After several scandals, the founder of the ride-hailing service Uber had to withdraw from the company.
(Photo: Reuters)
new York Actually, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi wanted to focus on offsetting the consequences of the pandemic. The Californian mobility service, which has been public since 2019, is urgently looking for drivers to reduce the long waiting times and significantly increased prices. The group also wants to better compensate drivers for the significantly higher petrol prices, Khosrowshahi assured in June. But now Uber’s past is catching up with him.
The British newspaper “The Guardian” was given extensive internal data from the years 2013 to 2017, when Uber was still managed by founder Travis Kalanick. The newspaper shared them with some other media.
The analyzes published on Sunday evening show, among other things, the dubious methods with which the Silicon Valley company gained access to the European markets and protected itself from access by the police authorities.
Kalanick had to resign after several scandals, but became a billionaire with the IPO. Uber’s backers included Menlo Ventures, Google Ventures, Microsoft, Fidelity and Softbank’s Vision Fund, among others.
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Uber Files: Data leak on lobbying work puts pressure on Macron
Among other things, the role of the current French President Emmanuel Macron, who is said to have personally campaigned for Uber during his time as Finance Minister, caused a sensation. There are said to have been four meetings between Uber boss Kalanick and Macron, reports the French newspaper “Le Monde”. A secret agreement is said to have come about, which is said to have made Uber’s business easier.
As finance minister, Macron “of course exchanged views with numerous companies,” said a government spokesman. It was also about lifting certain administrative or regulatory blocks.
On the other hand, Uber had lost his teeth to Olaf Scholz, then mayor of the city of Hamburg. He is said to have insisted that the drivers get the minimum wage. A top manager then labeled him “a true comedian,” writes the Guardian.
Uber had emergency buttons during raids
The documents also appear to provide insight into the details of Uber’s “kill switch”. With this kind of digital “emergency stop”, Uber is said to have made it difficult for authorities to access important data during searches. For example, during a raid in Amsterdam, the company’s own computer systems were blocked, according to the “Uber Files”. That was personally ordered by Kalanick, as the Guardian quotes from emails.
The then Uber boss “never authorized actions that would impede justice in any country,” said his spokesman. He also “never suggested that Uber should benefit from violence at the expense of driver safety.”
In addition, the founder explicitly demanded that Uber drivers deliberately go near protests by taxi drivers, where there was a risk that they would end violently.
Among other things, the documents document how Uber organized a large counter-demonstration after protests against the company in France in 2016, with “15,000 drivers” and “50,000 customers”, as Kalanick wrote in chat messages published by the “Washington Post”. He therefore downplayed the risk of possible aggressive behavior on the part of the other side: “If we have 50,000 passengers, they will not and cannot do anything.” At the same time, he seemed to take risks: “I think it’s worth it. Violence guarantees success.”
Uber stock has had little reaction to Uber Files so far
Uber manager Jill Hazelbaker wrote to the “Washington Post”: “There are many things that our then boss said almost a decade ago that we would not tolerate today.” But nobody at Uber was ever happy about violence against a driver . Kalanick’s spokesman also replied that he had never suggested that Uber capitalize on violence against drivers.
“We have never made excuses for past behavior and have no intention of doing so. Instead, we’re asking the public to rate us on what we’ve done over the past five years and what we plan to do in the future.”
Uber’s share price has lost around half its value since the beginning of the year, but reacted only weakly to the publications on Sunday evening after trading.
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