NYT Article About Uber CEO
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A long New York Times article chronicles Uber CEO Travis Kalanick's rise to power and what has happened since. He certainly has built a successful company, but his leadership character is not ideal.
We have seen many reports of ignored complaints and executive departures and have seen the video altercation between Kalanick and an Uber driver. The latest report is about Uber's violation of an Apple rule against "fingerprinting." Uber was tracking iPhone users even after they deleted the Uber app.
The NYT tells of a meeting between Kalanick and Apple CEO Tim Cook in 2015. In the article, "Uber's CEO Plays with Fire," we learned that Cook summoned Kalanick to his office. Surprisingly, Kalanick "was shaken by Mr. Cook's scolding, according to a person who saw him after the meeting."
He should have been: if Apple decided to remove Uber's app from iPhones, the company could have lost millions of users.
Discussion:
- Although Kalanick may have been "shaken" by the meeting, it doesn't seem to have affected his leadership tactics. Do you agree, or is this too harsh?
- Read the article. What else do you learn about Kalanick? How, if at all, does it change your impression of him as a leader?
