THE FALLOUT

This period (2017–2018) marked a turning point for Uber, as internal dysfunction and external pressures culminated in multiple investigations, leadership overhaul, and a forced cultural reset.

A Crisis of Leadership

Picture this: June 2017, and the boardroom tension is thicker than San Francisco fog. After a brutal year of scandals, Travis Kalanick, Uber’s once-untouchable founder—gets cornered by his own investors. The message is clear: step down or be pushed. He walks out, leaving an empire in chaos. Within weeks, his inner circle scatters. It’s a Silicon Valley Shakespearean drama—the king is dethroned, and the castle gates swing wide open.

The Price of Playing Dirty

The bill finally came due. While Uber was busy “disrupting,” regulators were building cases. A secret data breach? That’ll be $148 million, please. Deceiving local governments? Millions more in fines. But the real gut punch came from London and courts worldwide, where judges declared: “Your drivers aren’t contractors, they’re workers with rights.” Suddenly, the “gig economy” playbook was being rewritten in real time, and Uber was on the hook

The Great Clean-Up

Enter Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s new CEO and corporate janitor. His first job? Scrubbing the “bro culture” stain. Out went “Always Be Hustlin’.” In came “We Do the Right Thing. Period.” (Yes, they actually added the “Period.”) Emergency buttons, driver benefits, transparency measures—Uber 2.0 was getting a moral makeover. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was necessary. This wasn’t just damage control; it was a full-blown corporate exorcism to prepare for one thing: going public without the baggage.