Uber's next CEO will probably be a man despite its massive issues with sexism

pulse

July 31, 2017 10:54 AM

HPE's chief executive Meg Whitman was on the list of candidates, but publicly ruled herself out of the race last week.

Outgoing GE CEO Jeff Immelt is in the running

Every female candidate is out of the running for the position of Uber's next CEO.

According to reports from Recode and the New York Times, there are now four people jockeying for the top position at the ride-hailing firm. They're all men, and only one of them isn't white.

HPE's chief executive Meg Whitman was on the list of candidates, but publicly ruled herself out of the race last week with this tweet: "Uber's CEO will not be Meg Whitman."

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and General Motors' chairman and CEO Mary Barra were also reportedly under consideration, but not interested in the role, according to Recode. EasyJet's former CEO Carolyn McCall, a British leader, was also in the running but didn't work out. McCall is now chief executive of ITV.

One of the four men on the list is outgoing GE chief executive Jeff Immelt, though he's reportedly not the top choice. It isn't clear who else Uber is considering.

The optics of picking another male CEO to succeed Travis Kalanick don't look too good. Kalanick stepped down as CEO in June after a long series of negative headlines, mostly related to Uber's sexist culture.

Those problems blew up in February when former employee Susan Fowler alleged persistent harassment and sexism, and continued through the year after an Uber executive was fired for allegedly accessing the medical records of a female passenger raped by an Uber driver in India.

And Kalanick, while CEO, once talked about the fact he'd become more desirable to women since cofounding the company, telling GQ: "Yeah, we call that Boob-er."

According to the New York Times, Uber will announce its new CEO in the next six weeks.

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