Uber’s C.E.O. Pick, Dara Khosrowshahi, Steps Into Brighter Spotlight

On a separate note if you are 4 people and have luggage from the air port arrival, don't bother or risk hiring Uber or Lyft. Get a regular taxi.
I called for a large van from Lyft. The driver came with Honda Pilot .
He had lot of his own stuff in the car. Had no room for bags.
He tied the bags on the top. Had hard time doing it. Along the way one of the bags fell off. He got out on the semi highway road and brought back the bag. Luckily bag was not demolished because the traffic was avoiding it. He wanted to tie the bag again which I refused to do.
We got all the bags down and shoved on the back seats on our laps.
Uber and Lyft are not geared for airport pick up with luggage.
Any one willing to drive is given a license. They come with their own stuff.
Going ahead if Uber and Lyft are not responding to such events surely some one else will enter to solve this

Dara Khosrowshahi was a student in my physics class at Hackley School. In addition to being a highly able and hard-working student he was a kind, good-hearted, and modest person. At other times I taught Amir, Kaveh and Farzad Khosrowshahi and Hadi and Ali Partovi (all of them mentioned in the article) and all of them were brilliant kids, good athletes, and overall good people.

I came in contact with a number of Iranians in 1979, after the fall of the Shah. In economic terms, they belonged to two categories: rich and very rich. Each one of my contacts said they had left behind fabulous holdings and estates, like privately owned banks, mines and dealerships and distributorships of some of the popular Western luxury goods, like Mercedez, BMWs, and Cadillacs. They were unabashedly corrupt, paying or offering money, including gold coins to each and everyone they had to deal with. It was difficult to restrain them from doing such things. I guess, it must have been a common way of life. No wonder with a large section of the population made up of the HaveNots, the Shah, his coterie of supporters and beneficiaries were booted out by an old, ascetic Mullah living in exile in France. Almost without exception, Iranians I came in contact with were also well educated, highly cultured, and civilized and telented. it comes as no surprise to me that so many of them are doing so well. They will. especially those that have understand and adopt prized (Anglo Saxon) business ethics.

I am inclined to boycott Uber forever because of how they treat their drivers, their horrific culture, and of course, their narcissistic past chief executive. I give Lyft my business.

I well remember the influx of elite Iranians. They were the only students roaring around campus in BMWs, dressed in designer clothes (we were in levis and flannel) and they traveled in a rather loud pack. I can't speak about Dara's family or friends, but the former Shah associates on my campus weren't exactly liked. Which may be another reason for the chip on their shoulders.

Worked with Dara closely for almost 10 years in putting together a Russian TV network co-founded by Allen & Co. Already early in his career found him very smart, patient, sensitive to cultural issues and highly motivated. Great pick for Uber!

I really like the fact that he was raised by his mother to be direct, yet he seems contained, to the point, and not aggressive in his judgment. See the penultimate paragraph in which he addresses POTUS failure: “I keep waiting for the moment when our Prez will rise to the expectations of his office and he fails, repeatedly.”

In contrast, Kalanick's personality seemed overly aggressive and bullying. This is a good pick for CEO.

Give Koshrowshahi credit, but another meritocratic over achiever (groomed by hyper critical parents apparently) making ridiculous amounts of money?That's the real disruption in our society.

I got excited for a second when I saw the name Dara. I thought they had picked a woman.

Uber has a culture issue imbedded deep in the organization. Culture certainly starts at the top, but one aspect Uber was founded on is innovation. Everyone is focused on the 'nerdy frat bro' culture. But who would have thought car ride sharing would work? These guys did. This CEO on the other hand has not shown a tendency to innovate. Since taking over Expedia 13 years ago it has not done anything interesting other than spending over $500M per year on advertising and stifling competition by buying two of their major competitors, Travelocity and Orbitz. I'm really surprised Uber picked him as CEO. Uber culture is caustic and tough to change with a few executive changes but the core of Uber is also being missed with this selection.

Uber takes too high a commission in Chicago. (25%) The safety inspection done at Uber hubs is a joke and that means unsafe Uber cars are on the road. Drivers are drawn from a pool of people who are undesirables. Drivers drive long hours but don't realize that once they factor in all expenses, the hourly rate is very low.

They sacrifice all for a meager cash flow.

You can expect more and higher fees!

Should we be worried that members of a single extended family-clan be so deeply and broadly connected to the core of e-commerce, Silicon Valley, and the whole FAGA mega-conglomerate?

I just hope Khosrowshahi has the moral compass that Kalanick seemed to lack. I know a lot of people who started out as Uber users and switched to Lyft as the scandals multiplied. Uber is still a great service, but I think they lost sight of the fact that VCs /stockholders weren't the only stakeholders.

I met Dara a few times in a past life. He is incredibly smart and talented. Best of luck.

Any tadpole looks like a big fish in a thimble. I'm sure he'll do just fine and Uber is an asset to all humanity.

Dara is taking on an extremely tough challenge.

... Expedia will appoint another great CEO.

Hello I worked in CA. for one year as an employee of Uber. 2014-15. As the judge ruled we were employees Can we please settle this lawsuit for many drivers. In fact if you settled I could buy new vehicle and drive for you again. Do the Righteous thing you'll sleep better. I did great driving Uber top 10% in San Diego. All considerations appreciated xoxox Dale Dolinsky

Sounds like Uber is lucky to attract this guy. They need to keep Travis at bay so Dara can do his thing.

Confronted by dilemmas that are rooted in identity politics and political correctness, investors have simple solutions. They can bail out of Uber and invest in Lyft, hoping that the typical growth pattern of internet firms will return immense returns once competition has narrowed the market. Or, conscience-driven or cautious, they might move their money to any number of index funds that simply track the market.

Very simply, from my ancient perspective, this guy has GOT IT. Now let's him prove it.

From everything I hear and read, including these comments, Mr. Khosrowshahi has more than morale and global competition to worry about. This is a consumer brand and an organization with a toxic reputation among too many people.

Sounds like he's already got more than enough cash to fund his retirement. Why doesn't he just quit the business scene and show our Federal, state and city governments how to permanently evacuate millions of people from flood-prone conurbations along our seacoasts?

I don't see Uber's reputation improving, the drivers often don't make minimum wage after including taxes and expenses. Do the drivers cheat on paying taxes in order to make ends meet?

Who cares who the new president is.

This is still a company that is founded upon\has a business model of breaking the law and putting law abiding people\companies out of business.

Let's talk about that.

Who cares who the new president is.

This is still a company that is founded upon\has a business model of breaking the law and putting law abiding people\companies out of business.

Let's talk about that.

I think forced to retire GE CEO Jeff Immelt would have been a better choice for Uber. Immelt was planning on buying horses and buggies. Vision like that is what has kept GE flying.

I did my due diligence and deleted the Uber app, shut down my account, signed up for Lyft and a long-time, local taxi company here in the Burlington, VT area that is doing its best to meet the 21st-century travel needs and expectations of travelers.

can't be low profile and lead.....no one will see you...so how would they follow if they can't see where you are going?

Uber, you could hire Mother Teresa as CEO but I will never ride with a company who's claim to fame is sexual harassment, theft & dysfunction.

as an owner of a executive car service for 35 years, i can assure you that self driving cars will have a very limited scope of operational use. insurance coverage for this industry is only written by a handful of companies. they most likely will not cover vehicles that do not have "drivers".

when asked by my clients if i think this is the future, i ask them one simple question. are you going to load and unload your luggage?

their answer tells me all i need to know about the viability of driver less car service.