Must Grow Up: Uber CEO After Video of Argument With Driver Emerges

“This is the first time I’ve been willing to admit that I need leadership help,” he said.

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. (Photo: Reuters)

Uber Technologies Inc CEO, Travis Kalanick, said it was time for him to "grow up" and get help, after a video of him arguing aggressively with a driver, emerged.

He said he was ashamed for treating the driver disrespectfully, and he apologised to the driver and others.

It’s clear this video is a reflection of me – and the criticism we’ve received is a stark reminder that I must fundamentally change as a leader and grow up. This is the first time I’ve been willing to admit that I need leadership help and I intend to get it.

Kalanick was travelling in an Uber Black, the high-end service Uber introduced in 2010, when he got into a heated argument with the driver, Fawzi Kamel, about fares.

Kamel later handed over the video, which he recorded on the dashboard camera, to a news publication.

The driver tells Kalanick that the rates have been slashed drastically and has made him lose all his money.

Kalanick denies dropping prices on ‘Black’ and insists that Uber would go out of business if he hadn’t taken measures like dropping rates. They contend with the idea back and forth before the argument turns heated.

Kamel says:

... I lost $97,000 because of you. I’m bankrupt because of you. You keep changing everyday. You keep changing everyday.

Kalanick continues to deny that rates on ‘Black’ have been dropped and that it could be affecting drivers.

“Bull***t”, he asserts, before going on to say:

Some people don’t like to take responsibility for their own s**t. They blame everything in their life on somebody else. Good luck!

He then gets out of the car and slams the door.

The video is the latest in a series of challenges and embarrassments for Uber.

The company is also investigating allegations of sexual harassment in its organisation. Earlier this month, a female former engineer at Uber said that managers and human resources officers at the company had not punished her manager after she reported his unwanted sexual advances, and even threatened her with a poor performance review.

(With inputs from Reuters)