Travis Kalanick’s response further escalates a battle with Benchmark Capital, which is seeking to oust him from Uber’s board, citing allegedly fraudulent behavior.
Firing back against an explosive lawsuit filed by one of Uber’s most prominent investors, ex-CEO Travis Kalanick on Thursday night defended his right to remain on the ride-hailing company’s board, and called the litigation a “personal attack” against him.
Kalanick filed his first legal response to the lawsuit in the Delaware Court of Chancery on Thursday night, further escalating the contentious and unusual lawsuit between the ride-hailing giant worth nearly $70 billion, and the investor poised to rake in billions from its IPO or sale. The lawsuit seeks to kick Kalanick, who already has lost his CEO role, off the board of the company he founded, and prevent him from filling two additional board seats with his supporters.
Benchmark Capital — which holds an investment in Uber worth $8.4 billion, according to one report — claims Kalanick fraudulently revised Uber’s voting agreement to secure control of those board seats. The firm accuses Kalanick of hiding misconduct from investors, including his troubled acquisition of self-driving trucking startup Otto that later sparked allegations of trade secret theft, a culture of sexual harassment and gender discrimination within the company, and an Uber executive’s alleged theft of the medical records of a woman who was raped by her Uber driver.
Kalanick called the fraud claim a “fabrication.”
“Indeed, in the 14 months since the challenged amendments were signed, Benchmark never suggested that the amendments were ‘fraudulently induced,’ or in any way unenforceable, ” his lawyers wrote, “although all of the events on which it bases its claim of fraud were well known to Benchmark.”
Kalanick also attacks the Benchmark investors for making moves to oust him while he was still mourning his mother’s sudden death.
“Through May 2017, Benchmark outwardly supported Kalanick as CEO of the company, ” his lawyers wrote. “At some point, however, it began secretly planning an effort to oust him. It executed its plan at the most shameful of times: immediately after Kalanick experienced a horrible personal tragedy.”
On June 20, a week after expressing support for Kalanick as CEO, and a week and a half after his mother’s funeral, Benchmark investors appeared at Kalanick’s Chicago hotel room with a demand that he resign, according to the filing. In that demand letter, Benchmark made no mention of being defrauded into giving Kalanick the disputed board seats, Kalanick’s lawyers claim. Instead, they say, Benchmark acknowledged that he had control over those seats.
Kalanick’s response also claims that the Uber board is against the suit. The board met immediately after Benchmark filed the lawsuit, and the six members not involved in the dispute issued a unanimous statement saying they were “disappointed” with the suit, and calling it destructive to the company, according to the filing.
“Thus, contrary to Benchmark’s suggestion that its lawsuit is ‘in the best interests of Uber,’ every other member of the board disagrees.”
Kalanick also is attempting to force the lawsuit out of court and into private arbitration, where the proceedings would be removed from the public eye.
