THE mother of the chief executive of ride-hailing company Uber has died in a boat accident in California, the company said.
THE mother of the chief executive of ride-hailing company Uber has died in a boat accident in California, the company said.
Bonnie Kalanick, 71, died on Friday after the boat she and her husband, Donald, 78, were riding hit a rock in Pine Flat Lake in Fresno County, authorities said.
They are the parents of Travis Kalanick, 40, who founded Uber in 2009. The company has since grown to become an international operation with a market value of nearly 70 billion dollars (£54.6 billion) .
The couple from the Los Angeles neighbourhood of Northridge have been long-time boaters.
In a memo to Uber staff, Liane Hornsey, the chief human resources officer, called the incident an “unthinkable tragedy”.
She wrote that “everyone in the Uber family knows how incredibly close Travis is to his parents”.
About 5pm local time on Friday, officers were called to the scene of the accident and found the Kalanicks on a shore of the lake, the Fresno County Sheriff’s office said.
Bonnie Kalanick died at the scene, and her husband suffered moderate injuries, the sheriff’s office said. He told officers the boat had sunk.
Donald Kalanick is being treated at hospital and is in a stable condition, the company said.
