前景不明，优步多个高层职位空缺

上周对于优步（Uber）来说又是动荡的一周，公司开始过渡进入一段缺少首席执行官特拉维斯•卡兰尼克的时期。

卡兰尼克在本周二给员工的信中表示，他要请假去处理母亲邦妮•卡兰尼克的丧事。几个小时后，遭到关于性骚扰和性别歧视的内部调查的优步董事会成员大卫•庞德文，也因为在公司全体大会上开性别歧视的玩笑而宣布辞职。这次调查由前美国司法部长埃里克•霍尔德领导，起因是前优步工程师苏珊•福勒今年2月在网上发布了指控公司的博文。

董事会成员辞职，首席执行官请假，优步前方的道路很不明朗。这种不确定性在多位高层人员引人注目地离开公司导致岗位空缺下，显得愈发明显。在撰写本文之际，优步有以下高管位置存在空缺。

首席财务官

自2015年布伦特•卡里尼克斯离职后，优步实际上就没有了首席财务官。而公司在顶级财务高管高塔姆•古普塔辞去财务主管前往一家初创公司后，表现就尤其挣扎。公司2017年第一季度亏损7.08亿美元，许多人怀疑他们是否还打算在今年上市，随后古普塔离开了这里。在财务主管空缺的情况下，公司进行首次公开募股的可能性似乎不太大。

首席运营官和拼车业务总裁

优步从未有过首席运营官，大部分高层决策都由卡兰尼克自己做出。不过今年3月，也就是福勒在网上首次发布性骚扰指控不到一个月后，卡兰尼克宣布他打算招募一位得力高管，帮助公司渡过这些关于性别歧视和性骚扰的指控。卡兰尼克对员工表示，他在寻找“一位能够与我合作，续写旅程下一篇章的同事”。

优步的拼车业务总裁杰夫•琼斯在这个位置上待了短短的六个月，之后他认为优步已经支离破碎难以挽救，并离开了公司。根据彭博社（Bloomberg）的报道，琼斯在公司的“理念和晋升至领导层的方式”上与卡兰尼克经常有激烈的冲突，而且，据说他——尽管不是离职的主要原因——不希望有一个首席运营官地位比他高。

卡兰尼克在当时的一份声明中表示：“在我们宣布招聘首席运营官的打算之后，杰夫做出了艰难的决定，他认为在优步看不到自己的未来。”

高级工程副总裁

在福勒指控优步八天后，卡兰尼克得知高级工程副总裁艾米特•辛格之前正是因为在谷歌（Google）面临性骚扰指控而离开，他要求辛格辞职。辛格担任这个职位仅有一个月时间。

当时辛格对Recode说：“任何情况下性骚扰都是不可接受的。我绝对希望每个人都知道我绝不宽恕，也从未有过这样的行为。在我20年的职业生涯中，我从未受到过这样的指控，离开谷歌是我自己的决定。”

法律总顾问

优步确实需要一位首席律师了。Recode报道称，卡兰尼克在给员工的一封信中表示，将前首席律师萨利•柳被提拔为首席法律官，是为了“帮助公司推行重要倡议，如男女同工同酬，扩大业务多样性，为优步未来建立强大文化基础”。这也意味着优步日常的法律运作都要由新任的法律总顾问负责，根据报道，公司计划从外部寻找人选。

公司可能已经开始寻找柳的替代人选了。如今，美国司法部正着手针对优步修改应用的做法进行犯罪调查，而谷歌的母公司Alphabet也对优步提起诉讼，声称他们盗窃了自动驾驶汽车技术。

柳还将继续担任法律顾问，直到公司找到继任者。（财富中文网）

译者：严匡正

It's been another whirlwind week for Uber, as the company begins to transition into a period without CEO Travis Kalanick.

On Tuesday, Kalanick announced in a letter to staff that he would be taking a leave of absence to cope with the death of his mother, Bonnie Kalanick. Hours later, Uber board member David Bonderman announced his resignation after coming under fire for a sexist joke he made during the all-hands meeting to go over the results of an internal investigation surrounding sexual harassment and discrimination. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder led the investigation, which was prompted by allegations former Uber engineer Susan Fowler first published online in February.

Down a board member and without its CEO, Uber's path forward is unclear. That uncertainty is heightened by the number of top-level positions that have opened up following numerous high-profile departures from the company. As of this writing, here are all the empty executive jobs at the company right now.

Chief Financial Officer

Uber has technically been without a CFO since Brent Callinicos left in 2015, but the company is especially reeling after its top finance executive, Gautam Gupta, left his role as head of finance to join a startup. His departure followed Uber's $708 million loss in the first quarter and speculation over whether the company intended to go public in 2017. With lead financial roles open, an IPO seems less likely.

Chief Operating Officer and President of Ride-Sharing

Uber has never had a COO, with Kalanick himself handling most top-level decisions. But in March, less than a month after Fowler first published her harassment claims online, Kalanick announced his intentions to bring on a right-hand executive to help steer the ship amid allegations of gender bias and sexual harassment at the company. Kalanick told his staff that he was looking for a "peer who can partner with me to write the next chapter in our journey."

Uber's President of Ride-Sharing, Jeff Jones, assumed this role for a short six months, after which point he determined Uber was too damaged to repair and resigned as well. According to a report from Bloomberg, Jones often clashed with Kalanick over the company's "beliefs and approach to leadership" and reportedly—while not the primary factor behind his departure—did not like the idea of a COO outranking him.

“After we announced our intention to hire a COO, Jeff came to the tough decision that he doesn’t see his future at Uber," Kalanick said in a statement at the time.

Senior Vice President of Engineering

Eight days after Fowler published her account of her time at Uber, Kalanick asked SVP of Engineering Amit Singhal to resign after learning he left his job at Google amid sexual harassment allegations. Singhal had only been in the role for a month.

“Harassment is unacceptable in any setting. I certainly want everyone to know that I do not condone and have not committed such behavior,” Singhaltold Recode at the time. “In my 20-year career, I’ve never been accused of anything like this before and the decision to leave Google was my own.”

General Counsel

The company is in need of a top lawyer remains after Sally Yoo, who previously filled the role, was promoted to chief legal officer in a bid to “help drive critical company initiatives like equal pay, increasing diversity in our business, and building a strong cultural foundation for the future of Uber,” Kalanick said in a staff email last month, according to Recode. That means day-to-day legal operations will fall on the shoulders of the new General Counsel, who the company plans to hire externally, the report said.

The search for Yoo's replacement may have already begun now that the U.S. Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into Uber's software practices and Google's parent company Alphabet has filed a lawsuit over allegedly stolen self-driving car technology.

Yoo will act as counsel until her replacement is found.