Uber is removing two of its highest ranking executives in a shake-up announced by CEO Dara Khosrowshahi in an email to employees on June 7.
Uber $UBER is removing two of its highest ranking executives in a shake-up announced by CEO Dara Khosrowshahi in an email to employees on June 7.
“I now have the ability to be even more involved in the day-to-day operations of our biggest businesses, the core platform of Rides and Eats, and have decided they should report directly to me,” Khosrowshahi wrote in the email, according to CNBC. The shift means eliminating Uber’s chief operating officer and chief marketing officer positions, and consolidating the company into fewer divisions.
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Khosrowshahi says he and Uber COO Barney Harford, who took on the role last January, came to the decision together. “Barney and I have agreed that the COO role no longer makes sense, and he’s decided to leave Uber,” Khosrowshahi writes. CMO Rebecca Messina is leaving eight months after joining the company in October.
Uber’s marketing, communications, and policy teams will also be merged into one division, led by Jill Hazelbaker, who previously served as senior vice president of communications and public policy. Khosrowshahi described Uber’s brand as “challenged,” and said it needs “a consistent, unified narrative to consumers, partners, the press, and policymakers.”
The streamlining follows an underwhelming IPO for Uber in May. The company continues to struggle mightily with turning a profit. “There’s never really a right time to announce departures or changes like this,” Khosrowshahi wrote. “But with the IPO behind us, I felt this was a good moment to simplify our org and set us up for the future.”
