Mike Isaac’s Super Pumped (p.388) reports that, in September 2017 (after being ousted as CEO), Travis Kalanick tried to stack the board with supporters. He relied on an amendment to Uber’s charter that allowed him to name two new directors. But at the same time, new investor SoftBank received six new directors. With those new directors plus an end to Kalanick’s shares with ten-to-one preferred voting rights, Kalanick no longer had control.
A leak outed Meg Whitman as a candidate for Uber CEO
Mike Isaac’s Super Pumped (p.372) reports that a leak outed Meg Whitman, then CEO of HP, as a leading candidate to be CEO of Uber. Isaac says Kalanick was behind the leak, “play[ing] dirty” to remove a candidate hostile to him.
Executive Leadership Team protested Kalanick’s communications
Mike Isaac’s Super Pumped (p. 369) reports Travis Kalanick continuing to meddle in Uber’s business — including demanding documents and trying to influence decisions — even after he resigned. Isaac presents a letter from all fourteen members of the Executive Leadership Team (which was temporarily running Uber after Kalanick’s departure):
Dear Board of Directors:
In fulfilling our obligation to surface issues we feel are significant, we call your attention to three examples:
1. Travis recently reached out directly to an employee, first asking if he would talk to a reporter about an upcoming negative story related to the Fawzi Kamel incident (Kamel was the driver in the March video). Previously, Travis’ personal lawyer had also reached out to this employee on the same topic.
Travis also requested that the employee produce private, internal emails for him, and said that if he refused to send them he would exercise his right as a board member to get them directly from the Security team. The employee did not produce the emails and Travis subsequently asked the Security team to produce the emails. The Security team also declined to produce the emails and reported the incident to Salle, who subsequently advised the ELT that we should stand firm against any requests that may violate an employee’s right of privacy, and that a Director on their own cannot conduct independent investigations.
Travis also asked whether the employee had spoken with the Covington investigators about the issue in question. The employee was very troubled by this given the confidential nature of the Covington process and reported his concerns to the Legal team.
2. Travis recently called an ELT member to ask if he could count on their votes (the particular purpose/vote was not identified). Current and former employees have reached out to the ELT with similar reports. This has put the ELT in a difficult position, wondering what Travis might be up to and whether or not it is a cause for concern.
3. Travis continues to reach out to employees beyond the ELT for business purposes. Regardless of the intention of the outreach, it is disruptive to the daily work at Uber. There is also cause for concern in that the outreach often comes with a request to conceal the conversation from management.
With deep respect,
The ELT
Isaac reports that all fourteen ELT members said they would resign if Kalanick continued trying to regain power.
Investors asked Kalanick to resign
Mike Isaac’s Super Pumped (p. 344) reports that investors Benchmark, Fidelity, First Round, Lowercase Capital, Menlo Ventures, and others insisted that Travis Kalanick step down — or else they would go public with their request for his resignation, including giving the New York Times their letter requesting his resignation.
Investors’ letter to Kalanick:
Dear Travis:
On behalf of Benchmark, First Round, Lowercase Capital, Menlo Ventures, and others—which collectively owns more than 26% of Uber’s economic stock, and over 39% of Uber’s voting shares—we are writing to express our profound concerns about Uber’s direction and to propose a way forward.
Please know that we are deeply grateful for your vision and tireless efforts over the last eight years, which have created a company and an industry of which no one could have dreamed. Unfortunately, however, [the] series of recent revelations have deeply affected us. . . . [A]ll of these issues are causing tremendous damage to Uber’s brand and threaten to destroy Uber’s value for its shareholders and stakeholders. We believe the issues stem from deep–seated cultural and governance problems at Uber and from the tone at the top. . . .
We must take concrete steps to address these issues and strengthen Uber’s brand and governance. If we do not adequately address these issues now, Uber’s brand and market share will continue to erode, to the detriment of the company and all of its shareholders, including you.
. . . With these changes we firmly believe Uber can regain its place as one of the most important companies Silicon Valley has ever produced. We hope you will agree to move forward with us on this path.
“Moving Uber Forward”: Investor Demands
First, you must immediately and permanently resign as CEO. We strongly believe a change in leadership—coupled with effective Board oversight, governance improvements, and other immediate actions—is necessary for Uber to move forward. We need a trusted, experienced, and energetic new CEO who can help Uber navigate through its many current issues, and achieve its full potential.
