Uber CEO Travis Kalanick steps down

According to a New York Times report, Travis Kalanick, the CEO of Uber has resigned as the CEO of the company. This was due to shareholder revolt.

It was reported that five of Uber’s major investors demanded that the chief executive resign immediately. The investors included one of Uber’s biggest shareholders, the venture capital firm Benchmark, which has one of its partners, Bill Gurley, on Uber’s board. The investors made their demand for Mr. Kalanick to step down in a letter delivered to the chief executive while he was in Chicago.

In the letter, titled “Moving Uber Forward” and obtained by The New York Times, the investors wrote to Mr. Kalanick that he must immediately leave and that the company needed a change in leadership. Mr. Kalanick, 40, consulted with at least one Uber board member, and after long discussions with some of the investors, he agreed to step down. He will remain on Uber’s board of directors.

Travis had announced last week that he was taking a leave of absence, citing a recent family tragedy where he lost his mother in a boating accident.

“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,” Mr. Kalanick said in a statement.

This means that currently the Transportation company does not have a CEO, CMO, COO, CFO, CMO and a host of other critical high-level positions.

This move shows that the gravity of recent scandals at the company and the threat to Uber’s core business  as it affects the investors minds.