Author: Erin Griffith / Source: WIRED
Travis Kalanick, Uber’s founder and former CEO, wasn’t gone very long. After he resigned from Uber in June 2017, Kalanick spent time hobnobbing at elite conferences like Davos and getting good at smartphone games. This month, he announced 10100, a fund for his personal investments.
On Tuesday Kalanick elaborated on his plans: 10100 acquired a controlling stake in City Storage Systems, a holding company which invests in distressed real estate assets, for $150 million. The company is focused on converting real estate once used for parking and industrials into food and retail services uses.
CSS has 15 employees, and Kalanick is its CEO.In other words, Kalanick is not taking the route many successful entrepreneurs do, playing around with his billions as a part-time VC vanity gig. No, he wants to build another big company. As CEO.
Kalanick’s return to a CEO role, after a messy exit from a company plagued by many scandals of his own making, should have made more waves. Lest we forget, Kalanick oversaw Uber during its major missteps: The video showing his poor treatment of an Uber driver, the email showing his company’s drinking and sex-fueled culture, the improper use of privacy-violating “God View,” the programs designed to sabotage rivals, the plan to dig up dirt on reporters, the obtaining of medical records of a woman who was raped by an Uber driver in India, the company outing to a Korean escort nightclub, the deception of authorities with its “Greyball” software, the acquisition of Otto that led to a lawsuit over trade secrets, the alleged violation of foreign bribery laws, and the major cyberattack the company tried to cover up, to name a few.
Kalanick is fueling his comeback with his own money—earned from selling Uber shares—but it wouldn’t be surprising if outside investors stepped in to back him.
In tech, scandals never seem to stick to a person for long. Ousted bad boys are somehow able to change the narrative.…
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