Business

Uber CEO Says He Needs To ‘Grow Up’ After Getting In Heated Argument With A Driver [VIDEO]

[YouTube/Screenshot - User: Bloomberg] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTEDYCkNqns

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Eric Lieberman Managing Editor
Font Size:

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick felt compelled to send an apology to the roughly 11,000 employees at his company after a video obtained by Bloomberg shows him getting in a heated argument with one of his drivers.

“By now I’m sure you’ve seen the video where I treated an Uber driver disrespectfully,” Kalanick wrote in an official apology published on Uber’s website. “To say that I am ashamed is an extreme understatement.”

The driver, Fawzi Kamel, decided to spark up a conversation with the bigwig of Uber, who is also technically his employer. Kamel has been driving for Uber since 2011, when the company was a fraction of the size it is today, and he took the opportunity with the boss to share his thoughts on how he thinks the company could have been run better.

“You’re raising the standards, and you’re dropping the prices,” Kamel asserts, arguing that the cost of rides is too cheap.

“We have to; we have competitors. Otherwise, we’d go out of business,” Kalanick replies. The CEO evidently feels that competitors like Lyft and other smaller startups could have taken over the market if Uber didn’t attempt to undercut their prices.

“Competitors? Man, you had the business model in your hands. You could have the prices you want, but you choose to buy everybody a ride,” Kamel continued.

Kalanick disagrees, saying that at first they could charge more for rides, but that eventually going out of business was a possibility.

“What? Lyft? It’s a piece of cake right there,” Kamel retorted.

“It seems like a piece of cake because I’ve beaten them. But if I didn’t do the things I did, we would have been beaten, I promise,” Kalanick explains in a slightly boastful manner.

The conversation, though, soon went from constructive and analytical, to personal and acrimonious.

“But people are not trusting you anymore … I lost $97,000 because of you. I’m bankrupt because of you. Yes, yes, yes. You keep changing every day, you keep changing every day,” Kamel said somewhat angrily.

After some more back and forth, Kalanick calls “bullshit” on Kamel’s claims.

“You know what? Some people don’t like to take responsibility for their own shit. They blame everything in their life on somebody else. Good luck!” Kalanick says while exiting the car.

“Good luck to you too! But I know [you’re not] going to go far,” Kamel says.

As is protocol for Uber’s mobile app, both the rider and driver rate one another on the services provided and the respective behaviors. Kamel decided to give Kalanick one star, according to Bloomberg.

“It’s clear this video is a reflection of me — and the criticism we’ve received is a stark reminder that I must fundamentally change as a leader and grow up,” Kalanick wrote in his apology. “This is the first time I’ve been willing to admit that I need leadership help and I intend to get it. I want to profoundly apologize to Fawzi, as well as the driver and rider community, and to the Uber team.”

Kalanick and Uber have suffered a number of setbacks and controversies in the past year, and especially months.

Susan J. Fowler, a former female engineer for Uber, wrote a highly disturbing and incredibly creepy account of her time at the company, specifically accusations of sexual harassment and subsequent unfair treatment. (RELATED: Uber Dismisses Vice President For Omitting History Of Alleged Sexual Harassment)

After being inspired by her going public, over a hundred female employees reportedly met with Kalanick and told him that sexism at the company was “systemic” and not unique to Fowler. (RELATED: Is This Anonymous App Helping Fuel An Insurrection At Uber?)

The reports of unfair treatment and workplace misconduct seemed to snowball after more than 30 former and current staffers went to The New York Times with allegations of a cutthroat culture and rampant lewd behavior.

Kalanick essentially told his employees not to worry since he was having four people who currently or once worked for the company investigating the allegations, including former Attorney General Eric Holder and Arianna Huffington of the eponymous news outlet The Huffington Post. (RELATED: Investors Not Happy To See Holder, Huffington Investigating Uber)

Follow Eric on Twitter

Send tips to eric@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Eric Lieberman

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel