Uber president Jeff Jones left the taxi-hailing firm after just six months in the job because working at Uber was incompatible with his values, he said.
Jones’s departure is the latest blow to the San Francisco-based company, after revelations of a secret programme to evade law enforcement, allegations of workplace discrimination and sexual harassment, and a string of departures of high-level executives.
He told the tech blog Recode, which first reported his resignation: “The beliefs and approach to leadership that have guided my career are inconsistent with what I saw and experienced at Uber, and I can no longer continue as president of the ride-sharing business.”
The embattled company confirmed that Jones had quit. “We want to thank Jeff for his six months at the company and wish him all the best,” it said.
Jones’s departure comes days after Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick said the company will hire a chief operating officer who can help write its “next chapter”. He had been performing some of those COO responsibilities. Jones joined Uber in September from US retailer Target, where he was chief marketing officer.
He is the one of several senior executives who have left Uber in recent weeks. Uber’s vice-president of maps and business platform, Brian McClendon, said separately he plans to leave the company at the end of the month to explore politics.
Last month, its top engineering executive, Amit Singhal, left five weeks after his appointment was announced. He allegedly failed to disclose he had left his previous job at Google because of a sexual harassment allegation.
The same week, Ed Baker, Uber’s vice-president of product and growth, resigned, and then Charlie Miller, its top security researcher, left to join Didi, China’s larger ride-hailing company.
A recent video showed Kalanick profanely berating a driver who confronted him about steep cuts in Uber’s rates.
The company also faces allegations of sexual harassment and gender discrimination levied by a former employee, Susan Fowler. Following Fowler’s publication of a blogpost detailing her experience at the company, Uber launched an investigation, led by former attorney general Eric Holder and board member Arianna Huffington.
The New York Times reported that for years Uber used a tool called Greyball to systematically deceive law enforcement officials in cities where its service violated regulations. Uber has defended the programme.
The company also faces challenges in court. Waymo, a self-driving car company that used to be part of Google, last month sued Uber in federal court, alleging betrayal and hi-tech espionage. Uber has denied the claims, calling them “a baseless attempt to slow down a competitor”.
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