Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive officer of Expedia has been named the new leader at Uber Technologies.
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Uber Technologies named Dara Khosrowshahi, the chief executive of travel company Expedia, as its new CEO Sunday, bringing an end to a contentious search for a new leader that has been marked by board in-fighting, media leaks and a divisive lawsuit.
Khosrowshahi will take over at the embattled ride-hailing company immediately, leaving his post at the helm of Expedia, which he has led as chief executive for 12 years. The former Allen & Co. Vice President was a shock appointment for the job, beating out much publicized candidates Meg Whitman, the chief executive of HP Enterprise, and Jeff Immelt, the former CEO of General Electric.
A spokesperson for Uber declined to comment.
Despite her July 27 tweeted proclamation “Uber's CEO will not be Meg Whitman,” Whitman was widely rumored as the favorite for the CEO gig at the $69 billion, ride-hail company, along with Immelt. Uber’s board spent two days in determining who would replace former CEO and cofounder Travis Kalanick, but it wasn’t until this late Sunday that it had decided on Khosrowshahi, after Immelt conceded on Sunday morning that the job wasn’t for him.
“I have decided not to pursue a leadership position at Uber,” Immelt wrote on Twitter. “I have immense respect for the company & founders – Travis, Garrett [Camp] and Ryan [Graves].”
Khosrowshahi was a dark horse candidate and was voted in despite a great deal of support for Whitman, a favorite of investor Benchmark, which controls a board seat and is currently pursuing a lawsuit against Kalanick alleging fraud, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty. Kalanick resigned in June, and was pushed by Benchmark to do so, after allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination in the company led to two internal investigations into Uber’s workplace culture. His mother also died unexpectedly in a boating accident in May, causing him to take a leave of absence before his resignation.
It remains to be seen how well Kalanick, who still sits on the board and controls two other unoccupied board seats, will work with Khosrowshahi, who has spent more than a decade leading a travel company. Kalanick was staunchly opposed to Whitman, with a person close to him saying that Uber’s cofounder did not trust the HPE CEO, who he viewed as being deceptive about her intentions.
A spokesperson for Kalanick declined to comment.
The incoming CEO will have a lot on their plate at Uber. In addition to the ongoing fallout from two internal investigations into sexual harassment and discrimination and Uber’s workplace culture that launched earlier this year (early Uber investor Benchmark noted in its lawsuit against CEO Travis Kalanick that some of the key recommendations for repairing Uber’s culture still have not been undertaken), Uber is facing a blockbuster trade secrets lawsuit from Google’s self-driving arm Waymo that will go to trial in October. The company also faces a lawsuit from an Indian passenger who says the company mishandled her medical records after she was raped by a driver, as well as regular audits from the FTC over passenger privacy. Though the company now has a CEO, it still has no CFO, and there are almost half a dozen other unfilled executive positions, as top talent continues to exit the company.
Uber’s new leader will have to determine the best path forward for a business that still hemorrhages money. The company lost $1.35 million in the first half of the year, according to unaudited financial statements released by the company to news outlets, and recorded $1.75 billion in net revenue in the second quarter of 2017. That was up from $1.5 billion in the first quarter of this year.
Khosrowshahi may also have to act as a negotiator between Kalanick and Benchmark, whose suit against the former CEO is still on-going. In a Delaware legal filing, Kalanick called the suit a “personal attack” and said that the investment firm had put pressure on him during a time when he was still dealing with the death of his mother.
Benchmark previously released a statement that said that resorting to litigation was a “difficult step,” but a necessary one for the venture capital firm. A spokesperson for the firm declined to comment on the appointment of Uber’s new CEO.
Quelle: <a href="Uber Names Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi As New Chief Executive“>BuzzFeed
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