Days after the departure of founder Travis Kalanick, Uber's first full-time CEO and one of Kalanick's top confidantes -- Ryan Graves -- has resigned from his operational role. Graves was among the first employees of the San Francisco-based company and was most recently operating its worldwide presence as the senior vice president of global operations.
41-year-old Kalanick had appointed Graves as Uber's CEO in early 2010, though he left the position and moved to his SVP position after the founder took over the execution in late 2010. The very initial journey with the cab aggregator influenced the American businessman to continually serve the board. Moreover, Uber is reportedly not in plans to fill the empty position.
In an internal email, as per his blog SaltWater, Graves confirmed his exit and hinted his future moves. The executive, being a board member, will help the company continue the search for a new CEO since Kalanick left that position in June following some reported pressure by multiple shareholders. Also, he is set to empower the existing management team that has been operating services in over 633 cities even in the absence of an executive officer and a global operations head.
"I could not possibly stress enough how insanely proud I am of this organisation. The dedication towards our mission of providing transportation that can be trusted, to everyone, is noble," Graves writes in the email addressed to the Uber team.
Twitter helped to obtain leadership
Though Graves is often referred to 'as No. 2' at Uber due to his close relations with Kalanick, both were unknown initially. In fact, it was a tweet that not only helped the two innovative minds connect and a massive business like Uber but also enabled Graves to begin his life as a Uberian.
In January 2010, Kalanick tweeted about an opening at less than one-year-old Uber. The role was something that required managerial abilities for the pre-launch Uber model. Graves responded to the tweet and even provided his email address publicly. That was the moment when the future of the world's biggest startup was inaugurated.
Net worth of over US$1.5bn
San Diago-born Graves graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He presently has a net worth of over US$1.5 billion.
