Co-founder and Chief Executive of Uber Inc, Travis Kalanick, resigned his position Tuesday under mounting pressure from investors over his leadership.
Kalanick’s departure caps a tumultuous period for the world’s largest ride-services company, which upended the taxi industry and transportation regulations globally with Kalanick at the helm.
“I love Uber more than anything in the world and at this difficult moment in my personal life I have accepted the investors’ request to step aside so that Uber can go back to building rather than be distracted with another fight,” Kalanick said in a statement first reported by the New York Times and verified by an Uber spokesman.
Kalanick, 40, has faced increased scrutiny in recent weeks following an investigation into the culture and workplace practices at a company he helped start in 2009 and is now the world’s most highly valued startup.
But it was a chorus of demands for changes at the top from some of Uber’s biggest investors that ultimately forced Kalanick out, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Venture capital firm Benchmark, whose partner Bill Gurley is one of Uber’s largest shareholders and sits on its board, as well as investors First Round Capital, Lowercase Capital, Menlo Ventures and Fidelity Investments, all pressed Kalanick to quit.
Privately held Uber has been valued at $68 billion, shattering the norms for Silicon Valley startups, and the company embodied many of Kalanick’s aggressive and pugnacious personality traits.
