Former GE CEO Jeff Immelt says he’s not going to be the CEO of Uber.
After weeks of being considered for the top job, Immelt tweeted:
I have decided not to pursue a leadership position at Uber. I have immense respect for the company & founders – Travis, Garrett and Ryan.
— Jeff Immelt (@JeffImmelt) August 27, 2017
He says it was his decision. HP Enterprise CEO Meg Whitman recently tweeted something similar. (The NYTimes and Recode are reporting that she may get an offer anyway.)
While Immelt didn’t state a reason, it’s possible that he didn’t like that Uber’s board has been embroiled in lawsuits and other drama.
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The company has been searching for a permanent CEO ever since Travis Kalanick resigned in June. His departure followed months of negative publicity about Uber’s company culture and a patent lawsuit with Waymo, the self-driving car division of Google parent, Alphabet.
Kalanick remains on the board and has been sued by early investor Benchmark, which holds another board seat.
The stakes are high for the $68 billion company. This valuation is just paper money until a liquidity event, like an IPO or acquisition.
The co-founders and early investors own stakes potentially worth billions of dollars. The recent turmoil at the company has put undue pressure on the founders and investors, who want to make sure their golden goose lays the eggs.
