Under pressure by the main shareholders, Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick has decided to step down as a CEO of the company. The information was confirmed to The New York Times by two people with knowledge of the situation, who asked "to remain anonymous because the details were confidential."
The newspaper managed to obtain a message sent by the major investors in the company to Kalanick, titled "Moving Uber Forward." Shortly after receiving the letter, and after long discussions with some of the investors, he agreed to step down and to remain in Uber's board of directors.
"I love Uber more than anything in the world and at this difficult moment in my personal life I have accepted the investors request to step aside so that Uber can go back to building rather than be distracted with another fight," Kalanick said in an official statement.
Uber was under pressure in the last months as it was exposed this year as unfriendly workplace with sexual harassment and discrimination. Also, the company has been dealing with intellectual property lawsuit from Waymo.
Last week, Kalanick announced he would take a leave of absence as chief executive to focus on his personal life and grieve for his mother, who died in May in a boating accident. But for five of the shareholders, this was not enough and they asked him to step down as a CEO permanently.
In their letter to Kalanick, the investors also asked for improved oversight of the company's board by filling two of three empty board seats with "truly independent directors," as The New York Times reports. They also demanded that Uber immediately hire an experienced chief financial officer.
"Over the next 180 days we are committed to making driving with Uber better than ever," the company said in a letter to its drivers, who work as contractors. "We know there's a long road ahead, but we won't stop until we get there."
