Uber Boss Resigned

Uber boss Travis Ka- lanick has resigned as chief executive after pressure from shareholders， a spokesman has said. Mr Kalanick will remain on the board of the firm， however， the New York Times reported.

His resignation comes after a review of practices at the firm and scandals including complaints of sexual harassment.

Travis Kalanick said he was taking an indefinite leave of absence.

Five major Uber investors demanded Mr Kalanicks immediate resignation in a letter， the newspaper said.

Mr. Kalanick reportedly said， “I love Uber more than anything in the world and at this difficult moment in my personal life I have accepted the investors request to step aside so that Uber can go back to building rather than be distracted with another fight.”

Mr Kalanick took an indefinite leave of absence from the firm as part of an effort to create “Uber 2.0”.

His leave also comes after the sudden death of his mother in a boating accident.

The ride-hailing company has had a series of recent controversies， including the departure of other high-level executives.

Eric Alexander， the former head of Ubers Asia-Pacific business， left after a report that he had obtained the medical records of a woman who was raped by an Uber driver in 2014.

Mr Alexander reportedly shared them with Mr Kalanick， senior vicepresident Emil Michael and others.

Uber said it had fired more than 20 staff and took action against others following a review of more than 200 HR complaints that included harassment and bullying.

Lawsuit from Googles Parent Company

There has also been a lawsuit from Googles parent company， Alphabet， over alleged theft of trade secrets related to driverless cars.

In the ongoing legal case between Uber and Waymo， a new filing suggests Uber knew that Anthony Levandowski possessed Google information as of last March， before Ottos acquisition. The former Google self-driving project engineer founded Otto， and then joined Uber to lead its self-driving efforts when Otto was acquired by the ride hailing giant.

Waymos new filing cites a response from Uber itself， made June 8 in response to a discovery request from Waymo， which contains the following admission：

“ On or about March 11， 2016， Mr. Levandowski reported to Mr. Kalanick， Nina Qi and Cameron Poetzscher at Uber as well as Lior Ron that he had identified five discs in his possession containing Google information…”

This would obviously be a strong piece of support for Waymos case， since it establishes a timeline in which Uber was aware of Levandowskis alleged actions even prior to finalizing their acquisition of Otto， which would in turn mean that Uber cant claim to be completely separated from Levandowskis actions. Uber has attempted to distance itself from Levandowski in these matters， and in fact dismissed the former Google engineer recently for failing to comply with its own internal investigation.

Waymo also succeeded in a discovery matter to get Stroz Friedberg， the security firm that produced the due diligence report prior to Ubers acquisition， to produce a laundry list of related documents it collected in pursuit of its due diligence investigation. These are required by the court by June 27， and include any reports created by the firm following its retention by Uber and Otto， as well as communications between Levandowsi， the firm， Otto cofounder Lior Ron and their attorneys.

The full filings can be seen below.Waymo declined to comment， and Uber could not immediately be reached for comment.

Sexual Harassment

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick sent a memo to employees following allegations of sexual harassment from former Uber engineer Susan Fowler. In the memo， obtained by TechCrunch， Kalanick said the company has tapped former US Attorney General Eric Holder and Tammy Albarran， partners at law firm Covington & Burling， to independently investigate the workplace issues Fowler spoke about in her blog post.

As Uber board member Arianna Huffington tweeted， she will take part in the review， along with Uber Chief Human Resources Officer Liane Hornsey and the companys associate general counsel Angela Padilla.

In the memo， Kalanick also said that Uber would finally release its own diversity report， which comes after Rev. Jesse Jackson called for Uber to release one. As a teaser， he noted that across Ubers engineering， product management and scientist roles， 15.1% of the employees are women and that “has not changed substantively in the last year.”

He went on to say that he believes in creating a workplace where “a deep sense of justice underpins everything”Uber does.

“Every Uber employee should be proud of the culture we have and what we will build together over time，”Kalanick wrote. “What is driving me through all this is a determination that we take whats happened as an opportunity to heal wounds of the past and set a new standard for justice in the workplace. It is my number one priority that we come through this a better organization， where we live our values and fight for and support those who experience injustice.”

Quits Trump Business Advisory Group

Travis Kalanick performs a U-turn to quell anger over his participation on a panel of business advisers to the US President.

Ubers boss has quit Donald Trumps business advisory council in a move aimed at distancing the ridesharing app from the Presidents policy agenda.

Travis Kalanick confirmed the Uturn in a memo to Uber employees， having taken to Twitter five days previously to insist he would keep the role， saying then， “Im going to use my position on Pres economic council to stand up for whats right.”

He had faced a backlash in the US with a boycott campaign， under the#deleteuber hashtag， gathering momentum despite his public opposition to the Presidents travel restrictions on people from seven mainly-Muslim countries and limits on refugees.

Mr Kalanick had even announced a$3m legal fund and pledged full earnings compensation for any driver who could not work because of the ban， saying it “is against everything @uber stands for”.

The change of heart on his membership of the council came from the leaked memo， which read， “Joining the group was not meant to be an endorsement of the president or his agenda but unfortunately it has been misinterpreted to be exactly that.”

He said he had spoken to the President to inform him of the decision， on what was the eve of the councils first meeting.

It was formed by Stephen Schwarzman， chairman and chief executive of the private equity group Blackstone.

Other members include the leaders of Wal-Mart， General Motors， Tesla， the Cleveland Clinic and Pepsi.

It had already been announced that Disney boss Bob Iger would not be able to attend the White House event because of a diary clash.

The councils self-described mission is to “provide direct input to the president from many of the best and brightest in the business world in a frank， non-bureaucratic， and nonpartisan manner.”

One of the most high-profile members to confirm his attendance was Elon Musk - the founder of Tesla and SpaceX - who said he would be offering“suggestions” for changes to the temporary immigration policies.

Another of the companies to say it has been affected by the travel ban is the Cleveland Clinic.

A spokeswoman for the medical services firm said its chief executive， Toby Cosgrove， would be attending the meeting as it was a “good opportunity”to talk directly to the President about his agenda.