Uber Technologies Inc CEO Travis Kalanick on Tuesday has said that he must change as a leader and grow up.
A video recently surfaced on the Internet showing Kalanick getting into an argument with a driver, on his way back from Superbowl Sunday.
Kalanick and the driver got caught up in a heated discussion regarding the falling rates of Uber’s services, with the driver claiming to have lost money ($97,000) because of Uber.
The driver, identified as Fawzi Kamel, blamed Uber for not sticking to a business plan and making continuous changes to its prices. The Uber CEO retaliated by saying “We started high end. We didn't go low end because we wanted to, we went low end because we had to" (because of competition like Lyft).
The driver, unsatisfied with his answer, claimed that people have ‘lost trust’ on the ride-hailing service and that nobody wants to buy cars anymore.
(Video: Bloomberg/ YouTube)
On Tuesday, Travis Kalanick released a note saying that he was ashamed of his behaviour towards the driver and was apologetic to him and others for his conduct.
“This is the first time I’ve been willing to admit that I need leadership help and I intend to get it." he wrote.
Note by Travis Kalanick:By now I’m sure you’ve seen the video where I treated an Uber driver disrespectfully. To say that I am ashamed is an extreme understatement. My job as your leader is to lead…and that starts with behaving in a way that makes us all proud. That is not what I did, and it cannot be explained away.
It’s clear this video is a reflection of me—and the criticism we’ve received is a stark reminder that I must fundamentally change as a leader and grow up. This is the first time I’ve been willing to admit that I need leadership help and I intend to get it.
I want to profoundly apologise to Fawzi, as well as the driver and rider community, and to the Uber team.
—Travis
The incident adds to a long list of woes for the company. Last week, allegations of sexual harassments had been made on one of the company’s executives by an ex-employee. The employee wrote a long blog post also mentioning how the management of Uber was in constant chaos and how there was an ever-going ‘Game of Thrones’ politics taking place in the company.
Last week, the self-driving unit of Alphabet Inc’s – Waymo, sued Uber for stealing designs of autonomous vehicles from the company. Uber denied the allegations. Prior to that, Uber was caught at the wrong end of an Anti-Trump protest, resulting in people starting a #DeleteUber campaign.Also read: Amit Singhal out of Uber For Not Disclosing Sexual Harassment Charge
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