Cab aggregator Uber’s new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi addressed employees on Wednesday and said that the company has to change its culture and may go for an initial public offering (IPO) in 18-36 months.
48 year-old, Khosrowshahi has been leading his travel-booking platform Expedia Inc. for 12 years and recently joined Uber as its CEO and was seen on Wednesday in Uber’s San Francisco headquarters with his new badge.
#mynewbadge. I checked it and it works! Does @karaswisher have one of these? pic.twitter.com/SfXDjWeJYP
— dara khosrowshahi (@dkhos) August 30, 2017
His plans include rebuilding Uber’s culture and growing market share as well as possibly conducting an IPO in 18 to 36 months, according to people who attended the meeting. It is common for venture capital-backed companies to signal an IPO at a vague time in the future.
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Khosrowshahi also asked for change and said that what has got them here is not going to take them to next level as per the tweets by Uber Communications.
.@dkhos: “This company has to change. What got us here is not what’s going to get us to the next level.”
— Uber Comms (@Uber_Comms) August 30, 2017
The appointment of Khosrowshahi, who described himself as “a fighter”, comes as Uber is trying to recover from a series of crises that culminated in the ouster of former CEO Travis Kalanick in June. It is also a key step towards filling a gaping hole in its top management that at the moment has no chief financial officer, head of engineering or general counsel.
In his first meeting with Uber employees, Khosrowshahi emphasized recruiting new talent—particularly a chief financial officer—as well as a chairman to help him run the board, according to tweets from Uber.
Travis also attended the staff meeting and welcomed his replacement in the company.
“Casting a vote for the next chief executive of Uber was a big moment for me and I couldn’t be happier to pass the torch to such an inspiring leader,” Kalanick said.
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