Chief Executive of Uber, Travis Kalanick has resigned following pressure from shareholders and investors that he should step aside from the ride-sharing company he helped found in 2009.
Despite his resignation, Mr Kalanick will remain on the board of the firm.
“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 by another fight,” Kalanick said in a statement first reported by the New York Times and verified by an Uber spokesman.
His resignation comes on the heels of practices at the firm and scandals including an allegation of sexual harassment against him.
Kalanick had said last week that he was taking an indefinite leave of absence.
Five major Uber investors demanded Mr Kalanick’s immediate resignation in a letter on Tuesday.
Mr. Kalanick heeded the demand of the investors saying that he was stepping aside in the interest of the company.
Uber Technologies Inc. is an American technology company headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States, operating in 570 cities worldwide. It develops, markets and operates the Uber car transportation and food delivery mobile apps. Uber drivers use their own car, although drivers can rent a car to drive with Uber.
The resignation of Kalanick is also symbolic for Uber in Nigeria. Ebi Atawodi, Uber’s Country Manager in Nigeria has resigned after starting up with the ride-hailing company in Lagos.
Taxify, a European startup has since this year upped its competitive fervour with Uber in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.
