TravisKalanick
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Uber, Google, Facebook: Your experiments have gone too far
It was 2014, around the time when Travis Kalanick referred to Uber as his chick-magnet "Boober" in a GQ article, that I'd realized congestion in San Francisco had gone insane. Before there was Uber, getting across town took about ten minutes by car and there was nowhere to park, ever. With Boober in play, there was parking in places there never were spaces, but the streets were so jammed with empty, one-person "gig economy" cars circling, sitting in bus zones, mowing down bicyclists whilst fussing with their phones, still endlessly going nowhere, alone, that walking across the city was faster.
Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick forms investment fund
Uber's controversial ex-chief has created an investment fund called 10100 to oversee both his for-profit and non-profit projects. Travis Kalanick has announced 10100 (pronounced "ten-one-hundred") on Twitter and talked about how he's made investments, joined boards and worked with both businesses and non-profits over the past few months in an effort to find his next venture. As for what kind of projects the fund will manage, Kalanick says he plans to focus on large scale job creation, real estate and ecommerce investments, as well as emerging tech businesses in China and India. His non-profit endeavors, on the other hand, will be all about education and city development.
Levandowski faces fresh accusations of stealing trade secrets
The Waymo v. Uber trial is set to finally get started next month, but Anthony Levandowski, the man who has been accused of taking 14,000 files from Google's self-driving outfit when he left the company for his own startup Otto, has been hit with a lawsuit that may affect Waymo's. Wired reports that Levandowski's former nanny, Erika Wong, has filed a suit against him claiming Levandowski failed to pay her wages, violated labor and health codes and inflicted emotional distress. But the complaint also includes details of Levandowski's business practices, which suggest that he might have been paying off employees of other autonomous vehicle companies and that he considered fleeing to Canada when Waymo first filed its lawsuit.
Uber's ex-CEO to sell nearly a third of his stake in the company
Uber's big investment deal with SoftBank may place some limits on power held by co-founder and ex-CEO Travis Kalanick, but it will reportedly put a significant amount of cash in his pocket. Bloomberg and Reuters report that according to anonymous sources, Kalanick will reduce his stake in the company by a third, selling 2.9 percent of Uber's shares for about $1.4 billion after leaving the company last year following a series of scandals. Meanwhile, new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi can focus on things like the case vs. Waymo over self-driving technology.
Uber, but for toxic techbro culture
Some companies are just born with an infinite number of chances to keep doing everything wrong and yet somehow seem immune to the consequences. Uber is one of those companies. Uber's latest scandal -- a fat hack and its dirty coverup -- is just one in a long line of Uber-riffic examples on just how far a certain kind of privilege gets you.
Uber pursues an investment deal limiting its former CEO (updated)
After plenty of negotiation, Uber is about to get a valuable investment... in return for a few favors. Sources speaking to Bloomberg, Recode and TechCrunch have learned that Uber and SoftBank have finalized a deal that should see SoftBank and an investment group pour $10 billion into the company ($1 billion directly, $9 billion buying existing shares) while limiting the control of former CEO Travis Kalanick. He'll still have some influence, but he won't retake the throne -- and it'll end a nasty legal battle, too.
Court filing shows what former Waymo engineer allegedly took to Uber
Last year when Uber was considering a purchase of newly founded self-driving truck company Otto, it commissioned a due diligence report that dove into the company, its assets, cofounders Anthony Levandowski, Lior Ron and Don Burnette and a few other employees that left Google for the startup. It became a hot item in the Waymo lawsuit against Uber and though Uber and Levandowski fought to keep the document out of Alphabet's hands, a judge ordered it to be turned over to Google's and Waymo's parent company by September 13th. Well that document has now been made publicly available, Recode reports, and some of its contents don't look great for Uber.
Uber's ex-CEO surprisingly appoints two new board members
When Uber founder and CEO Travis Kalanick stepped down in June, he retained his ownership stake in the company and seat on its board of directors. That made things awkward throughout the company's search for a new CEO, and has initiated a lawsuit from Uber's largest shareholder, Benchmark Capital. Now, the ex-CEO has suddenly appointed two new board members, apparently without notifying the rest of the company. The 10th and 11th board members are former Xerox CEO Ursula Burns and former Merrill Lynch head John Thain. According to the Wall Street Journal, a $3.5 billion investment from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund in 2016 gave Kalanick control of three board seats. Those two extra seats are at issue in Benchmark's lawsuit, presumably for this exact reason. Bloomberg reports that new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi called the appointments a "complete surprise." The move is apparently occurring in order to head off a planned Tuesday vote that would rework the company's corporate governance, giving Kalanick two votes on his side.
Uber has its new CEO: Dara Khosrowshahi
Uber's board of directors (which still includes the previous CEO Travis Kalanick) has made its pick for a new leader official, selecting Dara Khosrowshahi. The former CEO of Expedia, he was reportedly selected over former HP CEO Meg Whitman and former GE CEO Jeff Immelt, who withdrew his name from consideration a few days ago. In a statement, the Uber board said "We're really fortunate to gain a leader with Dara's experience, talent and vision. The Board and the Executive Leadership Team are confident that Dara is the best person to lead Uber into the future building world-class products, transforming cities, and adding value to the lives of drivers and riders around the world while continuously improving our culture and making Uber the best place to work."
