back to article Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has resigned, says report

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has resigned, according to The New York Times. The Grey Lady reports that Uber's biggest shareholders sent Kalanick a letter titled “Moving Uber Forward” in which they demanded change in leadership, not just the leave of absence the now-former CEO announced last week. Kalanick consulted with Uber …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    When does he start at TalkTalk?

    1. bazza Silver badge

      Don't. Just. Don't. Mention. That. Possibility.

      On a more serious note, there's now an infamous ex CEO on the loose, and the passage of time will diminish that to merely "heard of him, must be good". He will end up being someone's boss somewhere at some time in the medium term. So now we're all kind of playing CEO roulette...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        'Don't. Just. Don't. Mention. That. Possibility'

        No worries, settle down.... its Comcast!

        1. Trilkhai

          "We don't care. We don't have to. We're the phone company."

          Or the various cell & landline phone companies. I think that Lily Tomlin's brilliant monopoly-era skit summed it up best: "we don't care; we don't have to, we're the phone company."

    2. Your alien overlord - fear me

      I heard Theresa May asked him to become the Minister for Equality to distract the press from her !!!

  2. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    "de-toxing its culture"

    That part shouldn't be very difficult : take the org chart, draw a line under the first three levels and fire everyone above that line.

    1. A Non e-mouse Silver badge

      Re: "de-toxing its culture"

      I was on a management course a while back, and the instructor quoted various management gurus who all said that changing a corporation's culture is not a five minute job, but a multi-year process. I think he mentioned one example where a new CEO estimated it would take five years to make significant change to culture.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "de-toxing its culture"

        "take the org chart, draw a line under the first three levels and fire everyone above that line."

        "a new CEO estimated it would take five years to make significant change to culture"

        "I was on a management course" ... no need for that - the two statements above are almost exactly the the two recommended options from Machiavelli on how to rule a city you have just conquored - either kill everyone who was in charge and put you own people in, or let the existing people continue (but "reporting" to you) and accept you'll never really be in control - with the added comment that nothing in between these options will work.

    2. PickledAardvark

      Re: "de-toxing its culture"

      Isn't that how de-nazification of post-WWII German government was conducted in the west? Take a look at the documentary "The Nazis: A Warning from History" and watch the interviews with well padded West Germans non-apologising for their roles and actions. Cultural change requires more than a symbolic beheading.

      Travis Kalanick is going now because the reputation management team at Uber think that all of their embarrassments have been disclosed. A new CEO -- from outside Uber -- can be appointed in relative safety.

      Godwin's Law, I suck, blah, blah -- before anyone chips in.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "de-toxing its culture"

        Their name has obvious resonances of ubermensch, so it's been like a sneering from mini-Nazis for the past several years. Absolutely no one at the company or the company's investors can pretend that this resonance sailed over their heads. It just so happens that they are resonant of ubermensch, while disrupting underwritten paratransit and showing contempt for the disabled people who rely on it. You are exempt from Godwin's Law on the merits of the situation.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Devil

    If there is any justice...

    He'll have to make his way in the world as a driver for Uber.

    1. 2Nick3

      Re: If there is any justice...

      More likely Lyft - he knows EXACTLY how Uber treats their drivers.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It's the precarity, stupid!

    (Just an expression, Reg., I would not call you stupid lest I become the truly stupid!) It's the precarity. It's the contingent work! It's the 1099! It's always been the 1099! It was illegitimate, cheating nonsense in 2011 and it's illegitimate, cheating nonsense now. This is an interesting development, and Uber touches upon the entire rainbow of kinds of outrages, but most of those outrages trace back to the 1099! Uber, Lyft, Taskrabbit, Sidecar, Homejoy, Handy, Spoonrocket, Postmates, Luxe, crud like Gigwalk, Deliveroo (I don't know the UK as well), and the rest of the menagerie of animal names are equally assholish even if they are branded as the "nice" startups who love labrador retrievers, empathize with you neoliberally and feel your pain, and not the "mean" ones who are known for kicking your shins and causing the pain in the first place. So I hope that not too much will be wrapped up with one personality. Kalanick sets a low bar - two cheers for the other 99% of misclassification practitioners who don't love Ayn Rand but are still trying to exploit unemployed people and cram entrepreneurship down their throats to make a phony arm's-length relationship.

    1. sebt

      Re: It's the precarity, stupid!

      "Uber, Lyft, Taskrabbit, Sidecar, Homejoy, Handy, Spoonrocket, Postmates, Luxe, crud like Gigwalk, Deliveroo"

      Even thinking up, let alone writing down, let alone uttering any one of those wankfest names should be a capital offence.

  5. WonkoTheSane

    I wonder...

    Could this be related to the app now allowing users to tip the driver?

  6. Noonoot

    If a chick wants to get with me, she needs a big pair of swinging balls.

    Yes, swinging towards your arrogant head

    1. A Non e-mouse Silver badge

      Re: If a chick wants to get with me, she needs a big pair of swinging balls.

      I'm hoping the Anonymous Coward was being sarcastic.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: If a chick wants to get with me, she needs a big pair of swinging balls.

        He was. Very much so.

        1. Noonoot

          Re: If a chick wants to get with me, she needs a big pair of swinging balls.

          so if you're the Anonymous Coward that posted it originally, I'll take back my reply that I would swing them, you know where LOL

          1. A Non e-mouse Silver badge

            Re: If a chick wants to get with me, she needs a big pair of swinging balls.

            It looks like A/C's post has been removed by a moderator....

  7. deadlockvictim

    Government Work

    I expect that he'll go into Government work. He seems to be the perfect fit for the current U.S. president.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Swamp Drained ?

    Not the swamp that was expected to be drained. But good progress in any case. Room for some Ethics 101 to flow into the moral vacuum that is Uber HQ?

    Uber - so slimy they give slimeballs the creeps.

  9. Antron Argaiv Silver badge
    Big Brother

    HR

    HR is not your friend.

    HR's purpose is to keep the company from getting sued, cover its ass and keep the "resources" in line. That's it. If it comes down to your interest or the company's, they will go for the company every single time.

    They are not on your side, and they are not there to help you. Anything you tell them will be shared with your management. They WILL lie to you. They will screw you over, if it helps the company. They do not care about you. That's just the way it is.

    // lifetime of experience speaking.

  10. Scott Broukell
    Coat

    Kalanick irrigation

    <see title>

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Happy

      Re: Kalanick irrigation

      Does that sentence need an additional colon?

  11. Phukov Andigh Bronze badge

    you can't fix

    what is broken by its very business model.

    It's like thinking you can improve Street Prostitution by firing a couple pimps. When the whole thing is based on unlicensed "contractors" trying to undercut licensed industry and passing ALL the expense onto the "contractor" after "the app" takes a cut, you've got nothing left if you "fix" it.

  12. Commswonk

    I read the headline...

    ... and immediately thought of this (Obligatory Dilbert): http://dilbert.com/strip/1994-01-07

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The real problem with Uber ...

    The real problem with Uber is that it is their investor funding which allows them to run continually at a loss, thereby allowing them to 'disrupt' the sector.

    They are not doing a better job and forcing an old industry to face it's inefficiencies, they are dumping below cost to gain market share before turning the screws.

    In other industries this is often blatantly illegal. It's certainly immoral in any case.

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