UBER TO APPOINT OUTSPOKEN TRUMP CRITIC AS NEXT CEO

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UBER SAID TO APPOINT OUTSPOKEN TRUMP CRITIC AS NEXT CEO

San Francisco - Uber will appoint Expedia’s Dara Khosrowshahi to run the global ride-hailing leviathan, two people familiar with the matter said. He’ll succeed co-founder Travis Kalanick, who led the firm to $20bn in annual bookings before scandals forced him out.

UBER SAID TO APPOINT OUTSPOKEN TRUMP CRITIC AS NEXT CEO
In hiring Expedia’s chief executive officer (CEO), Uber will land a seasoned deal-maker and an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump, who’s accustomed to sparring with one of his new company’s biggest rivals, Alphabet. While a spokesperson for Uber directors confirmed that they’ve chosen a CEO, she declined to name the person, saying the board would inform employees first.
Khosrowshahi will face a number of hurdles as Uber - which has raised more than $15bn from private investors - navigates its way toward a still-unscheduled initial public offering. The new top executive must grapple with the company’s persistent losses, a high-stakes trade secrets suit filed by Alphabet’s Waymo, a tarnished brand and low morale among Uber’s more than 15 000 global employees.
Uber’s board met over the weekend for a last round of interviews with candidates and to discuss options, said people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations were private. Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO Meg Whitman and General Electric chairperson Jeffrey Immelt were under consideration for the job.
The board ultimately went with a dark horse. Khosrowshahi hadn’t been named publicly as a finalist during a CEO search that was plagued by leaks, boardroom infighting and a lawsuit involving two directors. He has accepted the position, people familiar with the discussions said.
Khosrowshahi, 48, is an Iran-born American who graduated from Brown University with an engineering degree. He had a stint in investment banking at Allen & Co before joining with billionaire Barry Diller at IAC during the dot-com boom. Khosrowshahi led an acquisition binge in online travel, expanding IAC’s Expedia with takeovers of Orbitz and HomeAway.
He’s also one of the technology industry’s most outspoken CEOs in opposition to some of President Trump’s policies. He railed against the immigration ban and mocked Trump on Twitter as repeatedly failing to “rise to the expectations of his office” after the president’s response to protests in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Uber’s long year of controversies began in January when Kalanick tried to justify his position on a Trump business council before ultimately resigning that post after customers staged a boycott.
Khosrowshahi was effective at marrying disparate businesses across Expedia, many brought together through acquisitions, said Woody Marshall, an investor in the online travel industry who has known Khosrowshahi since they were kids.
“He’s been able to leverage technology in a thoughtful way,” said Marshall, a general partner at venture capital firm TCV, which isn’t an Uber investor. “He’s the real deal. He’s not bigger than life in terms of his public appearance or public personality. He’s bigger than life in terms of culture and values.”
Under Kalanick, Uber grew into a massive global business. In the second quarter of 2017, the company lost $645m $1.75bn in net revenue. During Kalanick’s nearly seven-year stint, the San Francisco-based startup achieved a $69bn valuation, struck partnerships with major auto manufacturers, took a sizable stake in its biggest global competitor and established itself as the premier ride-hailing business in most of the developed world.

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