a company investigation into Uber’s past, conducted by former US attorney-general Eric Holder. The report that was presented to the board contained details not in the public version. Several of the investors were concerned that Kalanick’s role in some of those incidents would continue to inflict damage on Uber, people familiar with the matter said.

    While the letter bore a folksy tone, rather than one reflecting the language of a corporate lawyer, it was direct on one point: Kalanick must step down. Cohler and Fenton, who have had little regular involvement with Uber in the past, tracked the 40-year-old Kalanick down at his Chicago hotel on Tuesday morning. Kalanick read the memo, and the three men spoke for about an hour.

    ‘I love Uber’

    After deliberating for most of the day, Kalanick made up his mind 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,” he said in a statement on Tuesday night.

    Garrett Camp, an Uber founder and director, tried to instil confidence Wednesday following the previous day’s mutiny. “We will hire a great CEO and keep pushing forward. Change is healthy, and needed,” he wrote on Twitter. “It’s much more stable than people think. We are still here; still running the company.”

    The company sought to reassure all that the future was secure.

    Travis Kalanick

    “We’re fortunate to have a strengthened board with accomplished directors to guide us as we focus on serving our customers and employees, maintaining our growing business, and building a company and culture that we can be proud of,” Uber said in a statement.

    Although Kalanick’s tenaciousness ultimately led to his undoing, it was part of what drew venture capitalists to him in the first place. Under his stewardship, Uber attracted more than $15bn to finance a global conquest that spanned more than 500 cities over about eight years.

    “I had known and wanted to work with Travis for around a decade prior to Uber’s launch,” Cohler, who was an executive at Facebook before joining Benchmark, wrote in an online post last year. “I was a passionate early user of Uber in San Francisco; it quickly became as indispensable to my everyday life as I’d remembered Facebook being to college students in 2004.”

    Under the daily pressure this year, investors said they saw a change in Kalanick. He insulated himself with two main allies, Emil Michael and Arianna Huffington

    As Uber’s global workforce crossed 14 000 this year, the many shortcomings that resulted from frantic growth began to show. Susan Fowler, a former software engineer at the company, penned a blog post in February alleging sexual harassment, discrimination and a human-resources department complicit in such indiscretions.

    The response from Kalanick was swift. Uber hired Holder’s law firm to investigate and commissioned a separate probe into HR matters. He held multiple staff meetings to address concerns and broke into tears at some of those events. Major investors were momentarily convinced he would resolve the issues and supported him staying as CEO, people familiar with the matter said.

    But the scandals kept coming. He was caught on tape arguing fiercely with an Uber driver over falling pay in a video published by Bloomberg. Other reports emerged about Greyball, which was used to help drivers evade law enforcement officials; a trip to a karaoke bar in Seoul featuring women dressed in number tags that was the subject of an HR complaint; and the mishandling of a rape victim’s medical records in India.

    ‘Leadership help’

    After the Bloomberg video of his argument with a driver, Kalanick apologised and said he needed “leadership help”. The board then launched a search for a chief operating officer.

    But Kalanick continued to stall on key hires that could threaten his influence, investors said. The company desperately needed a chief financial officer, a position left vacant for more than two years; the issue became more urgent when the head of finance departed this year. Information within the company had been tightly controlled, giving Kalanick a significant advantage over subordinates, investors and fellow board members.

    Under the daily pressure this year, investors said they saw a change in Kalanick. He insulated himself with two main allies, Emil Michael and Arianna Huffington. Michael, Uber’s then head of business, was a longtime confidant of Kalanick, and they were tied to many of the same scandals. Huffington, a digital media mogul, was appointed to Uber’s board last year and became Kalanick’s chief defender at those meetings, people familiar with the matter said.

    The death of Kalanick’s mother in May dealt a devastating blow. He attended Uber’s board meeting two days after her funeral

    The death of Kalanick’s mother in May dealt a devastating blow. He attended Uber’s board meeting two days after her funeral. The discussion lasted for more than six hours. Directors decided to oust Michael and that Kalanick should take a lesser role but remain as CEO. They also discussed a leave of absence for Kalanick.

    Kalanick mulled the decision until the day of the announcement last week and finally agreed to go on leave. Day-to-day management would be left to a committee of 14 Uber executives. Kalanick said he would spend his time off mourning, recruiting his new team and working on “Travis 2.0”.

    With Kalanick away, Gurley spent the past weekend rounding up investors’ signatures. He told them he didn’t believe changes could be made at the company with Kalanick at the helm and that Uber wouldn’t be able to move past its devastating scandals until a new CEO is installed, said a person familiar with the matter. Fidelity Investments, First Round Capital, Lowercase Capital and Menlo Ventures joined Gurley’s firm to endorse the call for Kalanick’s resignation.

    The shake-up at Uber didn’t stop at Kalanick. On Wednesday, TPG Capital decided to give a board seat to David Trujillo, replacing his colleague David Bonderman, who stepped down last week after making a sexist remark at an Uber staff meeting. Later on Wednesday, Gurley resigned and handed his seat to Cohler.  — Reported by Eric Newcomer, (c) 2017 Bloomberg LP



    top Travis Kalanick Uber
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleSA inflation rises for first time in 2017
    Next Article Silicon Valley’s vision of the future is faltering

    Related Posts

    South African law is failing gig-economy workers

    12 June 2025

    ‘Afrikaans Uber’ sparks controversy

    27 January 2025

    Uber bakkie service launched in South Africa

    5 December 2024
    Company News

    Huawei South Africa Partners Forum 2025: joining hands for a digital, intelligent future

    8 July 2025

    Powering South Africa’s industrial intelligence with Huawei Cloud’s AI-native innovations

    8 July 2025

    Rain launches a new way to connect. It’s a loop

    8 July 2025
    Opinion

    In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

    30 June 2025

    E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

    30 June 2025

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.