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Rallying the troops at his first meeting, Uber’s new CEO commits to an IPO in 18-36 months
Incoming Uber Technologies Inc. Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi rallied the troops at his first attendance at a staff meeting on Wednesday, committing the ride-hailing giant to an initial public offering in 18 to 36 months.
Introduced by former CEO Travis Kalanick (pictured, left center), Khosrowshahi (right center), wearing an Uber t-shirt, first explained how he was approached to apply for the job, before committing to be open with employees. “I am going to be totally transparent with you. I am not going to bullshit you,” he said. “The thing I’ve found in life is that the higher up you get in an organization, the less you know about what’s going on because people start holding back.”
He added, “The only way that I seem to combat that is to be absolutely honest with you and to be completely straight and authentic with you. Hopefully, that will allow me to deserve the same right back from you. I am not going to bullshit you, and I would ask that you not bullshit me.”
Continuing his remarks, Khosrowshahi declared that there was a battle ahead and that he was a fighter who would fight with staff. Then he seemed to apologize for using “male metaphors,” clearly aware that in a hypercharged environment surrounding sexual harassment that he didn’t want to get himself into any serious trouble at his first staff meeting.
Recognizing the nearly never-ending list of troubles plaguing Uber over the last year, Khosrowshahi committed to reform, saying the company has to change as “what got us here is not what’s going to get us to the next level.”
The one surprise was Khosrowshahi’s commitment to taking Uber public, a marked change in policy from Kalanick, who said in 2016 that the company was going “to take as long as possible to go public.”
Although 18 to 36 months could stretch as far as 2020, a potential future Uber IPO would be groundbreaking because, at $50 billion, it’s the “unicorn” startup with the highest paper valuation. What’s more, it has raised $8.8 billion, a near-record high in the technology business. The previous largest float of a tech company was Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd., which floated on a valuation of $25 billion in 2014.
Photo: Arianna Huffington/Uber
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