According to a new report from Bloomberg, Uber cofounder and former CEO Travis Kalanick is looking to sell almost a third of his shares in the ride-hailing company. Such a sell would net Kalanick roughly $1.4 billion…
Kalanick’s sell will come as part of SoftBank Group’s agreement to buy a 14 percent stake in Uber, valuing the company at $48 billion. That’s much less than earlier valuations, which hovered around $69 billion.
Today’s report explains that Kalanick originally had offered to sell around half of his stake in Uber, but that ultimately didn’t happen due to limits outlined previously between Uber and the buyers, thus putting him at selling 29 percent of his shares. Kalanick owns a 10 percent chunk of the company.
The Uber co-founder, who is already one of the wealthiest people in the world on paper, would officially become a billionaire for the first time as a result of his $1.4 billion offload. Furthermore, Kalanick’s sale is notable as, prior to Uber’s reputation hit, he often touted that he had “never sold a single Uber share.”
Kalanick, who owns 10 percent of the company, had offered to sell as much as half of his stake — the maximum board members were allowed to tender.
Kalanick was pressured out of Uber last year due to growing controversies and allegations regarding the working environment he created. Evidence mounted concerning both technical misconduct and sexual harassment, ultimately leading to his departure. Kalanick was replaced by Dara Khosrowshahi, who is attempting to turn Uber’s image around despite the company’s missteps and troubles.
Once the SoftBank deal is officially closed later this month, governance reforms will go into place that signficantly reduce Kalanick’s role at Uber.
