Jeff Jones resigns as president of Uber
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Jeff Jones, president of ride-sharing company Uber Technologies, announced his resignation on Sunday. Jones was hired last October to helm the company that is known for their ride-sharing application, Uber, which has a reported 40 million monthly users.
Recently in Jones's presidency of Uber, the ride-sharing company was involved in numerous controversies surrounding an alleged culture of sexism at the company, stemming from allegations blogged by Susan Fowler, a former Uber engineer, claiming sexual harassment against her and other women working for Uber.
In a statement to tech blog Recode, Jones claimed the situation he was working with at Uber was one inconsistent with "the beliefs and approach to leadership that have guided my career" and he could not remain the company's president.
Jones, who was previously the Chief Marketing Officer at Target before joining Uber, came to the decision to resign after it was announced Uber would be hiring a Chief Operating Officer (COO) potentially outranking Jones.
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick confirmed the resignation in a statement to Uber staff, noting Jones "made an important impact on the company" in the six months he was in the role, noting his particular focus on Uber drivers and the delivery of Uber's first brand reputation study.
Kalanick first announced his intentions to hire a COO earlier in March after footage surfaced of him arguing about rate cuts with an Uber driver.
Sources
- Dave Lee. "Uber President Jeff Jones steps down" — BBC News Online, March 20, 2017
- Reuters. "Uber president Jeff Jones quits as turmoil continues" — The Australian, March 20, 2017
- Kara Swisher and Johana Bhuiyan. "Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting, citing differences over 'beliefs and approach to leadership'" — Recode, March 19, 2017
- Dave Lee. "Uber investigates 'abhorrent' sexism claims" — BBC News Online, February 20, 2017
- "Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber" — Susan J. Fowler, February 19, 2017
- Kia Kokalitcheva. "Uber Now Has 40 Million Monthly Riders Worldwide" — Fortune (magazine), October 20, 2016