Moments after we heard rumbles about the independent investigation results, it was announced that Emil Michael, Uber’s Senior Vice President of Business will be departing the company. While we were aloof of who’ll be taking over his responsibilities, we’ve now got our hands on several reports saying that David Richter, vice president of strategic initiatives, is stepping up to fill in these empty shoes.
Michael was CEO Travis Kalanick’s right hand but has recently been ousted as the executive who violated the privacy of the female passenger, who was raped, by checking her medical records and chalking out the incident as being a ploy to dimish their brand by its Indian competitor Ola. The homegrown ride-hailing giant has rubbished these comments and rebuked Uber for trivializing such a horrible crime.
While Michael had been in the limelight and built a reputation for himself, Richter has been working on business development for the past four-odd years. Emil was close to Kalanick, who is expected to take a leave of absence in these troubled times (also because his mother passed away in a recent motorboat accident) from the start but has now been pressured to leave the company. Richter is one of the executives who didn’t come in the reports, not even once and sources close to him have testified of his reputation. They’ve said:
He basically would wait to think about something before speaking, which might be why he’s stayed under the radar.
Through an internal email, obtained by Bloomberg, the transfer of his position and responsibilities to Richter has been announced by Michael himself. He talks about Richter being the appropriate person for this role and him being excited about the future of the ride-hailing company. The email statement sent out by Michael reads as under:
David is an extremely talented leader, and I have high confidence in his ability to help drive the company forward. Uber has a long way to go to achieve all that it can, and I am looking forward to seeing what you accomplish in the years ahead.
The much-needed investigation, to be disclosed in full today, will shed light on the internal workplace problems and solutions for the same. The aforementioned, however, is a significant decision that induces substantial change within the ranks of the company. It has been taken after careful board discussion, who has unanimously accepted all recommendations put forth in the independent investigation conducted by US Attorney General Eric Holder and Tammy Albarran. This has resulted in 20 executives being nixed from the company
It has been taken after careful board discussion, who has unanimously accepted all recommendations put forth in the independent investigation conducted by US Attorney General Eric Holder and Tammy Albarran. This has resulted in 20 executives being nixed from the company and new female executives being added to the team in the previous week or so. Apple’s Bozoma Saint John, HBS researcher Francis Frei, and new board member Wan Ling Martello, an executive vice president at Nestle SA — all women. This has to be a significant development for Uber.
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