Uber’s CFO Nelson Chai reportedly plans to step down
Ride-hailing giant Uber had been operating without a CFO for over three years before Nelson Chai hopped on board in 2018.
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The backstory: Ride-hailing giant Uber had been operating without a CFO for over three years before Nelson Chai hopped on board in 2018. Before taking the job, Chai held senior positions at places like the New York Stock Exchange, Merrill Lynch and CIT Group. With his expertise and experience getting through the 2008 financial crisis, he was a great fit to steer Uber's financial ship in the right direction.
More recently: Chai's time as Uber's CFO had its fair share of highs and lows. Uber grew quickly and went public in 2019. In 2020, the company made big moves, including buying food-delivery startup Postmates for US$2.65 billion. It spent another US$2.25 billion on logistics operator Transplace the following year. But COVID brought lots of challenges. According to CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, bookings plummeted by up to 70%. As a result, Uber had to make some tough decisions, like letting go of over 6,000 employees. But even though all this was going on, under Chai's guidance, it reported its first-ever quarter of adjusted profit in 2021.
The development: In a big exec shake-up, CFO Chai reportedly is planning to leave the company, according to inside sources. The last big news like this was when former CEO Travis Kalanick stepped down from the company board and sold his stock in 2019. According to insiders, Chai has already told Khosrowshahi, but the date he’ll leave is still up in the air.
Key comments:
“Over the past five years, Nelson has been essential to putting Uber on secure financial footing, steering the company from billions of dollars in losses,” said an Uber spokesman in a statement. “We are not going to comment on any executive’s potential career decisions during a quiet period.”
“Uber has been a part of my life for the past 10 years,” said former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick in a press release in 2019. “At the close of the decade, and with the company now public, it seems like the right moment for me to focus on my current business and philanthropic pursuits. I’m proud of all that Uber has achieved, and I will continue to cheer for its future from the sidelines. I want to thank the board, Dara and the entire Uber team for everything they have done to further the Uber mission.”
“While our rides business has been hit hard by the ongoing pandemic, we have taken quick action to preserve the strength of our balance sheet,” said Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi in a statement. “Along with the surge in food delivery, we are encouraged by the early signs we are seeing in markets that are beginning to open back up.”
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