Well, it finally happened. Yesterday Uber CEO and founder Travis Kalanick resigned, amid multiple scandals over the past few years involving sexist jokes and comments by prominent employees and board members, and a corporate culture of misogyny that has plagued the company since the bombshell letter dropped by former Uber employee Susan Fowler.
Last week saw a flurry of executives exiting the company and Kalanick had announced that he was taking an “indefinite leave” to grieve for the loss of his mother and work on “Travis 2.0”.
But apparently, for the shareholders of Uber, this wasn’t enough.
Five prominent venture capital investors in the company demanded the CEO step down in a letter titled “Moving Uber Forward.” Reportedly, Kalanick wasn’t too pleased by the recommendation he step down, but did it anyway – and he will remain on the board for the time being, which means he’ll have a hand in picking his successor.
Lately it seems like the list of Uber’s issues never ends. There’s the sexism, of course, but Uber’s rap sheet also includes union busting in Seattle and beyond, booking fake Lyft rides and then cancelling them in order to cut into their competitor’s profits, trying to tank the careers of critical journalists, allegedly stealing self-driving car technology from Google, and (perhaps most bizarrely), spying on Beyoncé.
Oh yeah, and then there was #DeleteUber campaign back in January, when the company lifted surge pricing during a protest against Trump’s travel ban at New York’s JFK airport. And remember when Kalanick joined Trump’s advisory council? Or when he yelled at an Uber driver to take responsibility for his “own shit,” after the driver complained how hard it was to earn a living at the company? The list goes on…
So now that Kalanick is stepping down, who is on the short list to replace him as CEO? Reportedly the investors are looking at Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg to “lean in” to the job; they’re also eyeing former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, and former Ford CEO Mark Fields.
For now, Uber has been trying real hard to fix their reputation – the company just yesterday announced they are rolling out tipping options in cities across the country (including Seattle), and are planning “180 Days of Change” to help their drivers, which will include a shorter cancellation window, adding expanded driver destinations, and implementing driver injury protection insurance. Will the changes also include allowing Seattle Uber drivers to unionize, the Stranger’s Heidi Groover wonders? Let’s hope so.