Uber CEO Kalanick steps down under investor pressure

CAIRO – 21 June 2017: Uber Technologies Inc co-founder Travis Kalanick stepped down as chief executive of the ride-hailing service in the face of pressure from five of Uber’s largest investors, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

The resignation comes just one week after Kalanick began an indefinite leave of absence amid efforts to bring about wholesale change of Uber’s corporate culture.

Though Uber had a reputation for defying rules and regulations, the company faced a new kind of crisis in February when a former employee published a blog post describing a workplace rife with gender discrimination and sexual harassment, as reported by the Guardian.

“The 40-year-old's pugnacious style largely defined Uber's approach and helped it become a transportation colossus valued at $68 billion, the largest private firm backed by venture capitalists in the world,” according to Reuters.

Kalanick said in a statement reported by the New York Times, “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.”

Uber’s board said in a statement that Mr. Kalanick had “always put Uber first” and that his stepping down as chief executive would give the company “room to fully embrace this new chapter in Uber’s history,” NYT added.

According to CNN technology, “ Kalanick co-founded Uber in 2009 and built it into the world's most valuable startup by steamrollering competitors and ignoring regulations. The company has tangled with local and national governments, labor unions and even its own drivers. Yet its model has spread around the globe, shaking up transportation industries across Asia, Europe and Latin America.”