Uber CEO Travis Kalanick takes indefinite leave of absence

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has announced that he will take an indefinite leave of absence after the company’s tumultuous past year.

The announcement comes after a slew of issues regarding policy, leadership and prejudice plaguing the transport company in 2017.

“For the last eight years my life has always been about Uber,” Kalanick wrote in a letter to employees, announcing his move.

“Recent events have brought home for me that people are more important than work, and that I need to take some time off of the day-to-day to grieve my mother, whom I buried on Friday, to reflect, to work on myself, and to focus on building out a world-class leadership team.”

Kalanick: ‘For Uber 2.0 to succeed there is nothing more important than dedicating my time to building out the leadership team’

The CEO also acknowledged weaknesses in his management style.

“For Uber 2.0 to succeed there is nothing more important than dedicating my time to building out the leadership team. But if we are going to work on Uber 2.0, I also need to work on Travis 2.0 to become the leader that this company needs and that you deserve,” he adds.

While Kalanick will not be involved in Uber’s daily operations for the foreseeable future, he has however noted that he will be available for strategic decision making. The company’s leadership team will continue to run Uber in his stead.

When Kalanick does return though, Uber has confirmed that it will be in a reduced capacity.

The transport company has also shed seven other individuals in key positions in the past year, including former president Jeff Jones and head of self-driving Anthony Levandowski.

Feature image: Strelka Institute/Ivan Gushchin via Flickr (CC 2.0 BY, resized)