{"id":32181,"date":"2017-06-13T09:11:11","date_gmt":"2017-06-13T09:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=32181"},"modified":"2017-06-13T09:11:11","modified_gmt":"2017-06-13T09:11:11","slug":"uber-ceo-kalanick-likely-take-leave-svp-michael","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/technology\/uber-ceo-kalanick-likely-take-leave-svp-michael.html","title":{"rendered":"Uber CEO Kalanick likely to take leave, SVP Michael out"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tUber CEO Kalanick likely to take leave, SVP Michael out<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
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\n\tUber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] Chief Executive Travis Kalanick is likely to take a leave of absence from the troubled ride-hailing company, but no final decision has yet been made, according to a source familiar with the outcome of a Sunday board meeting.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tEmil Michael, senior vice president and a close Kalanick ally, has left the company, the source said.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAt the Sunday meeting, the company's board adopted a series of recommendations from the law firm of former U.S Attorney General Eric Holder following a sprawling, multi-month investigation into Uber's culture and practices, according to a board representative.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tUber will tell employees about the recommendations on Tuesday, said the representative, who declined to be identified.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe company is also adding a new independent director, Nestle executive and Alibaba board member Wan Ling Martello, a company spokesman said.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tHolder and his law firm were retained by Uber in February to investigate company practices after former Uber engineer Susan Fowler published a blog post detailing what she described as sexual harassment and a lack of a suitable response by senior managers.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe recommendations in Holder's firm's report place greater controls on spending, human resources and other areas where executives led by Kalanick have had a surprising amount of autonomy for a company with more than 12,000 employees, sources familiar with the matter said.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tKalanick and two allies on the board have voting control of the company. Kalanick's forceful personality and enormous success with Uber to date, as well as his super-voting shares, have won him broad deference in the boardroom, according to the people familiar with the deliberations.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAny decision to take a leave of absence will ultimately be Kalanick's, one source said.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe world's most valuable venture-backed private company has found itself at a crossroads as its rough-and-tumble approach to local regulations and handling employees and drivers has led to a series of problems.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIt is facing a criminal probe by the U.S. Department of Justice over its use of a software tool that helped its drivers evade local transportation regulators, sources have told Reuters.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tLast week, Uber said it fired 20 staff after another law firm looked into 215 cases encompassing complaints of sexual harassment, discrimination, unprofessional behavior, bullying and other employee claims.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tSILICON VALLEY SHOCK<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tEven a temporary departure by Kalanick would be a shock for the Silicon Valley startup world, where company founders in recent years have enjoyed more autonomy and often become synonymous with their firms.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tUber's image, culture and practices have been largely defined by Kalanick's brash approach, company insiders and investors previously told Reuters.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tUber board member Arianna Huffington said in March that Kalanick needed to change his leadership style from that of a "scrappy entrepreneur" to be more like a "leader of a major global company." The board has been looking for a chief operating officer to help Kalanick run the company since March.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe debate over Kalanick's future comes as he is also facing a personal trauma: His mother died last month in a boating accident, in which his father was also badly injured.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tMichael, described by employees as Kalanick's closest deputy, has been a recurring flashpoint for controversy at the company.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tHe once discussed hiring private investigators to probe the personal lives of reporters writing stories faulting the company. Kalanick disavowed and publicly criticized the comments.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tMichael will be replaced as the company's top business development executive by David Richter, currently an Uber vice president, the company spokesman said.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAlongside Uber's management crisis, its self-driving car program is in jeopardy after a lawsuit from Alphabet Inc alleging trade secrets theft, and the company has suffered an exodus of top executives.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tOne Uber investor called the board's decisions on Sunday a step in the right direction, giving Uber an "opportunity to reboot."<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tSource:- http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-uber-board-vote-idUSKBN1930AA<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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