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Uber CEO Kalanick resigns under pressure
By Julie CHARPENTRAT, with Rob Lever in Washington
San Francisco (AFP) June 21, 2017


Kalanick, Uber's disruptive driving force
Washington (AFP) June 21, 2017 - Travis Kalanick was the driving force behind Uber, taking a spur-of-moment idea and turning it into the world's most valuable venture-funded tech startup.

But Kalanick's brash personality and freewheeling management style made him a liability as well as an asset to the global ridesharing giant, and on Wednesday he stepped down as chief executive.

Kalanick, 40, frequently recounts how the idea behind Uber was born, when he and a colleague were attending a technology conference in Paris in 2008 and failed to find a taxi on a cold night.

He dreamt up the "magical" idea of pushing a button to hail a ride, the story goes, and used that to create a company that disrupted a global industry while ruffling the feathers of both regulators and established taxi operators.

Uber now operates in hundreds of cities and more than 80 countries, accounting for bookings of some $20 billion last year.

Its valuation has soared to a whopping $68 billion, unprecedented for a startup that has yet to hit the stock market.

But the hard-charging style that helped Uber succeed has also made Kalanick a target for critics.

He has borne responsibility for allegations of sexism, cutthroat workplace tactics and covert use of law enforcement-evading software.

Uber's image has been tarnished by a series of missteps, including a visit by executives to a South Korean escort-karaoke bar, an attempt to dig up dirt on journalists covering the company and the mishandling of medical records from a woman raped in India after hailing an Uber ride.

Uber hired former US attorney general Eric Holder to review allegations of a toxic work culture, and adopted his report calling for a series of reforms and safeguards against abuses.

Kalanick has been humbled by recent events, which included the release of a dashcam video showing him berating and cursing at one of Uber's drivers.

In a statement, Kalanick said he loved Uber "more than anything in the world," but had agreed to investors' request for him to quit.

- Being 'disruptive' -

A graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles, Kalanick began in the tech sector with a file-sharing startup called Scour, a rival of Napster.

Scour filed for bankruptcy after being sued by entertainment companies demanding $250 billion in damages.

Kalanick later co-founded a software startup called Red Swoosh, and got a multimillion-dollar payout when it was acquired by Akamai.

Uber and Kalanick exemplified the notion of being "disruptive," which in Silicon Valley is seen as a positive force for change.

But as Uber grew into a global company, both the firm and its founder appear to have come to the realization that they need to grow up.

Kalanick retains a seat on the board and is likely to exert some influence thanks to his substantial holding of shares in the company.

Uber's embattled chief executive Travis Kalanick has resigned, yielding to pressure from investors seeking to clean up a toxic corporate culture at the fast-growing ridesharing group.

Kalanick had announced an indefinite leave of absence a week earlier following the release of a report on Uber's workplace troubles by former US attorney general Eric Holder.

His departure announced late Tuesday caps a rocky period for the global ridesharing giant, which has been roiled by reports of a cutthroat workplace culture, harassment, discrimination and questionable business tactics to thwart rivals.

"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," Kalanick said in a statement.

The Uber board of directors welcomed the "bold decision," say it marked a "sign of his devotion and love for Uber."

Kalanick, who has been the driving force behind Uber's massive global expansion and whose brash style had made him a liability, will remain on the board with a large voting stake in the company, whose $68 billion valuation makes it the world's largest venture-backed startup.

The pioneering company has been facing pressure to rein in a no-holds-barred management style led by Kalanick and to reform its workplace culture.

Investors had been growing impatient with Kalanick despite a pledge to implement reforms.

In a letter, titled "Moving Uber Forward," key investors told Kalanick that he must immediately leave as part of a necessary change in leadership, The New York Times reported.

- 'Lasting impact' -

Following Kalanick's announcement, early Uber investor Bill Gurley of Benchmark Capital offered praise for the departing CEO.

"There will be many pages in the history books devoted to @travisk - very few entrepreneurs have had such a lasting impact on the world," Gurley tweeted.

Jan Dawson of Jackdaw Research said in a blog post that Kalanick's resignation "leaves an enormous vacuum at the top of the company," but that "this is all for the best long term, even if it's messy in the short term.

Uber has not only disrupted the local transport industry in dozens of countries. It's also been investing in autonomous driving technology, and has provoked a lawsuit from the former Google car unit now called Waymo that accused Uber of stealing trade secrets.

Last week, Kalanick said one of the reasons for taking a leave of absence was his mother's recent death.

Kalanick's fiery character helped Uber's expansion in the face of opposition from regulators and established taxi operators, but it also got him into trouble.

As Uber faced a series of embarrassing disclosures, he was captured on a dahscam berating and cursing at a driver who had complained about earnings, in a video that went viral.

His resignation comes a day after the company emailed its US drivers to say it would allow passengers to tip them, starting in three cities and rolling out across the country by the end of July. Kalanick had reportedly been opposed to tipping.

- Questionable practices -

Before Kalanick's departure, Uber had been shaking up its ranks.

The San Francisco-based firm parted ways with its number two executive, Emil Michael, who had reportedly been linked to a number of questionable practices at Uber, including a visit to a South Korean escort-karaoke bar and an attempt to dig up embarrassing information on journalists.

Previously, Uber said it had fired 20 people after examining 215 claims of discrimination, harassment, unprofessional behavior and bullying.

Uber this month released a 13-page document calling for major reforms at the company based on a probe led by Holder, who investigated allegations of misconduct and ethical lapses.

The report, recommendations of which were adopted by the board, said Uber "should reformulate its written cultural values" to "reflect more inclusive and positive behaviors."

The reforms should focus on "tone at the top, trust, transformation and accountability," the report added.

It said Uber should also consider installing an independent board chair, "to serve as an independent check on Uber's management" and to show it is taking reforms seriously.

The Holder report called for "an ethics and culture committee" to oversee Uber's efforts to maintain ethical business practices.

burs-rl/oh

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If electric cars could recharge while driving down a highway, it would virtually eliminate concerns about their range and lower their cost, perhaps making electricity the standard fuel for vehicles. Now Stanford University scientists have overcome a major hurdle to such a future by wirelessly transmitting electricity to a nearby moving object. Their results are published in the June 15 edi ... read more

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