Uber, the popular ride-hailing platform, is on the hunt for its next Ceo. The company has reportedly set it sight on the tech world’s most seasoned executives to fill the gap left by the departure of the company’s co-founder Travis Kalanick. A potential candidate for the CEO position is outgoing GE CEO Jeff Immelt and current HP CEO Meg Whitman.
Uber is currently on the hunt for the next person to lead the company and prepare Uber for its initial public offering (IPO). However this week, Uber started to narrow the CEO list and has prepared to name a successor for the vacant position left by former CEO Travis Kalanick.
According to the latest report, GE’s Jeff Immelt is the latest candidate to join the company’s CEO list. The other big name candidate is HP’s current CEO Meg Whitman. However, Whitman has just announced this week that she withdrew her name in the CEO list.
Meg Whitman no longer on the CEO list
Meg Whitman, the hard-hitting and high-flying CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, has also made it on the CEO list, but Whitman has publicly withdrawn her name on Thursday night, leaving GE’s Jack Immelt on the list.
The 60-years-old Whitman is currently the President and CEO of HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise), a newly established enterprise IT company. Whitman also the chairwoman of HP Inc., the successor of the former Hewlett Packard company, after the huge corporate split off in 2015.
Whitman made her first big CEO job when she joined eBay in 1998. Whitman has made a huge makeover in the e-commerce company. She overhauled eBay, organized it company and split it into 23 business categories. She also made some big changes in the company’s management team. More importantly, she meticulously picked and assigned the right men to the right positions.
During her reign at eBay, the company has completed the acquisition of the popular instant messaging platform Skype for a whopping $4.1 billion in cash and stock in 2005. But the company has been investigated for being overpaid, and in 2009, it sold Skype to a group of investors led by Silver Lake Partners. Whitman left eBay in November 2007, but remained a member of the company’s board and served as an advisor to eBay’s new CEO until 2009.
In September 2011, Whitman named CEO of the old Hewlett Packard company. Under Whitman, HP has finally made a good turn around after its long struggle with former CEO Leo Apotheker. The IT giant has suffered a major setback under the German-born CEO. During Apotheker’s tenure as CEO, the IT giant has lost more than $309 billion in market capitalization after a number of seemingly abrupt strategic decisions and missteps.
Fortunately, Whitman has managed to guide the big IT company. She made some big changes, including renewing the company’s focus on its research and development division. Whitman’s first major decision made at HP was to retain and recommit the company to the PC business. Whitman is well-known in the tech circle for being a fighter and great leader.
This is the whole reason why Uber wants her.
Whitman’s name made the headline recently, but the 60-years-old CEO has publicly withdrawn her name on the list. Whitman made the announcement on her official Twitter account, finally putting an end to the rumors as the next CEO.
Jeff Immelt, the next Uber CEO?
Rumors are rife on the web that Immelt could be Uber’s top choice for the vacant CEO position. The 61-years-old Jeff Immelt is scheduled to step down next week from the CEO position at the manufacturing giant GE. Immelt will be replaced by John Flannery, a 30-year GE veteran.
Immelt is no longer stranger to the high-tech business of the Silicon Valley. The GE CEO has made some advances in the world of high technology in the recent years, with the launch of a digital division that he claimed could make GE a top 10 software company.
The GE veteran has been praised for dramatically reshaping the big American company, which includes shedding the bulk of its volatile finance business. However, Immelt faced criticism for overpaying on some deals and cutting shareholder dividends in 2009.
As for Immelt's chance of getting the CEO job, Meg Whitman's recent withdrawal from the CEO list has not just stunned the tech world. It also increases Immelt's chances of getting the CEO job. The news makes Immelt the board's next favorite and eventually the most likely pick for the CEO position.
Finally, whoever steps in to lead the global company will have to face a hugely daunting task. Uber is fraught with lots of problems, including increased market competition and messy litigation with rival Waymo.
