Uber cofounder and ex-CEO Travis Kalanick is close to selling “nearly a third” of his equity in the company, Reuters reported late Thursday. Kalanick has so far retained his 10 per cent ownership of the company, even after resigning from his position as CEO in June. Reuters reports the sale, the first time Kalanick has ever sold his own stock, will earn Kalanick $US1.4 ($2) billion.
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Kalanick’s sale is part of the multi-billion dollar deal Uber struck with investment companies SoftBank and Dragoneer. As Reuters reports, SoftBank is buying a 17.5 per cent stake in Uber, mostly by buying up shares from Uber investors, executives and employees.
The SoftBank deal values the company at $US48 ($61) billion — below its previous valuation of $US68 ($87) billion, but still enough to make it one of the highest-valued startups in the world.
A source told Reuters that Kalanick initially offered to sell 50 per cent of his shares, but SoftBank limited the sale to one-third. He will now reportedly sell 29 per cent of his shares, representing 2.9 per cent of all Uber shares.
Uber told Reuters the deal will be finalised early this year under new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.