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Uber, the ride-hailing app, was valued
between 60 and 70 billion dollars

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at the beginning
of 2017

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with CEO Travis Kalanick's position
at the firm seemingly secure.

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Now after reports 
of sexual harassment

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and unethical business
practice inside Uber,

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Kalanick is out 
and 10 billion dollars

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has been wiped off the value
of the privately owned company.

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But as start-ups go, Uber is still
arguably the most successful of all time.

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Before 2011, if you wanted a cab,
you did it the old way.

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Now for 50 million Uber users
in 450 cities around the world,

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taxi transportation is determined
by GPS and automated payments,

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all linked through
smartphones.

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So, as the users increased,
so did investors.

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Jay Z and Jeff Bezos were just 
two of the notable backers

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who poured 
money into Uber,

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helping it grow and further
disrupt the taxi industry.

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It wasn't all smooth
sailing through.

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Uber's expensive push into China
came to an abrupt end in 2016,

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when its domestic rival Didi Chuxing
announced it had acquired Uber China.

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And more recently, 
Uber merged with Yandex,

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marking its exit from another 
major international market, Russia.

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Governments, drivers
and passengers launched

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a seemingly endless
stream of lawsuits,

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and taxi firms organized protests
in Europe and South America

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as they recognized 
their businesses were under threat.

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Uber's legal and ethical conduct
was put under further scrutiny

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when their drivers argued
they were being exploited

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as part of the sharing
economy.

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Despite this, Uber continued to 
transform itself from a black-car service

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into an extensive logistics company driving
towards a future of autonomous vehicles.

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2017 however, has put the brakes
on Uber's and Kalanick's rise.

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Real trouble began in January, 
when an online campaign,

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protesting the company's
connection to President Trump,

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lost them 200,000 customers
in just one weekend.

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Uber's reputation took
a bigger hit a month later

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when it was forced 
to launch an investigation

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into sexual 
harassment

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and gender bias 
within the company.

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215 complaints
were registered

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by the beginning 
of June

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and 20 employees 
were fired as a result.

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But that investigation, 
at least, was internal.

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Waymo, a rival in
autonomous car development,

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is suing Uber for 
intellectual property theft.

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At the same time, the company
faces a criminal investigation

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into its use of 
the tool “Greyball,”

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which was reportedly used to evade
authorities and city regulations.

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By June, 12 high-level Uber
execs had left the company.

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For Kalanick, viral dashcam
footage of a heated dispute

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with a company driver and
the leak of his now-infamous

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‘Miami Letter' in which he issued
sex guidelines to employees

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attending a company 
party in 2013

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resulted in him taking 
a temporary leave of absence.

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But seven days later that temporary
leave turned into a permanent resignation.

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So what was 
the final straw?

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Another lawsuit.

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It was filed on behalf
of a woman in India

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who was sexually assaulted
by her Uber driver.

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Despite
the guilty verdict,

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Kalanick and his team allegedly dug
into her private medical records

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in an effort
to discredit her.

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This was the final
nail in the coffin.

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Days later, five powerful
Silicon Valley investors

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penned a letter demanding
Kalanick's resignation.

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Uber now has a number of
high-ranking positions it needs to fill.

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In addition to a new CEO,
it also needs a Chief Operating Officer,

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General Counsel, Senior Vice President
of Engineering,

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Chief Marketing Officer
and board Chair.

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And Uber needs
to act quickly too.

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In the first financial quarter this year
the company lost 700 million dollars.

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The polarizing figure of Kalanick now
joins a select group of former CEOs,

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including Steve Jobs and Jack Dorsey, 
who founded their own companies

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to then be 
unceremoniously ousted.

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But Kalanick will remain on the Uber
board of directors and still has veto power.

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Many believe that as long as he has
one hand on the steering wheel,

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a return to the driver's
seat is still possible.