Uber finally decided who will take over for ousted CEO Travis Kalanick.
Dara Khosrowshahi, Expedia’s CEO for the last 12 years, has reportedly been asked to the lead the ride-hailing startup, which is valued at roughly $69 billion by investors in the private market.
The CEO selection occurred in the midst of a bombshell lawsuit between early Uber investor Benchmark and Kalanick, the brash cofounder of the company. The lawsuit, which seeks to remove Kalanick from Uber’s board, claims Kalanick had been using his board seat to meddle in the CEO search and reclaim his position at the company’s helm.
The litigation — extremely rare in the cozy world of Silicon Valley investing — has exposed deep and bitter divisions between Uber’s backers.
While the choice of Khosrowshahi was framed as a “truce” candidate that all sides could agree upon (unlike HPE CEO Meg Whitman and GE Chairman Jeff Immelt, who were also on the shortlist), don’t expect the bad blood between the factions to go away anytime soon
In fact, Uber investor Shervin Pishevar couldn’t resist taking a jab at Benchmark on Monday even as he publicly endorsed the new CEO.
“I applaud the Board’s decision to make Dara Khosrowshahi the next CEO of Uber, and we are gratified that Benchmark did not succeed in subverting the CEO selection process,” Pishevar wrote in a statement sent to Business Insider, and first reported by Recode.
“I look forward to working with my friend and fellow Iranian American Mr. Khosrowshahi,” Pishevar went on to say. “Dara’s experience and his proven track record of success make him the right choice to lead Uber.”
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