Uber’s Travis Kalanick may no longer by the chief executive of the ride-hailing service but he is continuing to flex his muscles at the firm, recently appointing two new board members.
In a statement, Kalanick revealed that Xerox chief executive Ursula Burns and former Merrill Lynch chief executive John Thain will join Uber as directors in a move which the rest of Uber’s board says was a surprise.
“I am appointing these seats now in light of a recent board proposal to dramatically restructure the board and significantly alter the company’s voting rights. It is therefore essential that the full board be in place for proper deliberation to occur, especially with such experienced board members as Ursula and John,” Kalanick said.
The appointment of these two board members comes not long after Uber shareholder, Benchmark Capital, filed a lawsuit to get Kalanick off the board and to force him to relinquish his ability to appoint two new members. This lawsuit was ultimately pushed into arbitration and the outcomes aren’t public knowledge.
It is reported that Benchmark Capital or other Uber investors may attempt to block Kalanick’s appointments by pleading with a Delaware judge to issue a “status-quo order.”
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