Uber cofounder Travis Kalanick peaces out with $2.5 billion

Travis Kalanick is out at Uber — for good this time.

The former CEO and cofounder of the company announced Tuesday that he was leaving the board of directors. By this time next week, he’s outta there.

He was ousted as CEO in 2017, when former Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi took over, but he remained on the board. Kalanick even testified on behalf of Uber in the 2018 Waymo v. Uber trial concerning self-driving technology trade secrets.

After Uber went public in May, Kalanick waited patiently for the time he could cash in all his Uber shares. And cash in he did as soon as the November lockup deadline lifted. Now he has a healthy $2.5 billion from Uber stock as he ventures further into new projects like his ghost kitchen startup and investment company. 

He even had a pat little quote in a press release about his board departure: “Uber has been a part of my life for the past 10 years. At the close of the decade, and with the company now public, it seems like the right moment for me to focus on my current business and philanthropic pursuits.”

Kalanick went on to wish Uber well, but it’s hard to ignore that his big payout comes as the company’s IPO fails spectacularly. Uber stock is at $30.44. It opened around $40. Kalanick is making out like a bandit, while other Uber “tech zillionaires” never materialized. 

Competitor Lyft isn’t doing much better, down to $45 a share from a nearly $80 opening. 

For the juicy details on Kalanick’s first departure back in 2017 and the history that led up to that moment, may we suggest reading Super Pumped? It has plenty of Uber drama to keep this saga going into the next decade. His infamous legacy lives on no matter what his board status says.