Uber's new CEO plans to take the company public in 18 to 36 months

The former Expedia boss, who is set to take the helm at Uber next week, reportedly told Uber employees at a meeting in San Francisco on Wednesday that Uber needed to focus on "paying the bills" and regaining market share from its rival Lyft.

Details of any initial public offering are thin, but an Uber listing would most likely be one of the biggest technology IPOs of the decade.

Uber is the world's most valuable private company, with a valuation of $68.5 billion (£53.1 billion). But the company has been marred by a series of scandals, with allegations ranging from sexual harassment to illegal taxi operations. Going public would in many ways make the company more accountable.

Uber declined to comment.

Leaked audio revealed how Dara Khosrowshahi got the Uber CEO job

Somewhat embarrassingly, a leaked audio recording of Khosrowshahi's first all-hands talk was published by Yahoo News. In the speech, Khosrowshahi details how he landed the top job at Uber and what workers can expect from him. The recording does not mention an IPO.

"I'm not going to bullshit you, and I will ask you not to bullshit me," he told employees at Uber's headquarters. "We're in a battle here. I think everybody knows it. I'm here, I made the decision, I am all in, and I'm going to fight for you with every bone in my body."

A headhunter for Uber contacted Khosrowshahi about the CEO job at some point in the past few months, but he initially said he wasn't interested.

He said, however, that Spotify founder Daniel Ek convinced him over a drink at an investor conference that he should apply for the job.

Khosrowshahi said he met with every Uber board member during the interview process. He said he met Arianna Huffington, for example, at her "beautiful" apartment in New York City and had healthy Greek food with her.

Khosrowshahi went on to reveal how Uber cofounder and former CEO Travis Kalanick, who still sits on the board of Uber, persuaded him to leave Expedia and join Uber.

"He spun this web, this dream, of transforming cities and the transportation grid and deliveries and robots taking food from the street corner to the home. And it's just this incredible vision. And I'm like, 'Well, I sell airline tickets and you can download them onto your phone.'"

Khosrowshahi also revealed how Kalanick insisted that all of their phone calls were carried out over FaceTime. "Travis has a weird obsession with FaceTime audio," Khosrowshahi said. "I think he thinks that [Recode journalist] Kara Swisher has hacked into the cell network. Every time I called him he was like, 'No, we're going to use FaceTime audio.'"