Uber Technologies has appointed Expedia Inc’s official Dara Khosrowshahi as its chief executive officer, Bloomberg quoted two unidentified officials as saying on Monday. A spokeswoman for the company acknowledged that a successor to head the controversy-hit firm had been selected but did not confirm the identity. Expedia officials declined to comment on the matter, the report said.
If confirmed, Khosrowshahi will have to take over several challenges from his predecessor and Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick, who was forced to step down following numerous scandals involving the management of the company. The new chief will also have to tackle preparations for the unscheduled initial public offering as well as a trade secrets suit filed by Alphabet’s Waymo.
The ride-hailing firm was under the scanner over allegations of a hostile work culture, for women in particular. An investigation, led by former United States Attorney General Eric Holder had made a total of 47 recommendations to revamp Uber. These included setting up a board oversight committee, banning romantic relationships between employees and their immediate superiors, reducing the amount of alcohol at office events and completely restructuring Uber’s values.
The investigation began after a former employee alleged sexual harassment and sexism at the company in a blogpost in February 2017. The woman, who had worked for Uber between November 2015 and December 2016, had further alleged that the company’s human resources department did not act on her accusations.
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