Former Uber CEO and co-founder Travis Kalanick has resigned from the ride-hailing firm’s board of directors.
The resignation comes a few months after Kalanick sold more than 90% of his stock when his vest period ended, which was valued at north of US$ 2.5 Billion.
With this sale Kalanick has finally washed his hands completely clean of Uber, or vice versa as some would argue.
Dec 31st will be Kalanick’s final day serving on the board of the company he founded.
Post his exit, Kalanick will quote, “new business and philanthropic endeavours.”
A statement from the Uber co-founder read, “At the close of the decade, and with the company now public, it seems like the right moment for me to focus on my current business and philanthropic pursuits.”
Kalanick has been working on a new startup, CloudKitchens. He has previously touted the venture as being “bigger than Uber.”
Mr. Kalanick’s tenure as Uber’s CEO was rife with scandal and controversy.
Related article: Uber Ceo Travis Kalanick steps down
While he was CEO, Project Greyball, a secretive project aimed at cheating authorities in various jurisdictions where the company had been banned from operating.
Former Uber employees have also spoken publicly about the sexist culture at the ride hailing firm. Female employees complained about having to endure unwanted sexual advances from their co-workers. Former Uber engineer, Susan Fowler, described the working at the company as a sexist nightmare.
Towards the end of his tenure in this position, Kalanick was caught on camera howling insults at an Uber driver. The video went viral and resulted in widespread criticism.
Kalanick was under immense pressure by the Uber board and shareholders to resign; which he did in 2017.
Since he exited, controversy surrounding the firm reduced.
Nonetheless Uber has still run into trouble from time to time. It most recently was kicked out of operating in London, and is rushing to make amends to avoid being kicked out of Germany.
Uber IPO’d earlier this year at an initial offering of US$ 45, which has slowly plummeted, closing at US$ 30.33 as of December 23rd.
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