advertisement
Uber Technologies Inc faced a fresh round of turmoil on 10 August, with its global operations chief resigning and a major investor suing the ride-hailing company's former CEO.
Ryan Graves told Uber staff in an email on Thursday that he will transition out of his role as senior vice president of global operations in mid-September. Graves will remain on Uber's board. That board – and its support for former CEO Travis Kalanick – was the subject of a lawsuit filed Thursday in Delaware Chancery Court by Benchmark Capital Partners.
Benchmark holds 13 percent of Uber's stock. It claims Kalanick is trying to pack Uber's board with his allies and eventually return to his post as CEO. The venture capital firm says that would harm Uber's shareholders, employees, drivers and customers.
In the lawsuit, Benchmark claims Kalanick concealed material information from investors when he created three new board seats in 2016 and gave himself the right to appoint people to those seats.
The lawsuit also says Kalanick didn't discuss his failure to curb Uber's pervasive culture of discrimination and sexual harassment.
Benchmark says Kalanick has acquired "a disproportionate level of influence over the board, ensuring that he would continue to have an outsized role in Uber's strategic direction even if forced to resign as CEO." The firm says Kalanick has already interfered in the board's attempts to hire a new CEO.
Uber said it had no comment on the lawsuit. But in a statement, Kalanick's spokesperson said the lawsuit is an attempt to deprive Kalanick of his rights as an Uber founder and shareholder.
"Travis will continue to act in the interests of Uber and all of its stakeholders and is confident that these entirely baseless claims will be rejected," the statement said.
(This piece has been published in an arrangement with AP)
(Love your mother tongue? This Independence Day, tell The Quint why and how you love your bhasha. You may even win a BOL t-shirt! Sing, write, perform, spew poetry – whatever you like – in your mother tongue. Send us your BOL at bol@thequint.com or WhatsApp it to 9910181818.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)