Uber's co-founder and ex-CEO has sold all his Uber stock (and quit the board)
Travis don't want a lot for Christmas... There is just one thing Travis needs: 100% separating himself from his old company. Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick just made 2 major holiday moves:
- The money: Ever since the "lockup period" ended on Nov 6th, allowing pre-IPO Uber shareholders to sell their stock, Travis has gradually sold his $2.7B worth. He's now a 0% owner of the company he once defined.
- The power: Although he hasn't been CEO since getting ousted in 2017 (more on that below), he has remained a board member — He's stepping down from that corporate jedi council on Dec 31st.
Less super pumped... Travis founded Uber in 2009, leading it to become the most valuable private tech startup in the US (its peak value was $68B). But he lost his CEO-ship in 2017 and wasn't even invited to ring the bell on IPO day this May. Three issues caused his CEO-ousting:
- Scandal: That secret "Greyball" software it used to evade government regulators who were trying to study (and potentially stop) Uber.
- Culture: A bro-tastic workplace environment that was reported to ignore sexual harrassment complaints.
- #DeleteUber: Those first 2 (along with a seemlingly constant flow of negative PR) allowed rival Lyft to snag some of Uber's share of the ride-hail market.
"...To focus on his new business..." Those are the critical words we noticed in Travis' press release. His new startup, CloudKitchens, is a spinoff idea from Uber Eats: Renting out fully-equiped kitchen space for restaurants that only deliver. He's pouring his own $$$ (and $400M from Saudi Arabia) into the idea. This holiday breakup with Uber isn't just personal — it's also his bet on the future of food logistics.