Tag: Travis Kalanick

According to a New York Times report, Uber is in talks with its founder Travis Kalanick to acquire the U.S. operations team of Chinese autonomous driving startup Pony.ai. This move not only signifies Kalanick's potential "back indirect" return to the company after eight years, but also highlights Uber's determination to accelerate its autonomous driving deployment strategy in the face of competitive pressure from rivals like Waymo. Sources familiar with the matter revealed that the two sides are still in the preliminary negotiation stage. If the transaction is successfully completed, Kalanick will lead the actual operations of Pony.ai's U.S. subsidiary, while Uber may invest as an investor, providing funding and platform support. However, specific transaction details and the roles of both parties are still to be confirmed. Amidst the intensifying competition in autonomous driving, Uber plans to accelerate its expansion. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in both China and the U.S., Pony.ai holds operating licenses for autonomous taxis and freight trucks. It went public in the U.S. last year, raising $260 million, and currently has a market capitalization of approximately $45 billion. The report indicates that Pony.ai has already held internal discussions regarding the sale or spin-off of its U.S. operations. Behind this potential deal lies the pressure Uber faces from multiple competitors, including Waymo and Tesla. Waymo's robotic taxi service is already expanding in cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles, while Tesla has launched small-scale driverless taxi tests in Austin, Texas. As driverless taxis become a reality, Uber's original sharing economy model is facing a new round of challenges. Under the leadership of current CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber has established partnerships with more than 18 self-driving technology companies worldwide, including Wayve, WeRide, and May Mobility, actively promoting driverless taxi pilots in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Dara Khosrowshahi stated that Uber will continue to deploy both human and robotic drivers to maximize the platform's flexibility and service scale. Interestingly, Travis Kalanick, the key figure behind these negotiations, is Uber's founder and former CEO, and the relationship between the founder and current CEO has warmed up, suggesting a potential turning point in the collaboration. Travis Kalanick, who resigned in 2017 due to internal board pressure, subsequently founded CloudKitchens, focusing on virtual kitchens and the food delivery industry. In recent years, he has invested in robotics applications and automated kitchen research and development, and has gradually rekindled his interest in autonomous driving. Reports indicate that the relationship between Travis Kalanick and Dara Khosrowshahi has noticeably warmed recently, with frequent exchanges discussing automated kitchens, growth strategies for the Uber Eats delivery platform, and the future development of self-driving cars. Past conflicts are gradually being replaced by shared strategic goals, potentially allowing the founder, who was once "ousted" by the board, to rejoin the Uber ecosystem through this acquisition and partnership.

Since leaving Uber, Travis Kalanick has reportedly partnered with Zhang Yanqi, former COO of the Chinese bike-sharing company ofo, to expand the application of CloudKitchens, a kitchen resource sharing service acquired by Kalanick in Los Angeles. According to a TechCrunch report, CloudKitchens' operating model is similar to Zomato Infrastructure Services (Zomato), Panda Selected in Beijing, and Jike Alliance in Shanghai, allowing aspiring restaurant owners to find kitchen facilities that better fit their budgets through a shared rental model. Since restaurants typically face higher labor costs in their kitchens due to location and rent considerations, sharing idle kitchen equipment and even human resources with others can further reduce operating expenses through a central kitchen-like model. However, this operating model naturally faces challenges, such as whether the restaurant's own food is suitable for preparation under this shared kitchen model, and whether the restaurant's location is suitable for this sharing model. However, with the increasing number of restaurants opening, this sharing economy model may still find suitable development opportunities. Last year, Travis Kalanick, through his 10100 fund, acquired early investors' equity in Los Angeles-based CloudKitchens for $1.5 million, thereby gaining control of the company. CloudKitchens' service doesn't just focus on idle kitchen equipment; it also aims to increase the utilization of idle real estate such as vacant houses and parking lots through a shared rental model, revitalizing their usage through an online platform. This collaboration with Zhang Yanqi, former COO of ofo, is not only due to Zhang's previous work at Uber China, but also related to Travis Kalanick's desire to re-enter the Chinese market, as there are still considerable development opportunities for services developed in the "sharing" model in China.

Although he had previously emphasized that he would not sell his Uber shares, reports indicate that former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick is preparing to sell 29% of his stock. Based on previous reports that Kalanick held approximately 10% of Uber's outstanding shares, this sale represents about 2.9% of Uber's outstanding shares. At Uber's current market capitalization, Kalanick could receive up to $14 billion from this transaction. According to Bloomberg and Reuters, selling nearly 30% of his Uber stock would make Kalanick a billionaire. The primary reason for this sale is to facilitate the injection of funds from Softbank; by reducing Kalanick's stake, Softbank can feel more confident investing in Uber. Prior to this, even after Travis Kalanick stepped down as CEO of Uber, he retained the right to speak on the Uber board of directors and even placed people who were favorable to him on the board to consolidate his influence within Uber. This is also what the new CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, wanted to reduce Travis Kalanick's power and planned to take Uber public to continue its development by connecting with external funds.

