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Founder and chief executive officer of ride-hailing company Uber Travis Kalanick resigned on Tuesday after shareholders demanded a change in leadership, in order to tackle the negative air around the company’s image.
Kalanick will continue to be on Uber’s board of directors. Last week, Kalanick had announced that he will go on an indefinite leave of absence, in order to mourn for his mother.
Kalanick’s resignation as CEO of Uber comes close on the heels of a report that was released last week, which recommended some drastic changes in the company regarding work ethics, sexual harassment, and diversity.
“The Board should evaluate the extent to which some of the responsibilities that Mr. Kalanick has historically possessed should be shared or given outright to other members of senior management,” the report stated. The company is currently in search of a COO to share the responsibilities of a CEO, as recommended by the report. Now that Kalanick has resigned, Uber may have to double up the hunt and scout for a new leadership too.
Must read: Never thought I would be writing my own resignation, says Uber CEO
The report was a result of an internal investigation the company had initiated after a former employee Susan Fowler alleged sexual harassment by her immediate supervisor in a blog post. She had accused the company of gender bias also and had said the company did not take any action after repeated complaints.
The exit of Kalanick follows a joint letter titled “Moving Uber Forward” sent to him on Tuesday by Uber's major investors including Benchmark Capital, Fidelity and Menlo Ventures, tech blog Recode reported.
That’s not the end of Uber’s troubles. The company has been embroiled in several other sticky situations. In another incidence, Uber was pulled up after a news report surfaced claiming that a top company executive had obtained the medical records of a customer who was raped by an Uber driver in India, to establish whether it was a conspiracy by Ola. Eric Alexander, the Uber employee behind this accusation, has now quit the company.
Uber’s co-founder Garrett Camp, who now has a limited role in the company, also came out and spoke openly about problems at the company, in a blog post. “Over the years we have neglected parts of our culture as we have focused on growth. We have failed to build some of the systems that every company needs to scale successfully,” he writes.
“A friend recently asked me, “What went wrong?” and the answer is that we had not listened well enough to those who got us here… our team and especially our drivers,” he goes on to say.
The incidences have resulted in many more exits. Amit Singhal, former senior vice president of engineering, was also forced to quit after he failed to disclose allegations of sexual harassment at his last workplace. President Jeff Jones left the company, saying his beliefs were "inconsistent" with what he saw at Uber. Anthony Levandowski, accused of stealing Alphabet's trade secrets, was fired. Emil Michael, Uber’s former SVP of business also stepped down from his position.
Uber has now hired a chief brand officer to mend the company’s negative reputation, while a noted Harvard academic Frances Frei has been roped in to help restructure the company.
Also read: Why Rahul Yadav is feeling nostalgic with Uber CEO's exit
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