Jeffrey Immelt, the former CEO of the American conglomerate General Electric (GE,) has emerged as the front runner to become the CEO of global taxi hailing startup Uber. Recode reported, according to numerous sources with knowledge of the situation, Jeff Immelt may be the next CEO of the company.
According to media reports, Uber’s board is expected to make a decision and vote for a new CEO within the next two weeks. Although a majority of the board is leaning towards Immelt, there still are two other candidates in the running. Uber has been looking for a new chief executive officer to lead the company since the former CEO and cofounder Travis Kalanick was asked to resign in June.
Uber has had numerous holes in its executive team after losing multiple executives this year including their chief financial officer and chief operating officer. The company has also had to face a storm of allegations and the former CEO is also currently facing a lawsuit from early investor Benchmark Capital for fraud. Therefore, according to Record, the board is coming together and hoping the experienced Immelt can settle things down for the company.
Speaking about Immelt, one source told Recode, “He certainly is not someone anyone can push around easily, which is probably his best characteristic. We all know Immelt’s not the dynamic entrepreneur that Travis is, but he can certainly settle things down.” The source also added the board knows it is never going to be a perfect choice but they need someone with skills to move the company along.
Arianna Huffington is one of Immelt’s earliest and strongest supporters and he is also backed by several other directors. But a few directors remain undecided including venture capitalist firm Benchmark. Media reports suggest that neither of the other two candidates is a woman despite many insiders and outsiders urging the company to appoint a woman to its top role. The board is said to be looking for someone who can quickly deal with a number of pressing and problematic issues including the recruitment of numerous top executives, the worsening morale among employees, leadership problems and other regulatory messes that cropped up during Kalanick’s tenure.
Jeffery Immelt retired as the CEO of GE in June this year and was replaced by John Flannery. Investors and employees criticized his tenure at GE because the stock was trading at a lower level when he stepped down than it was when he took over in 2001.
It was also reported Kalanick was trying to ‘Steve Jobs it’ back into his Uber CEO spot but fellow board member and co founder Garrett Camp, squashed all rumours saying Kalanick would not be returning to Uber to fill his prior role.
