Former Uber Technologies Inc chief executive officer Travis Kalanick is skewering a lawsuit filed by a former ally, describing it as a malicious attempt to sever his remaining ties to the widely used ride-hailing service that he cofounded.
Kalanick lashed out in legal documents filed late on Thursday in response to a Delaware Chancery Court lawsuit filed against Uber last week by one of its major investors and a former Kalanick supporter, Benchmark Capital.
The acrimony sets the stage for what could be a bitter battle pitting the pugnacious Kalanick against Benchmark, a major Silicon Valley venture capital (VC) firm.
Benchmark has seen its 2011 investment of US$12 million in Uber grow into a stake worth more than US$7 billion, based on company valuations.
The San Francisco company is also still looking for a new CEO to replace Kalanick, who resigned in late June under pressure from Benchmark and other investors worried about Uber’s direction.
Benchmark alleges that Kalanick has been interfering in the CEO search and manipulating Uber’s board in a scheme to bring him back as the company’s leader.
In his filing, Kalanick said that Benchmark had secretly plotted against him and launched its plan to oust him from Uber “at the most shameful of times” — shortly after his mother was killed and his father critically injured in a boating accident on May 27.
Benchmark had no comment on Kalanick’s filing, referring to an earlier statement saying that the firm felt it had no other choice but to sue to stop unacceptable behavior at Uber.
Kalanick notified Uber of his plans to take an indefinite leave of absence as CEO on June 11 — two days after his mother’s funeral.
Uber’s board, including Benchmark partner Bill Gurley, supported the move and assured him he could return as CEO whenever he was emotionally ready, Kalanick’s filing said.
However, just nine days after he went on leave, Benchmark partners Peter Fenton and Matt Cohler came to Kalanick’s hotel in Chicago to demand that he submit his permanent resignation as CEO, the filing said.
If Kalanick refused, Fenton and Cohler threatened to sully his reputation in a public campaign, it added.
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