Uber's troubles as a company do not seem to be going away and in a new development that would definitely signal the end of an era, the company's founder Travis Kalanick resigned from his position as CEO yesterday. Following a tumultuous few hours in which key shareholders revolted against Kalanick, it became increasingly impossible for him to hold on to his position. The New York Times stated that his position had become 'untenable' following the revolt.
A seismic shift
Uber has been under fire for the most part of 2017 due to a range of problems and a couple of weeks back, the company's board took the decision to send the CEO Travis Kalanick on a leave of absence.
It seems that merely going on an indefinite Leave Of Absence was not going to pass muster with the investors in the start-up, valued at around $69 billion. The New York Times spoke to individuals who were close to the developments and according to them, key investors demanded his resignation from the company immediately.
Benchmark, the venture capital firm which has one of the largest holdings in Uber and also has a place on the board of the company was one of the signatories of a letter sent by the investors to Kalanick. The letter titled 'Moving Uber Forward' explicitly asked Kalanick to resign from his position as CEO. Having realised that his position was untenable, Kalanick decided to step down following lengthy discussions with some investors.
A new chapter
Uber's board released a statement in which it said that Kalanick had always placed the company before himself and his resignation would give the company the opportunity to ring in the changes that are necessary. It is important to note that Kalanick will continue to be one of the members of the board at Uber. Following the events of the past few months, it had become increasingly clear that the start-up had gone on a bit of a tailspin despite strong commercial growth and the ouster of Kalanick was necessary to put the investors of the company at ease.
Travis Kalanick, the founder of Uber, released a statement as well. He said that the company means more to him than anything else and he was willingly stepping aside at the insistence of the investors. He went on to add that the following the recent events at the company, it was time for the company to focus on the future rather than a boardroom tussle between the founder and the investors. Uber's string of troubles are ultimately the responsibility of the CEO and it is not really a surprise that the investors finally woke up to the fact.
