Travis Kalanick Appoints Two New Directors To The Uber Board

The founder and former CEO of taxi hailing startup Uber, Travis Kalanick, has appointed two new board members to the company’s board in a surprise move. The power play will help Kalanick increase his power and sow more discord at the San Francisco based ride hailing company.

Kalanick named former Xerox chairwoman and CEO Ursula Burns and former Merrill Lynch chairman and CEO John Thain as the directors to the two disputed board seats. The move is significant because Kalanick’s power to appoint these board seats was the subject of a lawsuit and the appointment gives Burns and Lynch the voting rights in the world’s largest private company. A $3.5 billion investment from a Saudi fund gave Kalanick the power over 3 board seats in 2016. Kalanick named himself to one of the three seats after he was ousted from the company in June and reserved the right to appoint the other two positions.

The move, according to sources, may be in order to head off a planned vote on Tuesday that would rework the company’s corporate governance, giving Kalanick two votes on his side. In a tweet, Kalanick announced the appointment of the two newest members to the board.

In a statement, Kalanick further added that he was appointing these seats now in light of a recent Board proposal to dramatically restructure the Board and significantly alter the company’s voting rights. “It is therefore essential that the full Board be in place for proper deliberation to occur, especially with such experienced board members as Ursula and John,” he added.

This move comes after early investor Benchmark asked potential investor SoftBank to guarantee to block any attempt made to elevate Travis Kalanick back to the company’s top ranks. But the decision came as a complete surprise to the other Uber board members. In a statement, the Uber board said, “The appointments of Ms. Burns and Mr. Thain to Uber’s Board of Directors came as a complete surprise to Uber and its Board. That is precisely why we are working to put in place world-class governance to ensure that we are building a company every employee and shareholder can be proud of.”