Uber CEO ‘ashamed’ over argument with driver caught on video
Uber CEO ‘ashamed’ over argument with driver caught on video
When Uber CEO Travis Kalanick takes an Uber, he prefers a black car, the high-end service his company introduced in 2010.
On this particular night in early February — Super Bowl Sunday — Kalanick is perched in the middle seat, flanked by two female friends.
Kamel, 37, has been driving for Uber since 2011 and wants to draw attention to the plight of drivers.
The video shows off Kalanick’s pugnacious personality and short temper, which may cause some investors to question whether he has the disposition to lead a $69 billion company that does business all over the globe.
In an email to staff Tuesday after the video was published, Kalanick apologized to Kamel.
The bad year includes more than 200,000 people uninstalling their accounts after the company was accused of undermining a New York taxi union strike protesting President Trump’s refugee ban; Kalanick leaving his spot on Trump’s business advisory council to appease employees and users; a former software engineer writing a blog post alleging that she had been propositioned for sex by her manager, a complaint she said Uber’s human resources department brushed off; rival Waymo accusing an Uber employee of stealing trade secrets; and Uber’s head of engineering resigning after the company said it learned that he had faced a sexual harassment complaint at Alphabet, his former employer (he denied the allegations).
Kalanick turned Uber into a global endeavor that operates in more than 400 cities.
The company, which has its headquarters in San Francisco, has more than 11,000 corporate employees.
In 2012, Uber Black cost riders $4.90 per mile and $1.25 per minute in San Francisco, according to an old version of Uber’s website.
Current and former employees say he can be empathetic when the mood strikes — or tyrannical when it doesn’t.
[...] even when Kalanick tries to empathize in his own way — which often means jumping into a dialectical argument — his temper can flare.
In Kamel’s car, Kalanick is seemingly at ease as the ride ends and his friends hop out of the car.
The pair begin talking shop, and Kalanick explains that they’re going to cut down on the number of black cars, which will reduce competition and should be good for Kamel.
[...] Kamel says what every driver has been dying to tell Kalanick: “You’re raising the standards, and you’re dropping the prices.”
“Some people don’t like to take responsibility” for their own problems, Kalanick says.
Later, the Uber driver app prompts him to rate Kalanick, as he does all his riders.