Alphabet Executive Leaves Uber's Board -- WSJ
30 August 2016 - 5:03PM
Dow Jones News
By Greg Bensinger and Jack Nicas
Uber Technologies Inc. on Monday said a longtime Alphabet Inc.
executive has left its board as the two tech companies increasingly
clash over the future of transportation and logistics.
David Drummond, senior vice president of corporate development
of Alphabet, stepped down several weeks ago as concerns over
conflicts of interest between the two companies mounted, Uber
confirmed to The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Drummond joined Uber's
board in 2013 when ride-sharing was still nascent. His departure
from the board now signals how important of a player Uber has
become in Silicon Valley.
Mr. Drummond joined Alphabet's Google in 2002 and is also
chairman of its investment arms, including GV, which is its
venture-capital group. He helped oversee GV's $250 million
investment in Uber in 2013.
"I recently stepped down from Uber's board given the overlap
between the two companies," said Mr. Drummond, 53 years old, in an
emailed statement. "GV remains an enthusiastic investor and Google
will continue to partner with Uber."
Uber now has seven board members, including media magnate
Arianna Huffington, investor Bill Gurley, and Yasir Al Rumayyan,
managing director of the Saudi sovereign-wealth fund. The company
has no plans to fill the seat occupied by Mr. Drummond.
Chief Executive Travis Kalanick said in a statement that Mr.
Drummond had been "a sage advisor and a great personal friend" and
that Uber expects "continued cooperation and partnership" with Mr.
Drummond and Alphabet.
Mr. Drummond's departure resembles the resignation by Google
executive Eric Schmidt from Apple Inc.'s board in 2009 over
mounting competition. At the time, Mr. Schmidt was CEO of Google,
which had developed competing products, including its Android
mobile software and an operating system for computers.
Alphabet and Uber are in a race to develop and commercialize
self-driving cars. San Francisco-based Uber is set to begin a test
of self-driving taxis in Pittsburgh using its technology, while
Alphabet has considered testing its self-driving cars as part of a
ride-hailing service of its own, according to people familiar with
the matter.
Earlier this month, Uber also said it acquired Ottomotto LLC, a
driverless-truck startup founded by former Alphabet employees, in
part to help it catch up to Alphabet's driverless-car technology.
Following the acquisition, Uber appointed Anthony Levandowski, a
founding member of Google's driverless-car project, as the head of
its self-driving-vehicle efforts.
The two companies compete in package and food delivery as well,
including the UberRush courier service and Google Express same-day
delivery from stores.
Mr. Kalanick, in an interview earlier this month, said Uber's
driverless vehicles "should be used to move all the things."
There are also signs that Alphabet is pushing into Uber's
traditional ride-sharing business. Alphabet is testing a feature in
its popular traffic app Waze that lets about 65,000 San Francisco
area workers share rides together to work.
The companies also continue to work together. For example, Uber
pays Google to include its ride-sharing service as a transportation
option when Google Maps users search for directions.
Technology news site The Information reported earlier that Mr.
Drummond had been kept from attending meetings and denied certain
sensitive information about Uber's strategic initiatives.
David Krane, head of Alphabet investment arm GV, remains a board
observer at Uber.
Write to Greg Bensinger at greg.bensinger@wsj.com and Jack Nicas
at jack.nicas@wsj.com
Corrections & Amplifications: Uber now has seven directors
on its board. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated
that Uber had eight. (Aug. 29, 2016)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 30, 2016 02:48 ET (06:48 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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