Major Uber Shareholder Sues to Have Travis Kalanick Removed from Board

Uber is desperately trying to find a new CEO that can help steer the company out of the mud that cofounder Travis Kalanick left it in.

But at least one investor feels Uber isn’t quite ready for that change while Kalanik retains his board seat.

Benchmark, a major shareholder in the company, filed a lawsuit against Kalanick this week. The venture capital firm is seeking to remove him from the board.

Until an outcome is reached, the move is apt to stall Uber’s turnaround efforts.

“It puts the company in limbo and prevents them from moving forward,” Arun Sundararajan, author of The Sharing Economy, told Bloomberg. “This kind of fight is going to hurt Uber significantly in the short term.”

Benchmark was a major contributor in forcing Kalanick’s hand earlier this year when the infamous CEO abruptly resigned following intense pressure from investors. Uber says it has been looking to appoint a new chief in September, but this latest move will likely push that timeline back.

Not everyone agrees that Kalanick is ultimately bad for the company, including some employees who believe Uber would not be as big as it is today without him. Regardless, Uber seems to be just doing fine in his absence: the ride-hailing giant recently reached five billion trips taken on the platform and usage doesn’t appear affected by Uber’s scandals.