Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick resigned as CEO Tuesday night after some of the company’s investors demanded in a private letter that he step aside after a multitude of controversies bogged down the company for months, according to a person briefed on the situation.
The surprising twist comes a week after Mr. Kalanick said he would take a leave of absence after the completion of internal probes turned up various cultural problems he had allowed to fester, including poor HR practices and other policies that hurt employees. The resignation came as a shock to the company’s employees who were looking to move past the myriad embarrassments of recent months, including seeing seven out of 13 of Mr. Kalanick’s direct reports leave the company.
