‘Nobody is Perfect’: Some Uber Employees Balk at Travis Kalanick’s Exit
With Jeff Holden, a product executive at the company, Mr. York helped Mr. Kalanick formulate Uber’s now-infamous list of 14 cultural values a few
years ago, according to two people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
“Nobody is perfect, but I fundamentally believe he can evolve into the leader Uber needs today and
that he’s critical to its success,” Mr. York wrote in an email to fellow Uber employees, titled “Supporting Travis.” “I want the board to hear from Uber employees that it’s [sic] made the wrong decision in pressuring Travis to leave and that he should be reinstated in an operational role.”
The 1,000 clicks the petition received represent a small fraction of Uber’s more than 15,000 employees.
Late Tuesday, Mr. Kalanick, 40, said he would step down as Uber’s chief executive after a coterie of investors
— including Benchmark, one of the company’s biggest shareholders — pushed for him to resign.
Starting late Wednesday, Uber employees circulated a petition asking the company’s board of directors to bring back Mr. Kalanick in an active role.
Mr. York is close to Mr. Kalanick.
The employee petition began when Michael York, a product manager, called for people to rally their support around Mr. Kalanick.
By MIKE ISAAC and KATIE BENNERJUNE 22, 2017
Uber and its investors are facing a backlash over Travis Kalanick’s departure as chief executive — particularly from employees.
Mr. Kalanick’s resignation stunned many in Silicon Valley who viewed his position as secure, because he holds plenty of Uber’s stock
and because he built the ride-hailing service into a nearly $70 billion company in just eight years.
