Technology

What is Travis Kalanick’s net worth? See how he spends his fortune

Published

6 years ago

November 12, 2018

Rachel Premack

Travis Kalanick is worth $5.45 billion.Reuters

Travis Kalanick‘s net worth is $5.45 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Kalanick keeps his personal life fairly under wraps, but it’s clear he spends much of his fortune on real estate and travel.
He has no clear ventures into philanthropy.

Travis Kalanick co-founded Uber in 2009. But, after a series of scandals and a workplace culture where discrimination and sexual harassment were the norm, Kalanick resigned as CEO in 2017.

Though he’s no longer leading the global ride-hailing company, Kalanick remains wealthy. He’s worth $5.45 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Here’s how he spends his fortune:

Travis Kalanick presently has a reported net worth of $5.45 billion. Much of that is from holding 7% of Uber’s stock, a company now valued at $76 billion.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

As Business Insider previously reported, he was, up until recently, relatively “cash-poor for a billionaire.” But his liquid assets saw a boost after he sold $1.4 billion in Uber shares to Japanese tech giant SoftBank.

Kimberly White/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize

Source: Business Insider

Kalanick grew up in the middle-income Los Angeles neighborhood of Northridge. He wanted to be a spy when he grew up.

David McNew/Getty Images

Source: Business Insider, LA Times

Kalanick went to UCLA, but didn’t graduate. That’s because he dropped out to help found Scour, a peer-to-peer search engine.

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Source: Business Insider

Far from wealthy at that point, Kalanick was collecting unemployment checks while working full-time on Scour. A group of entertainment companies sued Scour for $250 million, forcing the start-up to fold.

imgarcade.com

Source: Business Insider

Kalanick quickly rebounded with RedSwoosh, a networking software company that he called his “revenge business.” He co-founded Red Swoosh in 2000, and then sold it for $23 million in 2007.

Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

Source: Business Insider

The earnings from Red Swoosh made Kalanick a millionaire. He took a year off in 2007, after selling the company, and went to Spain, Japan, Greece, Iceland, Greenland, Hawaii, France, Australia, Portugal, Cape Verde, and Senegal.

Shutterstock/S.R.Lee Photo Traveller

Source: Business Insider

The lavish lifestyle that followed Kalanick’s sudden rise to millionaire status in the late 2000s also helped foster the idea for creating Uber. He and his friends spent $800 on a private driver one New Year’s — so he started thinking about ways to make black cab service more economical.

Thomson Reuters

Source: Business Insider

Uber was then founded in 2009. But nowadays, Kalanick has his own private driver. A series of accusations against the company’s workplace and ethics eventually led to Kalanick leaving in 2017.

Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

Source: The New York Times, Business Insider

Back on dry land, Kalanick splits his time between New York and his hometown of Los Angeles.

Sean Pavone/Shutterstock

Source: The Wall Street Journal

New York City, with its plentiful taxis, bike lanes, and public transit options is a good place for Kalanick to settle down… because, as of June 2016, the Uber co-founder reportedly only had an expired driver’s license.

Ryan DeBerardinis/Shutterstock

Source: The Verge

But Kalanick does own a 1999 BMW M3, albeit one with a broken alternator. If he bought when it was released, it would have been $45,000.

Source: The Verge, Autotrader

While we don’t know much about Kalanick’s Los Angeles pad, but we do know he just bought a $36.4 million apartment in Manhattan. It’s the penthouse at the under-construction 565 Broome SoHo — a 30-story luxury apartment building.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Elliman

Real estate is definitely the name of the game in Kalanick’s post-Uber world. In March, he bought City Storage Systems, which redevelops underused industry, retail and parking sites, for $150 million. He then made himself CEO. “There are over $10 trillion in these real estate assets that will need to be repurposed for the digital era,” he tweeted after the acquisition.

Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Source: Mercury News

That acquisition was funded by Kalanick’s new investment fund, 10100. It’s dedicated to funding promising firms in e-commerce and real estate, as well as emerging tech in China and India.

Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Source: Crunchbase

As for what Kalanick’s own philanthropic efforts, it’s not clear how he gives back with his $5.5 billion fortune, or what he intends to do with his money after he dies. A source close to Kalanick said he has “no interest, from what I can tell, in philanthropy.”

Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Source: New York Magazine

Instead, he seems intent on doing good through capitalism. He’s mentioned Uber programs where gifts are delivered to less fortunate children during the holidays and supplies delivered to displaced people leaving Syria.

Source: Salesforce

In his new job leading investment fund 10100, he said in March that he’s focusing on “large-scale job creation.” But, as the LA Times pointed out, it’s not clear what sort of jobs he plans on creating. “At Uber, Kalanick was criticized for kickstarting an entire sector of the tech industry reliant on contract workers rather than employees,” the LA Times’ David Pierson wrote. “Uber itself is expected to someday replace its drivers with autonomous vehicles.”

Money Sharma/AFP/Getty Images

Source: LA Times

The Televisor

What is Travis Kalanick’s net worth? See how he spends his fortune

Travis Kalanick presently has a reported net worth of $5.45 billion. Much of that is from holding 7% of Uber’s stock, a company now valued at $76 billion.

As Business Insider previously reported, he was, up until recently, relatively “cash-poor for a billionaire.” But his liquid assets saw a boost after he sold $1.4 billion in Uber shares to Japanese tech giant SoftBank.

Kalanick grew up in the middle-income Los Angeles neighborhood of Northridge. He wanted to be a spy when he grew up.

Kalanick went to UCLA, but didn’t graduate. That’s because he dropped out to help found Scour, a peer-to-peer search engine.

Far from wealthy at that point, Kalanick was collecting unemployment checks while working full-time on Scour. A group of entertainment companies sued Scour for $250 million, forcing the start-up to fold.

Kalanick quickly rebounded with RedSwoosh, a networking software company that he called his “revenge business.” He co-founded Red Swoosh in 2000, and then sold it for $23 million in 2007.

The earnings from Red Swoosh made Kalanick a millionaire. He took a year off in 2007, after selling the company, and went to Spain, Japan, Greece, Iceland, Greenland, Hawaii, France, Australia, Portugal, Cape Verde, and Senegal.

The lavish lifestyle that followed Kalanick’s sudden rise to millionaire status in the late 2000s also helped foster the idea for creating Uber. He and his friends spent $800 on a private driver one New Year’s — so he started thinking about ways to make black cab service more economical.

Uber was then founded in 2009. But nowadays, Kalanick has his own private driver. A series of accusations against the company’s workplace and ethics eventually led to Kalanick leaving in 2017.

Back on dry land, Kalanick splits his time between New York and his hometown of Los Angeles.

New York City, with its plentiful taxis, bike lanes, and public transit options is a good place for Kalanick to settle down… because, as of June 2016, the Uber co-founder reportedly only had an expired driver’s license.

But Kalanick does own a 1999 BMW M3, albeit one with a broken alternator. If he bought when it was released, it would have been $45,000.

While we don’t know much about Kalanick’s Los Angeles pad, but we do know he just bought a $36.4 million apartment in Manhattan. It’s the penthouse at the under-construction 565 Broome SoHo — a 30-story luxury apartment building.

That acquisition was funded by Kalanick’s new investment fund, 10100. It’s dedicated to funding promising firms in e-commerce and real estate, as well as emerging tech in China and India.

As for what Kalanick’s own philanthropic efforts, it’s not clear how he gives back with his $5.5 billion fortune, or what he intends to do with his money after he dies. A source close to Kalanick said he has “no interest, from what I can tell, in philanthropy.”

Instead, he seems intent on doing good through capitalism. He’s mentioned Uber programs where gifts are delivered to less fortunate children during the holidays and supplies delivered to displaced people leaving Syria.

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