21 June 2017

By Todd Spangler

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) - Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick will step down as CEO as the car-hailing app company -- valued at close to $70 billion -- tries to recover from series of scandals that have erupted on his watch.

Kalanick's resignation, first reported by the New York Times, came after several big investors in Uber demanded his exit. In a statement to the newspaper, Kalanick said: "I love Uber more than anything in the world and at this difficult moment in my personal life I have accepted the investors' request to step aside so that Uber can go back to building rather than be distracted with another fight."

Kalanick will remain on Uber's board. The San Francisco-based company has raised more than $11 billion. The investors that demanded Kalanick resign were Benchmark, First Round Capital, Lowercase Capital, Menlo Ventures and Fidelity Investments, according to reports.

© Reuters News 2017