Benchmark, a Silicon Valley venture-capital firm that is one of Uber’s largest shareholders, filed suit against the former CEO in an attempt to remove him from Uber’s board.
SAN FRANCISCO — Travis Kalanick, who built Uber into a transportation behemoth, was ousted as CEO of the ride-hailing company in June by unhappy investors. Now one of those investors has escalated the battle by suing Kalanick, claiming fraud and other transgressions, in an attempt to remove him from Uber’s board.
Benchmark, a Silicon Valley venture-capital firm that is one of Uber’s largest shareholders, filed suit against Kalanick on Thursday in Delaware Chancery Court, accusing the former CEO of fraud, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty.
At the heart of the suit is how Kalanick obtained outsize control of several Uber board seats in 2016, which Benchmark said he achieved through “material misstatements and fraudulent concealment” of information.
The entrepreneur’s “overarching objective is to pack Uber’s Board with loyal allies in an effort to insulate his prior conduct from scrutiny and clear the path for his eventual return as CEO — all to the detriment of Uber’s stockholders, employees, driver-partners, and customers,” the suit said.
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The suit added that Kalanick’s position on Uber’s board “is thus improper and inequitable, and should be invalidated.”
The move marked a new level of power politicking over wresting control of the fate of Uber, the privately held company that is valued at nearly $70 billion. Kalanick, who had built Uber up over the past eight years, stepped down in June after pressure from investors, leaving no clear successor, though he remained on Uber’s board.
Uber’s directors have since been fighting behind the scenes over matters including potential CEO candidates and new investment in the company. Kalanick has been active in those discussions, people with knowledge of Uber’s board have said.
Benchmark declined to comment further, and Uber declined to comment.
A spokesman for Kalanick said, “The lawsuit is completely without merit and riddled with lies and false allegations.” The spokesman said Benchmark was acting in “its own best interests” instead of those of Uber, and added that Kalanick “is confident that these entirely baseless claims will be rejected.”