Uber president Jeff Jones quits, citing differences over ‘beliefs and approach to leadership’
Uber’s president Jeff Jones has joined the #deleteuber movement because he’s come to realise the company’s values aren’t compatible with his own.
Jeff Jones left the taxi-hailing firm after just six months in the job as per his saying working at Uber was ‘inconsistent’ with his values.
Jeff Jones’s resignation is latest blow for firm after revelations of secret tool to evade law enforcement and claims of discrimination, sexual harassment and a string of departures of high-level executives.
Jeff Jones also confirmed in a statement about his departure, “It is now clear, however, that 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”.
Uber confirmed the departure of Mr. Jeff Jones, saying in a statement: “We want to thank Jeff for his six months at the company and wish him all the best”.
Further, CEO Uber Travis Kalanick in a note to staff said: “After we announced our intention to hire a COO, Jeff came to the tough decision that he doesn’t see his future at Uber. It is unfortunate that this was announced through the press but I thought it was important to send all of you an email before providing comment publicly.
Jeff Jones was hired to give the company marketing expertise. He was brought in get the ride-sharing-with-harassment-on-the-side company growing beyond early adopters. Uber needs to grow: it loses money and has, of late, bled customers too as the #deleteuber movement first sprang up over its support for the Trump administration and then gathered pace as sexism claims emerged.
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.
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.