Uber’s recently appointed Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi is currently in the process of controlling costs while still heavily emphasizing corporate humility, The Information reported on Thursday, citing numerous people close the company. The 48-year-old who replaced ousted co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick in August is said to have dismissed some hiring requests from his lieutenants in recent weeks, signaling that the era of increasingly aggressive spending at Uber may be nearing its end. The head of the company is also planning on hiring a new Chief Financial Officer in the near future, having reportedly told some officials that his search for a new CFO is nearing its end. There have been no new reported developments in regards to Uber’s search for its first-ever Chief Operating Officer which started while Mr. Kalanick was still the company’s CEO but was seemingly halted following his ousting, though some unnamed officials allegedly still expect such a role to be created in the near future.
The second chief in Uber’s eight-year history recently hired ex-Orbitz CEO Barney Harford, appointing him as a consultant tasked with analyzing the company’s operations and providing recommendations on major strategy shifts. Former U.S. Associate Attorney General Tony West is another one of Mr. Khosrowshahi’s recent hirings appointed as a general counsel meant to contribute to resolving the firm’s numerous legal issues that arose in recent times. Mr. Khosrowshahi’s efforts to keep Uber’s spending in check are believed to be directly related to his previously expressed ambition to prepare the company for an initial public offering by 2019. While the San Francisco, California-based ride-hailing firm is unlikely to hit profitability in two years’ time, the lower its net losses are by the time its roadshow starts, the more money will it likely be able to raise with an IPO.
Mr. Kalanick often suggested he doesn’t see an IPO as a priority while he was still heading Uber, with the startup’s current negotiations with SoftBank over a major investment worth up to $10.5 billion reportedly being delayed due to a power struggle at the firm revolving around its ousted co-founder. Mr. Kalanick and his successor are already said to have clashed over the former’s decision to appoint new board members earlier this fall, with the overall state of the company still appearing to be far from healthy enough for an IPO.