Uber execs saw the company as “pirates” taking over transportation industry with help from high-profile friends, leaked docs say
A trove of Uber documents leaked to the media opens a window into the internal workings of the ridesharing giant’s sometimes brutal and sleazy approach towards muscling its way into becoming a worldwide juggernaut. We now know what the Uber Files are.
Exposure of Gig giant Uber Files were obtained and used by The Guardian in Britain to create a number of reports. Its principal partner is the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. These files contain more than 124,000 documents. They also include 83,000 email and text messages dating back to 2013. The time was one of the most exciting times for US-based company, and Travis Kalanick was running it at that time. He resigned as CEO in 2017 amid concerns from investors over Uber’s corporate culture. Uber created the gig economy, but regulators were not aware of it. Traditional taxi drivers objected to the unfair competition as Uber lured them with incentives.
‘Pirates’ of ridesharing Uber executive were well aware of their legal situation and made jokes about it, as emails revealed. “We have officially become pirates,” In a conversation about company tactics, one participant wrote. “avoid enforcement.” The cavalier approach based on the notion that it’s better to seek forgiveness than permission produced what the company referred to as a “pyramid of sh*t,” Including lawsuits by drivers, administrative processes, regulator investigations, and direct litigation.
‘Kill switch’ A regional office was able to block access to US company servers. “kill switch” Uber Communications. It was used in police raids that took place in France, Belgium, India and Hungary, as well as Romania.
In a text sent during a raid in Paris in 2015, Thibaud Simphal, the then-manager of Uber France told Mark MacGann, the company’s chief lobbyist in Europe at the time, that he’d used the technique so many times that “by now the most difficult part is continuing to act surprised.” Others tech tricks were used against officers ordering rides to sting operations. In some countries, the app would ‘dispatch’ phantom cars that never arrived. In Denmark, Uber discussed creating “blackout geofences” around police stations, meaning only pre-approved clients would be able to call rides from those locations.
Violent acts “guarantee[s] success” Uber executive seemed to be open to using violence against drivers in order to gain sympathy from the public. In 2015, the firm’s general manager in Belgium called an incident, in which a protester threw a flour sack at Uber driver and passengers, a “good story.” Kalanick, in a 2016 exchange dismissed safety concerns about Uber drivers in France and called for a counterprotest against activist taxi drivers. MacGann told Kalanick that extremist activists had infiltrated protests and they could escalate into violence. “I think it’s worth it. Guarantee against violence[s] success.”
Revolving door Uber spent no time lobbying as it pursued its expansion plans. The leaks reveal that the company had a $90 million global budget in 2016 for expansion. According to the ICIJ, this company employed a “brilliant” team of consultants. “battalion” There are many people who will advocate for them, such as former Obama government officials. Neelie Kroes, a former European Commission vice president, tried and failed to get an exemption from the EU’s executive body rules to become a lobbyist for Uber before her 18-month cool-off period expired. Despite this, during that period, she appeared to advocate on the company’s behalf, ICIJ said. “Our relationship with NK is highly confidential,” MacGann spoke to his colleagues four months after Kroes quit the Commission. Uber executives worried she would become an Uber driver. “the poster child for the discussions around ‘revolving door/tech’s crony capitalism.’ ”
High places are home to friends This company was able to win the respect of numerous powerful people around the world. In France, Emmanuel Macron, a technocrat who is highly business-oriented, became a strong ally of the government. “clear desire on his part to work around the … legislation,” According to MacGann France’s next president could have helped to resolve the crisis of 2015 in Marseille. In this case, the police stopped Uber from certain areas due to mass protests. Leaks claim that Macron was the economy minister in 2015 and promised MacGann this. “look into this personally.” Revisions were made to the ban “after intense pressure from Uber,” An internal update was made later.
In one example of such networking, in 2016 Kalanick rubbed shoulders with the crowd at the World Economic Forum in Davos, which included then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and George Osborne, the UK’s chancellor at the time. He met, among others, with the then-US Vice President Joe Biden. Unfortunately, Biden did not arrive on time. Kalanick messaged a colleague, saying he told the VP’s people “that every minute late he is, is one less minute he will have with me.” His pitch for digital transformation of the transportation industry that the CEO gave impressed Biden so much that he altered his speech to praise Uber’s head.
Uber: What Uber says Kalanick was then thrown under the bus. “[has] not and will not make excuses for past behavior that is clearly not in line with our present values.” The former CEO’s representative denied any wrongdoing. According to the statement, Kalanick “never authorized any actions or programs that would obstruct justice” And “never suggested that Uber should take advantage of violence at the expense of driver safety.”
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