Uber investor sues to force former chief executive Kalanick off board

Venture capital firm Benchmark Capital is suing former Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick to force him off the board of the ride-services company and rescind his ability to fill three board seats, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit accuses Mr Kalanick of concealing a range of misdeeds from the board and scheming to retain power at the company even after he was forced to resign as chief executive of Uber Technologies in June following a series of scandals.

The company is currently seeking a new chief executive, a search that has proved difficult.

Rare instance

Benchmark’s lawsuit marks a rare instance of a Silicon Valley investor suing the central figure at one of its own start-ups. The well-regarded venture firm was an early investor in Uber and said in the lawsuit that it owns 13 per cent of Uber and controls 20 per cent of the voting power.

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Mr Kalanick issued a statement calling the lawsuit “completely without merit and riddled with lies and false allegations”. The statement accused Benchmark of “acting in its own best interests contrary to the interests of Uber” and denounced the legal action as a “transparent attempt to deprive Travis Kalanick of his rights as a founder and shareholder”.

Uber and Benchmark Capital declined to comment.

Reuters