Uber founder resigns as CEO

Earlier this month, Uber fired more than 20 employees following its internal investigation over sexual harassment, discrimination and unprofessional behavior. That referred to efforts by the board and investors to oust him despite his outsized ownership stake. He will remain on the board of directors.

A successor was not immediately announced.

The move comes at a pivotal time for the largest ride-hailing company.

If you think of a company as a sports team - let's say, basketball - then Uber is at a point where the players are still on the court, but the coaches and general manager are gone, the arena is filled with jeers and the owner's hair is on fire.

Erik Gordon, a professor of business at the University of MI, argued that Kalanick's remaining influence could be a positive for the ride-sharing juggernaut.

May 30 - Uber fires Anthony Levandowski, the head of its self-driving vehicle program and the engineer at the heart of the Waymo lawsuit.

Saudi crown prince donates $66 million to fight Yemen cholera epidemic
Coalition strikes have also destroyed critical civilian infrastructure, like medical facilities, schools and markets. Although the disease is easily treatable, doing so in conflict-torn Yemen has proved particularly hard .

A series of missteps, from allegations of stealing technology to a profanity-laced outburst that was caught on film by an Uber driver, led to Kalanick's resignation.

Uber has been trying to move past its hard history, which has grown inextricably tied to Mr. Kalanick.

Image credit: Uber CEO Travis Kalanick/Twitter. "But they'll still get to have his voice, have his energy, have his insight", Gordon said. A corporate mantra was "Principled Confrontation".

Kalanick apparently realized that his battle to hang on at the company was one fight too many. In the statement, Kalanick indicated that he felt his negative public perception was too much of a distraction to Uber's success and continued growth.

On the streets of NY on Wednesday, drivers and riders seemed unfazed by the shakeup, and business continued as usual.

A new CEO will have more clout to make real changes than a second-in-command ever would have. As someone close to Uber recently said to me: "It's wrong to say that that Uber doesn't care about women". In May, his mother was killed and his father hurt in a boating accident on a California lake. The company, valued by investors at $69 billion, also does not have a chief financial officer. Gurly, and the shareholders of the company are looking for someone with knowledge of the marketplace and management strength to take Kalanick's spot as the CEO of Uber. A rape victim has filed a case against the company alleging that an executive shared her personal medical record with the top board without her consent. Cush was named CEO of Virgin America in 2007, shortly after the Richard Branson-backed carrier began flying. He'll retain his seat on the board of directors, as well as "control of a majority of Uber's voting shares", though, so this might not be the last we see of him in the lactation rooms. The loss narrowed from the $991 million it posted in the previous quarter.