Uber's Travis Kalanick 'disappointed' that his awful past caught up with him
As Uber continues to flail in its own drama, ousted CEO Travis Kalanick defended his role in the company on Monday.
After Uber investor Benchmark filed a lawsuit against Kalanick last week and publicly issued a letter criticizing Kalanick to Uber employees Monday, Kalanick condemned their actions in a statement:
"Like many shareholders, I am disappointed and baffled by Benchmark's hostile actions, which clearly are not in the best interests of Uber and its employees on whose behalf they claim to be acting," Kalanick's statement reads, as tweeted by New York Times reporter Mike Isaac.
"Since 2009, building Uber into a great company has been my passion and obsession. I continue to work tirelessly with the board to identify and hire the best CEO to guide Uber into its next phase of growth and ensure its continued success," the statement reads.
Obsession may not be the best word for Kalanick to use since he's been criticized for, well, being too obsessive. Benchmark criticized Kalanick for such behavior in the lawsuit and the letter.
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"It's easy to reduce this situation to a battle of personalities. But this isn't about Benchmark versus Travis. It's about ensuring that Uber can reach its full potential as a company. And that will only happen if we get rid of the roadblocks and distractions that have plagued Uber, and its board, for far too long," the letter to employees reads.
Roadblocks and distractions may be referring to reports of a toxic workplace culture, ignited by a blog post from former employee Susan Fowler Rigetti. There's also Uber's "Greyball" program, a tool for collecting data to circumvent government officials. Also, Uber is in an ongoing legal battle with Waymo, Google's self-driving car division, for allegedly stealing their tech.
Uber is seeking to hire Kalanick's replacement as CEO as well as a chief financial officer. Last week, Uber's first CEO and first employee Ryan Graves announced he's leaving his full-time position as Uber's SVP of global operations. He will serve as the director of the company's board.
Kerry Flynn is a business reporter for Mashable covering the tech industry. She previously reported on social media companies, mobile apps and startups for International Business Times. She has also written for The Huffington Post, Forbes and Money magazine. Kerry studied environmental science and economics at Harvard College, where she led The Harvard Crimson's metro news and design teams and played mellophone in the Band. When not listening to startup pitches, she runs half-marathons, plays with puppies and pretends to like craft beer.