Former Uber CEO says fraud lawsuit defies common sense
Travis Kalanick says Benchmark Capital, the Uber board member suing him for fraud, pretended to be on his side and then forced him to resign as CEO while he was vulnerable due to the death of his mother. The former Uber chief has filed his response to the investment firm's lawsuit, which seeks to kick him off the board and to invalidate a previous company decision to expand the board with three additional seats. Benchmark said the expansion was "fraudulently induced," a ploy by Kalanick to "increase his power for his own selfish ends." Now Kalanick has fired back, accusing the firm of fabricating its allegations.
Investors demand key VC firm leave Uber’s board in light of lawsuit
Yesterday, it was revealed that Benchmark Capital, an Uber investor with a seat on the company's board, is suing former CEO Travis Kalanick for fraud. Now, in an equally bizarre move, a group of investors is asking Benchmark to divest a significant portion of its Uber shares and remove itself from the company's board.
Investment firm sues Uber's Kalanick to oust him from board
It has been only a couple of days since Uber co-founder Garrett Camp promised that former CEO Travis Kalanick would not be coming back to the company as CEO. Now Benchmark Capital, an early investor with a seat on Uber's board, is suing Kalanick for fraud. The complaint seeks to invalidate an earlier vote to expand the board with three seats, one of which Kalanick assigned himself to after stepping down as CEO. Benchmark claims that it would never have voted for the board expansion in June of last year had it known of Kalanick's "gross mismanagement and other misconduct at Uber."
India will ban driverless cars in order to protect jobs
As self-driving cars are being tested everywhere from the US to South Korea, Germany to Australia, reports today make it clear that it won't be happening in India. The country's transport and highways minister, Nitin Gadkari told reporters today, "We won't allow driverless cars in India. I am very clear on this."
Uber sought a Google partnership before they became bitter rivals
New court filings in the Waymo v. Uber lawsuit document the breakdown between the two companies' cooperation and potential partnership. The filings contain a series of emails between former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and Google senior VP David Drummond, who at the time was also an Uber board member. The exchange, which happened in early 2015, show Kalanick becoming increasingly concerned over rumors that Google was looking to start its own ride-sharing service with the self-driving cars it was developing. From the emails, it appears that Uber was looking to partner with Google in its autonomous vehicle efforts and Kalanick, worried about the rumors, repeatedly sought a meeting with Alphabet CEO Larry Page.
Despite internal struggle, Uber is still a very popular service
It's no secret that Uber is a bit of a mess right now and the subject of a number of different scandals. The company is recently CEO-less (and remains COO-, CFO-, and general counsel-less as well). It has lost a board member and fired 20 employees because of sexist comments and sexual harassment. And the company has been hit with a slew of lawsuits for allegedly discriminating against people with disabilities, for obtaining and sharing a rape victim's medical records and of course for the alleged theft of Waymo's self-driving technology. But amid all of the disasters, Uber has hit a major milestone -- it reached the five billion trip mark.
Some Uber employees want Kalanick back in the CEO chair
Travis Kalanick stepped down as Uber's CEO earlier this week, leaving the CEO, COO, CFO and general counsel positions open. But while he's no longer head of the company, Kalanick is far from gone. He's still a member of the board and controls the majority of voting shares, meaning he'll play a not insignificant role in selecting his successor. And it's not exactly surprising that he would want to. He is the founder after all.
Uber's future is still tied to its founder
It's said that those who don't pay heed to history are forever doomed to repeat it, but Silicon Valley prides itself on its short memory. It tells its denizens that only by unlearning received wisdom can you see clear to remake the world in your own eyes. I wonder if, after another brutal few days at Uber, Travis Kalanick and co. wish they'd had their time over again to study a textbook.
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick steps down
The New York Times reports that Uber CEO Travis Kalanick is stepping down, following heavy pressure from a large group of shareholders. Despite a reputation for scandals that appeared to be accelerating -- sexual assaults by drivers, "greyballing" regulators, disputes over driver pay and a corporate culture teeming with sexual harassment -- Kalanick had remained the company's leader, and announced a week ago that he would take a leave of absence.
Uber sends apology email to its NYC riders
Uber's list of "issues" seems to grow with each passing day. Even when it tries to turn things around something goes wrong like one of its board members making a sexist remark and ending up leaving his seat. But it's still trying to convince its customers that it's willing to change and has even started emailing riders an apology.
How to avert (even more) disaster at Uber
Uber is a classic example of that old adage about money not being enough to buy you class, especially in 2017. The startup, valued at around $70 billion, has been helped and hindered by the leadership of its controversial CEO, Travis Kalanick. After a tidal wave of revelations about the company's ethical lapses, Kalanick is taking a leave of absence. Upon his return, his role will be diminished, with freshly appointed executives, including a new COO, taking on some of his responsibilities.
