Uber just went public, and former CEO Travis Kalanick wasn’t there to ring the bell

Image: Richard Drew/AP/REX/Shutterstock

After a long and bumpy road, Uber is officially a public company.

The company started publicly trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday morning. Notably absent at the bell-ringing ceremony was the company’s controversial co-founder and ousted CEO, Travis Kalanick, who wasn’t invited. 

It looks like current CEO Dara Khosrowshahi doesn’t want to relive Uber’s early days, when it earned a nasty reputation for its , , and corporate culture. Now, Khosrowshahi is pushing a “do the right thing” mentality, as he looks beyond ride-hailing toward food delivery, bike- and scooter-sharing, and even flying taxis.

While Kalanick wasn’t on the balcony, he did get to savor the event on the NYSE floor with his father, where we was, according to Mike Isaac of the New York Times, greeted with applause. However, it looks like Kalanick left the building before the first Uber trade. 

  

Uber shares opened Friday at $42, lower than the IPO price of $45. Kalanick owns 117 million shares of Uber stock, while Khosrowshahi holds just under 200,000.

Kalanick has moved on with his own investment fund, 10100 Fund. But he’s still clearly connected to Uber (he testified just over a year ago during the Uber v. Waymo trade secrets trial).

Smaller rival Lyft went public in March, beating Uber to the punch, although it only operates in the U.S. and Canada. Uber is available in more than 65 countries.  Both are unprofitable. Lyft lost nearly $1 billion in 2018, while Uber lost $1.8 billion.