Uber's Board of Directors

[Guest]

Travis Kalanick, who resigned as Uber’s CEO three months ago, appointed two new directors to the ride-hailer’s board: former Xerox CEO Ursula Burns and former CEO of CIT Group John Thain. 

Forget soap operas—Uber’s the biggest drama around. On Thursday, Uber proposed restructuring the board to give Khosrowshahi control over more seats, while stripping board control away from Kalanick (h/t NYT). So what did Travis do? He unleashed a preemptive strike on Friday by giving the two open board seats to a pair of his cronies. 

And remember, these are the same board seats that are the subjects of a lawsuitfrom Benchmark Capital, an early Uber investor and now mortal enemy of Travis. 

Uber appeared to turn a corner when it hired Dara Khosrowshahi to be a stabilizing force after the turbulent Travis years. But since he started, Uber’s been put on life support in London…and now it has to deal with Travis’ power play to regain control of the board. 

Tune in for the next edition of the Uber Files…will Masayoshi Son pull the trigger on a $10 billion investment?

[Guest]

If you forgot to DVR Tuesday’s episode, here’s the commercial-free recap:

Voting rights: The board decided to nix super-voting rights, assigning just one vote per share. The move will dilute Travis Kalanick’s voting power (currently at 16%). Two big Uber investors, Shervin Pishevar and Steve Russell, are pursuing legal action.

The board: Last Friday, Kalanick rallied the troops, appointing two new board members, ex-Xerox CEO Ursula Burns and former CIT Group CEO John Thain. In response, the board voted to add six more seats, potentially bringing it to a staggering 17 members. Another blow to Kalanick’s control. 

SoftBank: Uber embraced SoftBank’s $1 billion investment—a number that could reach $10 billion. Masayoshi Son, along with a posse of investors, would take at least a 14% stake. The deal, however, is still being ironed out. 

Benchmark Capital: The OG Uber investor (13% ownership) will likely drop its lawsuit against Kalanick when the SoftBank deal goes through. It sued Kalanick over the two board seats he was withholding (now occupied by Ursula and John) and was active in limiting the ex-CEO’s control. 

Other speed bumps: With all the hoopla back home, Dara Khosrowshahi was trying to make peace with the commissioner of London’s transportation authority. Two weeks ago, Uber’s operating license was stripped in a city that accounts for 5% of its regular riders. Meanwhile, the Uber-Waymo trial over stolen trade secrets was pushed back to December. 

As Uber drives towards it 2019 IPO, even Kalanick is putting things into perspective: “the board came together collaboratively and took a major step forward in Uber’s journey to becoming a world class public company.”