While Uber's new CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, has chosen to confront the fact that the personal data of up to 5700 million users was hacked, it actually took him approximately two months to publicly acknowledge it. Although the data breach occurred about a year earlier, and his predecessor, Travis Kalanick, chose to conceal it, paying the hackers $10 to have the compromised information removed instead of publicly disclosing it and urging users to update their personal information, Uber's confirmation of the breach has now placed Khosrowshahi under intense scrutiny and criticism. Even though Khosrowshahi's decision to publicly disclose the breach and propose solutions and confirm the actual extent of the impact might encourage users and drivers to take action, it still raises questions about why, despite knowing about the breach only two weeks after taking office, he delayed informing users for two months. Of course, with the former CEO concealing the hacking incident and a considerable amount of time having passed, informing users now could easily trigger a huge backlash and protests, and even face pressure from class-action lawsuits. Therefore, this is a very heavy decision for Dara Khosrowshahi. However, with potential investor SoftBank about to provide funding, Uber cannot ignore the hacking incident. Therefore, it notified SoftBank three weeks before the hack was confirmed, although at that time it was not yet confirmed that the actual number of affected users was as high as 5700 million. After news of the user data breach broke, Uber immediately cooperated with Joe Sullivan, the Chief Information Security Officer and Deputy General Counsel who had concealed the hacking, and another member of the legal team. Joe Sullivan previously worked at Facebook and joined Uber in 2015, reporting directly to then-CEO Travis Kalanick and Uber's General Counsel. The $10 payment to the hacking group was reportedly authorized by Travis Kalanick.

Just after Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi revealed that the company could go public as early as 2019, further reports indicate that the Uber board has reached an agreement to accept an investment of approximately $10 billion from Softbank. According to Bloomberg News, Benchmark Capital, an early investor and board member of Uber, and former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick reached an agreement regarding the Softbank investment. This agreement will allow Uber to obtain approximately $10 billion from Softbank, and Softbank will also join the Uber board. This agreement is primarily related to Benchmark Capital agreeing to withdraw its previous lawsuit against Travis Kalanick, and Softbank investing between $10 billion and $12.5 billion, while also purchasing approximately 17% of the shares from existing investors and Uber employees. Furthermore, reports suggest that Benchmark Capital withdrew its lawsuit due to a subsequent board resolution limiting Travis Kalanick's influence within the company. In the new board resolution, Travis Kalanick must obtain the consent of a majority of the board members if he wants to change the two board seats he controls, thereby limiting Travis Kalanick's internal power.

Even though Uber poached Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi to curb former CEO Travis Kalanick's continued interference in company operations as a board member, Kalanick appears to still plan to strengthen his influence on the board. According to a New York Times report, Kalanick used his power on the Uber board to appoint former Xerox CEO Ursula Burns and former Merrill Lynch and NYSE CEO John Thain as new board members, increasing the board to 10 and thus strengthening his influence. This allows Kalanick to continue influencing company policy even after stepping down as CEO. This move naturally angered current CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, who believes Kalanick's actions have gone beyond the bounds of typical board member behavior. The main reason Travis Kalanick unilaterally appointed two new board members was a proposal from Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber shareholders, and Goldman Sachs to discuss reducing Kalanick's voting rights at the upcoming board meeting, thereby weakening his interference in the board. They also planned to discuss the feasibility of scheduling the company's IPO in 2019. On the other hand, market observers believe that Dara Khosrowshahi and Goldman Sachs' proposal to reduce Kalanick's control ultimately aims to sell Uber's multi-billion dollar stake to Japan's Softbank. However, this approach would also be opposed by early Uber investor Benchmark Capital. Therefore, it seems that other board members did not have much objection to Kalanick's nomination of two additional board members. However, Benchmark Capital also believes that Kalanick has interfered too much in Uber's operations, and therefore demanded his resignation as CEO when several negative rumors about Uber surfaced recently. The recommendation made by Dara Khosrowshahi and Goldman Sachs to the Uber board, which included a clause stipulating that anyone who had previously served as an Uber executive could only be reinstated as CEO with the approval of more than two-thirds of the board members and more than 66.7% of shareholders, was almost entirely designed to target Travis Kalanick.

Amidst the ongoing struggle to find a suitable CEO, reports suggest that Jeff Immelt, the former CEO of General Electric (GE), may take over as CEO of Uber. Market sources indicate that Jeff Immelt is still considering the possibility of becoming Uber's CEO, while Uber has not yet responded to inquiries. Immelt recently announced his departure from GE's CEO position and is expected to step down as chairman of GE's electronics and electrical division by the end of this year. The current CEO position will be taken over by John Flannery, formerly head of GE Healthcare. Market opinions on Immelt's potential appointment as Uber's CEO are polarized. Some investors anticipate his ability to help Uber get back on track, while others believe he lacks the necessary experience and is unsuitable for restructuring Uber's business. Given Uber's current situation, it has been experiencing a period of high-level departures and a lack of successors. At the same time, early investor Benchmark Capital has filed a lawsuit against founder Travis Kalanick, demanding his removal from the board of directors in order to allow Uber's operations to return to normal.

