Uber Technologies’ ousted CEO and co-founder Travis Kalanick is reportedly planning to sell $1.4 billion of stock in the company, or 29 percent of his stake, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Kalanick, who resigned in June last year following months of turmoil at the company, will sell his stake to SoftBank and its consortium of investors as part of their tender offer that will value the company at $48 billion. SoftBank last week secured agreements from shareholders who were willing to sell, and the deal will close early this year, Uber said.
According to the report, Kalanick had offered to sell half of his total shares, but because there was a limit on how much SoftBank will buy, he will sell just 29 percent.
The Uber co-founder owns 10 percent of the company, which means his sale will unload 2.9 percent of Uber shares and earn him about $1.4 billion, said the report.
Kalanick has never before sold shares of the company he ran for almost a decade.
The last 12 months has been rocky for the ride-hailing firm after multiple controversies plagued the company. In November, Uber revealed that it had covered up a security breach that compromised the data of 57 million customers. Kalanick was replaced by former travel industry executive Dara Khosrowshahi in August 2017.
Also selling Uber shares is Benchmark, a venture capital firm, which is reportedly moving 15 percent of its holdings worth about $900 million. Both Kalanick and Benchmark will retain seats on the Uber board, according to reports.
The SoftBank deal offers investors and employees to liquidate their shares in a company-approved transaction before Uber’s initial public offering, planned for 2019.
