Uber ceo kalanick shed powers amidst scandal scourge
You're referring to the controversy surrounding Travis Kalanick, the co-founder and former CEO of Uber.
In June 2017, Kalanick resigned as CEO of Uber after intense pressure from investors, employees, and the public following a series of scandals and controversies. Some of the key issues that led to his departure include:
- Toxic company culture: A former Uber engineer, Susan Fowler, wrote a blog post detailing her experiences with sexual harassment and discrimination at the company. This led to an investigation by former US Attorney General Eric Holder, which found that Uber had a "bro culture" and a lack of accountability.
- Sexual harassment and assault allegations: Several women accused Kalanick and other Uber executives of sexual harassment or assault. Kalanick was also accused of creating a hostile work environment.
- Data breach and cover-up: In 2016, Uber discovered that hackers had stolen personal data of 57 million users and drivers. Instead of reporting the breach to regulators, Kalanick and his team decided to pay the hackers $100,000 to delete the data and keep the breach quiet.
- Investigation into self-driving car technology: The company was also under scrutiny for its self-driving car technology, including allegations of intellectual property theft and a fatal accident involving one of its autonomous vehicles.
- Boardroom battles: Kalanick faced opposition from some investors, including Benchmark Capital, which had invested in the company. The two sides clashed over issues such as Kalanick's leadership style and the company's direction.
In June 2017, Kalanick resigned as CEO, citing the need for the company to "go through a period of change." He remained on the company's board of directors until January 2018, when he officially left the company. Dara Khosrowshahi, a former CEO of Expedia, took over as CEO of Uber in August 2017 and has been working to restore the company's reputation and address the issues that led to Kalanick's departure.