Uber founder Travis Kalanick is resigning as chief executive officer under investor pressure, following a slew of controversies that rocked the ride-hailing firm.
"Travis has always put Uber first", the Uber board said in a statement. By stepping away, he's taking the time to heal from his personal tragedy while giving the company room to fully embrace this new chapter in Ubers history.
He said he will continue to serve on Uber's board.
Kalanick already announced last week that he was going on an indefinite leave of absence after the death of his mother in a boating accident. Kalanick calls Fowler's accusations "abhorrent" and hires former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate.
In late March, reports surfaced that Kalanick and five Uber employees visited a karaoke-escort bar in Seoul in 2014.
Bradley Tusk, a political consultant and investor in Uber, says the company needs a leader who can "balance" being "extremely innovative and aggressive" with of "a sense of responsibility and accountability".
The investors, who made their demand in a letter, include one of Uber's biggest shareholders, the venture capital firm Benchmark, The New York Times said.
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That tone was set by Mr. Kalanick, who has aggressively turned the company into the world's dominant ride-hailing service and upended the transportation industry around the globe. The company, valued by investors at $69 billion, also does not have a chief financial officer.
Despite his resignation, Kalanick possesses an outsized share of company votes and will remain on its board.
On Monday, in the wake of Mr Kalanick's temporary departure, Uber's board launched a six-month programme of reforms including allowing riders to give drivers tips through the Uber app, something the company had previously resisted.
- Earlier in June, Uber fired 20 staff members after an investigation into sexual harassment, discrimination, unprofessional behavior, bullying and other employee complaints.
Meanwhile, since Kalanick is a major shareholder in the company, he might keep on wielding quite a significant power from the sidelines.
What followed was a mountain of scandals, including a criminal investigation into Uber's use of technology to evade regulators in certain cities and a trade secrets lawsuit filed by Alphabet's self-driving division, Waymo. After eight years of phenomenal growth by upending the taxi business, Uber had reached a point where the culture that created the company had become a liability that threatened to kill it.
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