Travis Kalanick will step down from the board of directors at Uber on December 31, the ride-sharing company said in a statement last week.
Kalanick has also sold more than 90 percent of his shares in Uber, which has netted him over $2.5 billion. He started selling the shares in early November directly after a 180-day restriction on inside and early investor selling that was put in place following Uber's May initial public offering had expired.
“At the close of the decade, and with the company now public, it seems like the right moment for me to focus on my current business and philanthropic pursuits,” Kalanick said in a statement.
One of his current endeavours is CloudKitchens, a company that provides shared kitchens for delivery-exclusive restaurants like those operated through Uber Eats. He's also launched the 10100 fund to focus on large-scale job creation, primarily through investments in real estate, ecommerce, and innovation opportunities in China and India.
Although Kalanick didn't come up with the idea for Uber, he co-founded the company in 2009 and helped it become the giant that it currently is. The company has endured a tumultuous ride to get this point, though, including seeing Kalanick step down from the CEO role in 2017 amid controversy over unethical culture at the company. There was also the death of a pedestrian in early 2018 caused by one of Uber's self-driving car prototypes.
Since it went public, Uber's share price has dropped to about $30 from the original $45 that it listed at. The company also continues to burn through billions of dollars and is facing growing competition not only in the ride business but also in self-driving car development.
