The above video features audio of former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick introducing his successor, Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Audio of Khosrowshahi is embedded lower in this post.
Uber held an all-hands meeting on Wednesday, during which former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick introduced his successor, Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.
A source at the meeting leaked audio exclusively to Yahoo Finance, revealing several memorable moments. Those included Kalanick shedding tears as he kicked off the all-hands, Khosrowshahi discussing how the Uber CEO role came his way, and the “three things” all Uber employees should know about him from the get-go.
“He believed in the mission,” Kalanick explained of Khosrowshahi. “He believed in the great people we have gathered for these game-changing efforts that we call Uber. That’s why we kept getting up, and that’s how we get through the hard part of the journey. It’s how we get to the next one.”
Khosrowshahi, for his part, explained how the Uber CEO role came his way, which began over cocktails with a friend of his, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek. It was Ek who apparently recommended Khosroshahi for the Uber CEO role.
“Daniel Ek looks at me and says, ‘Dara, do you want to be happy? Or do you want to change the world?'” he explained during the all-hands. “So the next day, I called the head hunter back.”
Khosrowshahi, 48, ended his introductory speech with “three things” every Uber employee should know about him:
‘I am going to be totally transparent with you’
“I am going to be totally transparent with you. I am not going to bullshit you. The thing I’ve found in life is that the higher up you get in an organization,” he said, “the less you know about what’s going on because people start holding back.”
Khosrowshahi added: “The only way that I seem to combat that is to be absolutely honest with you, and to be completely straight and authentic with you. Hopefully that will allow me to deserve the same right back from you. I am not going to bullshit you, and I would ask that you not bullshit me.”
‘I’ll fight with you’
“I’m a fighter, and I’ll fight with you,” he said. “I don’t really like these war metaphors, kind of these male metaphors. We’re in a battle here. I think everybody knows it. Just know that I’m here. I’ve made the decision. I am all in, and I am going to fight for you with every bone in my body. And I hope you’ll join me in that battle.”
‘Everyone is going to participate and contribute in their own way’
“I will know that I succeeded here if everybody in this room and who’s watching over the world knows that they can contribute to the success of Uber in their own way. Because everyone’s different. Everyone has their own skill sets if you’re numerative, if you’ve got a higher EQ, if you’re here in the US or if you’re here in a global office, if you’re a dev, in you’re in marketing, if you’re in PR, or if you’re Ops.”