Former General Electric Chief Jeff Immelt reportedly has become the front-runner candidate to become CEO of Uber Technologies Inc.
Sources told Recode that a majority of the board of the car-hailing company apparently is leaning toward Immelt.
"That could certainly change, said sources, and there are two other executives who are also still being considered, neither of whom is a woman, as some had hoped," Recode reported.
"Sources said a vote of Uber’s directors is likely to happen within the next two weeks, which does not have to be unanimous, although most directors are hoping it will be," the report said.
“We know it is never going to be a perfect choice, but everyone is becoming exhausted,” said one person close to the situation. “We need someone with the skills to move us along.”
Travis Kalanick, co-founder of one of the most influential technology companies of its generation, resigned in late June under pressure from investors after a string of setbacks.
Kalanick's departure capped a tumultuous period for the world's largest ride-services company that has revolutionized the taxi industry and challenged transportation regulations worldwide, Reuters reported.
The resignation sent shockwaves through Silicon Valley and leaves Uber's board of directors with the problem of finding a dynamic leader who also has a steady hand needed to heal Uber after a bruising six months.
"The person who still best personifies Uber's potential is the person who left Tuesday night," said Bradley Tusk, an Uber investor and adviser. "But it's not like he really could stay without it being brutally bad for the company."
Kalanick's pugnacious style largely defined Uber's approach and helped it become a transportation colossus valued at $68 billion, the largest private firm backed by venture capitalists in the world.
But that brashness has also been blamed for a string of scandals this year, from the unearthing of a culture of sexism and bullying at Uber to a U.S. Department of Justice federal investigation and a high-stakes lawsuit filed by Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) autonomous car division, Waymo, that threatens Uber's self-driving car ambitions.
"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," Kalanick said in an email to employees that was seen by Reuters.
Kalanick's departure as CEO widens an already gaping hole at the top of Uber which has no chief financial officer, head of engineering or general counsel at the moment. For now, 14 people who reported to Kalanick are running Uber.
Immelt, who remains GE's chairman through year-end, bought 1.2 million shares of GE stock during his 16-year tenure as CEO, during which he focused GE on large industrial businesses such as power generators, renewable energy and aircraft engines while shedding most of GE's finance business along with NBCUniversal and its plastics and appliances units, Reuters reported.
For his part, former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick rejected a lawsuit filed against him by one of the company's top investors as a "public and personal attack" without merit, according to court documents filed last week.
Venture capital firm Benchmark Capital, which says it owns 13 percent of Uber and controls 20 percent of the voting power, last week sued Kalanick to force him off the board, where he still has a seat, and rescind his remaining power there, Reuters reported.
Kalanick, in the first court filing in response to the lawsuit, said Benchmark's legal action is part of a larger scheme to oust him from the company he helped found and take away power that is rightfully his. He also argued that the legal quarrel should take place in arbitration and that Delaware's Chancery Court, where the lawsuit was filed, lacks jurisdiction.
Benchmark's lawsuit marks a rare instance of a well-regarded Silicon Valley investor suing the central figure at one of its own, highly successful startups. The case has stunned the venture capital community and created a divided Uber board and infighting among shareholders, many of whom have criticized Benchmark for suing.
At issue is a change to the board structure in 2016 that expanded the number of voting directors by three, with Kalanick having the sole right to fill those seats.
In its lawsuit, Benchmark said Kalanick hid from the board a number of misdeeds, including allegations of trade-secret theft involving autonomous car technology and misconduct by Kalanick and other executives in handling a rape committed by an Uber driver in India, when he asked Uber's board to give him those extra seats.
Benchmark said it was "fraudulently induced" to agree to the change and wants Kalanick to give up control of those seats.
But Kalanick's court filing said that at the time of the board change, "Benchmark was fully aware of all of the allegations involving Kalanick." The venture firm made no mention of fraud and continued to publicly support Kalanick through May, according to the filing.
(Newsmax wires services contributed to this report).
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