[UPDATE: Uber has confirmed the news…]
It was reported Friday night that Apple Music exec Bozoma Saint John was planning to leave the company one year after her widely praised on stage debut at WWDC 2016. Saint John drove Apple Music’s marketing effort after joining the company through Apple’s Beats acquisition. Now TechCrunch reports that Bozoma Saint John’s next role will be at Uber…
Bozoma Saint John’s LinkedIn still lists her position at Apple as current and does not yet mention the reported move to Uber, and the move hasn’t been publicized outside of press reports so far.
Saint John was notably absent from yesterday’s WWDC 2017 keynote address, however, after a widely-praised Apple Music presentation the year before. (Eddy Cue was also off stage for the nearly two-and-a-half hour keynote, although Apple Music was mainly presented in the context of the new HomePod speaker and not an app update.)
As for the ‘recent issues’ that Saint John could be tasked with putting behind Uber, there are certainly many. Uber’s CEO Travis Kalanick has been the source of controversy time and again due to his company’s handling of sexual harassment claims among female employees, a hidden video released showing him arguing with an Uber driver, and a location-tracking incident that ended in a private scolding from Apple CEO Tim Cook, which have all contributed to a #DeleteUber campaign against the ride sharing service.
