According to latest reports, Dara Khosrowshahi, the chief executive of Expedia Inc., has been selected to head Uber Technologies Inc.
Reports said that Uber’s board of directors had preferred Khosrowshahi. He is also poised to accept the job offer, although according to publications he is yet to reach any agreement. Uber had yet to confirm the news. “The Board has voted and will announce the decision to the employees first,” company’s representative said in a statement.
The verdict caps a turbulent search for a alternate for Ex-CEO Travis Kalanick, who was ousted in June after a shareholder uprising following a series of scandals at the company. In the most recent event, General Electric Chairman Jeff Immelt dropped out of the running. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. HPE, CEO Meg Whitman was said to be another top choice and spoke to Uber’s board Saturday, although she maintained openly that she was not paying attention in the job.
Meanwile according to various sources, Khosrowshahi is seen as a compromise choice by the board. Kalanick had backed Immelt, but the venture-capital company Benchmark, a major Uber shareholder, backed Whitman. Kalanick was in fact looking to keep a large amount of control with the board, a vision that Whitman opposed.
Furthermore Khosrowshahi has steered Expedia, since 2005, and is recognized with leading its worldwide expansion through its online-travel brands, which include Expedia.com, Hotels.com and Hotwire.
In addition currently is valued at about $70 billion. Recently Uber said it minimized its quarterly loss, to $645 million, and posted its gross bookings doubled.
Uber also said it had $6.6 billion in cash assets, down from about $7.2 billion as of the end of March.