Former Uber Technologies Inc Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick named two new directors on Friday without consulting new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi or any of the board members, Bloomberg reported. Kalanick announced that he had appointed former CEO of Xerox Corp Ursula Burns and former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain to the board of directors.
“I am appointing these seats now in light of a recent proposal to dramatically restructure the board and significantly alter the company’s voting rights,” Kalanick, who had resigned as Uber’s CEO on June 20, said in an email to Bloomberg. “It is therefore essential that the full board be in place for proper deliberation to occur, especially with such experienced board members as Ursula [Burns] and John [Thain].”
The appointments come four days before Uber’s board of directors is supposed to vote on a plan to revamp the company’s corporate governance policy.
The ride-sharing firm, however, has been taken aback by the appointments. “The appointments of Burns and Thain to the board of directors came as a complete surprise to Uber,” said the company. “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.”
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