Mike Isaac’s Super Pumped (p. 385) reports that during CEO selection discussions, board member and Benchmark partner Matt Cohler indicated that if the board voted for his firm’s preferred candidate (Meg Whitman), his firm would drop its lawsuit against Kalanick — a lawsuit which other board members perceived was harming the company. Other board members felt this was “brinksmanship”, “holding the board hostage to approve the candidate of [Benchmark’s] choice” rather than seeking the best candidate on the merits. Ultimately Cohler’s tactic failed, in that the next ballot brought a shift away from Whitman in favor of Khosrowshahi.