Benchmark Capital, an early investor in Uber, recently filed a lawsuit accusing former CEO Travis Kalanick of failing to fulfill his responsibilities in protecting the rights of shareholders, employees, and users. The lawsuit further details Kalanick's continued interference in Uber's operational details even after his departure from the CEO position. According to a letter sent to Uber employees, Benchmark Capital stated that Kalanick's continued interference has prevented the company from finding a suitable successor, leaving positions such as CFO vacant. Therefore, legal action is necessary to force Kalanick to leave the board and prevent further negative repercussions. Previously, the market believed that although Kalanick had stepped down as CEO, he still held approximately 10% of Uber's shares and 20% of the board's voting rights, thus retaining considerable influence within the company. Meanwhile, Benchmark Capital believes Travis Kalanick still intends to return to the CEO position, and therefore hopes to remove him from the board through a lawsuit to avoid excessive interference. However, other board members believe Benchmark Capital's actions are inappropriate. Therefore, a group led by Softbank and Dragoneer Investment Group, or led by Shervin Pishevar, executive chairman of Hyperloop One, plans to consolidate majority ownership to block Benchmark Capital, which holds 13% of the shares and 20% of the voting rights on the board. In addition to demanding Travis Kalanick leave Uber, Benchmark Capital stated that Uber's internal scandals are worse than what has been publicly revealed, and therefore believes that only by completely removing Travis Kalanick as soon as possible can Uber's current predicament be improved. Following the previous departures of many senior executives and key personnel, news has emerged that Chris Saad, head of platform product development, has left Uber, and Travis Kalanick plans to return to the CEO position.

Following a lawsuit filed by early investor Benchmark Capital alleging that former CEO Travis Kalanick failed to act in the best interests of shareholders, employees, partner drivers, and passengers during his tenure, the Uber board is clearly dissatisfied with Benchmark Capital's actions and may be planning to remove him from the board. Perhaps considering it inappropriate for Benchmark Capital to sue former CEO Travis Kalanick from its board seat, Uber board members are considering a potential acquisition of Uber's current market value of approximately $685 billion, led by investment groups such as Softbank and Dragoneer, or by Shervin Pishevar, executive chairman of Hyperloop One, to remove Benchmark Capital from the board. Since former Uber founder and CEO Travis Kalanick still retains some influence on the board, it remains unclear whether this action is related to behind-the-scenes manipulation. Previously, Benchmark Capital had already requested a temporary injunction to prevent Travis Kalanick from participating in Uber's board activities, thereby limiting his interference in company operations through the board. If Benchmark Capital wins this lawsuit, it means that Travis Kalanick will not only be unable to return to his position as Uber's CEO, but may also have to step down from the board and have no further connection with Uber.

Amidst a persistent lack of a successor for the CEO position, Uber recently faced another setback: the departure of its first veteran employee as Senior Vice President of Operations. Simultaneously, early investors filed a lawsuit accusing former CEO Travis Kalanick of failing to act in the interests of shareholders, employees, partner drivers, and passengers during his tenure. Ryan Graves was among Uber's first employees when Kalanick founded the service and recruited employees through Twitter. After multiple rounds of funding, Uber became a startup with a market capitalization of approximately $690 billion, easily making Graves' personal wealth exceed $9 million. However, Uber faced considerable criticism for issues such as gender discrimination, fabricating service overload, and failing to provide fair revenue sharing to partner drivers. This led to pressure from the board for Kalanick's departure, though he retained board representation and voting rights. Therefore, many believe that while Kalanick ostensibly stepped down as CEO, he still effectively controlled the board's direction. Ryan Graves announced earlier via email that he will step down from his current position in September to focus on Uber's board work, leaving Uber without a senior operational executive once again. Following the departures of Travis Kalanick and other senior executives, Uber is now facing a shortage of positions for CEO, COO, CFO, CMO, and even an independent chairman, leading to the accusation that it is ahead of many tech companies in becoming a "company without an executive." Since Travis Kalanick's departure as CEO, early Uber investor Benchmark Capital has filed a lawsuit alleging that he failed to act in the best interests of shareholders, employees, partner drivers, and passengers during his tenure. The lawsuit further alleges that Kalanick failed to adequately report management errors to the board and failed to address widespread gender discrimination within the company. Uber has not responded to these allegations. Benchmark Capital has now requested a temporary injunction to prevent Kalanick from participating in Uber's board activities, thereby limiting his interference in company operations through the board. If Benchmark Capital wins this lawsuit, it means that Travis Kalanick will not only be unable to return to his position as Uber's CEO, but may also have to step down from the board and have no further connection with Uber.