Uber has appointed Dara Khosrowshahi as the new CEO of the taxi hailing app. Khosrowshahi is notable for his vocal opposition to U.S. President Trump’s initiatives.
The Uber CEO seat has been vacant since June 2017 when co-founder Travis Kalanick resigned. His departure came after former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder completed an investigation into the company’s culture. Lawsuits and allegations of sexism are what prompted the investigation.
Khosrowshahi has headed up Expedia since 2005, after serving as the chief financial officer of IAC for seven years. Expedia has done very well in the stock market under his term and is up 32% so far this year. The stock has nearly tripled in the past five years.
He was up against Jeff Immelt, chairman of General Electric and one of the finalists for the job, Meg Whitman, chief executive of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, had also been a leading candidate, according to sources close to the process. Whitman last month denied having any interest in the job.
About Khosrowshahi
Khosrowshahi was born in Iran in 1969, he emigrated to the U.S. as a child in 1978 following the Iranian Revolution. After graduating with an electrical engineering degree from Browns University, Khosrowshahi joined Allen and Co as an analyst in 1991. His move into travel came when he joined USA Networks (now IAC) in 1998 and the company went on to acquire a majority stake in Expedia, then a subsidiary of Microsoft, in 2001 at a valuation of around $2 billion.
Khosrowshahi was the highest paid CEO in the S&P 500 two years ago when his salary came in at nearly $95 million thanks to stock incentives. His compensation returned to a more modest $2.5 million last year.
Khosrowshahi will take on the task of mending Uber’s image, repairing frayed relations among investors, rebuilding employee morale and creating a profitable business after seven years of losses.
Edited by Fundisiwe Maseko
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