It’s now official. Uber has now officially announced to its employees that Dara Khosrowshahi will be the new CEO of ride-hailing major Uber.
In a tweet shared by Uber board member Arianna Huffington, Uber sent a memo to its employees informing them about the appointment of their new CEO.
“We’re really fortunate to gain a leader with Dara’s experience, talent and vision. The board and the executive leadership team are confident that Dara is the best person to lead Uber into the future building world-class products, transforming cities, and adding value to the lives of drivers and riders around the world while continuously improving our culture and making Uber the best place to work,” the memo said.
Meanwhile, Dara too wrote to his employees at Expedia, informing them that he had officially taken the job as the CEO of Uber, reports Recode.
Calling it one of the toughest decisions of his life, he further wrote, “I’ve had the privilege to run Expedia for 12+ years now, and most of you who have been on this journey with me know it has not been easy going.”
He added that he is scared. “I’ve been here at Expedia for so long that I’ve forgotten what life is like outside this place. But the times of greatest learning for me have been when I’ve been through big changes, or taken on new roles — you have to move out of your comfort zone and develop muscles that you didn’t know you had,” he wrote.
Dara will be joining Uber on Wednesday at 10am Pacific.
Uber’s co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick too congratulated Dara.
“With a deep passion for team building, Dara grew Expedia into one of the world’s most successful travel and technology platforms. Casting a vote for the new chief executive was a big moment for me and I couldn’t be happier to pass the torch to such an inspiring leader,” he said in a statement.
It now remains to be seen if Dara can steer the world’s most well-funded startup out of all of its controversies and take it to new heights – like the Board would want him to.