Second, Uber’s current governance structures, including the composition and structure of the Board of Directors, are no longer appropriate for a $68 billion company with over 14,000 employees. The new CEO must report to an independent Board that will exercise appropriate oversight. . . . Further, as you know, the Holder Report calls for the appointment of additional independent Board members. To that end, you should fill two of the three Board seats you control (retaining one for yourself) with truly independent directors who comply with the Holder Report’s recommendations for qualification for service. . . .
Third, . . . [y]ou should support a board led CEO search committee, with an independent chairperson, and the inclusion of a representative of senior management and a representative of the driver community. . . .
Fourth, the company should immediately hire an adequately experienced interim or full–time Chief Financial Officer. The company has intentionally operated without a properly qualified executive in the top finance [role] for over two years. The investor group broadly believes that this specific executive hire needs to be addressed urgently.
We hope you will agree to move forward with us on this path, and look forward to your response.
Isaac reports Kalanick’s response:
“If this is the path you want to go down, things are gonna get ugly for you,” Kalanick said. “I mean it.”
In response, Kalanick called investors and Uber executives, seeking their support for a shareholder vote. Finding limited support, Kalanick ultimately resigned.
Board member mocked women talking at Uber all-hands
Mike Isaac’s Super Pumped (p. 331) reports tense discussions as Uber’s Board of Directors summarized the Holder Report and changes to Uber’s governance. After Arianna Huffington announced a woman joining Uber’s board, board member David Bonderman remarked “I’ll tell you what it shows. It’s that it’s much likelier to be more talking on the board.” Isaac says “the room froze” and attendees perceived that “one of Uber’s board members [had] just made a sexist comment about women talking too much.”
Travis Kalanick, long in dispute with Bonderman, took this opportunity to have Bonderman removed from the Board. (Isaac p. 332-335)
Strategic Services Group spied on competitors, politicians, and police
Mike Isaac’s Super Pumped (p. 310) reports that Uber’s Strategic Services Group spied on political figures, lawmakers, and polite in cities where Uber was under scrutiny. He explains:
They followed people on foot and in cars, tracking their digital activities and movements, and even took photographs of officials in public places.
Isaac reports that Uber SSG also pursued competitors:
SSG operatives recorded private conversations between opponents at DiDi and at Grab, their Southeast Asian competitor. One Lyft executive grew so paranoid about being followed by Uber that he walked out onto his porch, lifted both middle fingers in the air and waved them around, sending a message to the spies he was absolutely sure were watching.
Isaac questions whether these efforts were actually useful for Uber:
It was unclear how much of this intelligence was actionable or even valuable. Nonetheless Kalanick okayed budgets that spun into the tens of millions for surveillance activity, global operations, and information collection.
Kalanick criticized SVP of Communications Rachel Whetstone
Mike Isaac’s Super Pumped (p. 289) reports Travis Kalanick’s harsh words to SVP of Communications Rachel Whetstone. Under pressure from video showing Kalanick arguing with a driver, Kalanick sought to hire outside PR advisors, telling Whetstone and a colleague “You two aren’t strategic or creative enough to help us get out of this situation.” Whetstone and the colleague left the meeting and planned to quit, though others later convinced them to stay.
Employees questioned Kalanick’s discussions with Trump
Mike Isaac’s Super Pumped (p. 248) describes Travis Kalanick’s 2016 efforts to ingratiate himself with then-President-elect Donald Trump, seeking a photo opportunity and “a direct line to Trump.” But employees protested. Isaac continues:
His employees disagreed. Grumbles traveled the hallways of 1455 Market Street, as many Uber employees wondered why their boss needed to embrace a man they considered xenophobic, ignorant, and racist. At internal all-hands meetings, they urged their boss to reconsider and step away from the council.
Tracked riders after rides ended
Mike Isaac’s Super Pumped (p. 232) reports that at Travis Kalanick’s instruction, Uber began to track riders even after they had ended their rides. Isaac describes no proper purpose for this tracking, but says Kalanick “wanted to gain insight into … where people went after getting dropped off.”
Ill will towards Lyft
Mike Isaac’s Super Pumped (p. 231) reports Travis Kalanick’s hostility towards competitor Lyft. He reports:
Kalanick took pleasure in hurting [Lyft leaders] Green and Zimmer, and showed them no mercy.
Isaac continues (p. 230): “He wanted to professionally humiliate [Zimmer].”