Opinion

How Uber’s Travis Kalanick Can Make a Comeback

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While it may appear that Kalanick’s professional career is over, we can’t forget that American business leaders often have a second act.
By Irving Schenkler
Uber’s chickens have come home to roost—and they’re garbed in the attire of institutional investors. Travis Kalanick, the company’s founder and CEO, has stepped away from the podium, leaving his beloved Uber in the hands of a new, yet unnamed, executive.

Kalanick found himself in this untenable position because of questions about his character. The investors who brought on the coup apparently carried concerns that Kalanick’s character (or lack of it) could seep into the marketplace and affect analyst estimates of the company’s valuation.

While it may appear that Kalanick’s professional career is over, we can’t forget that American business leaders often have a second act. Jamie Dimon stands as Exhibit A, having been fired as president of Citigroup in the 1990s, but later becoming JPMorgan Chase’s highly regarded CEO today. Mark Hurd left Hewlett Packard in 2011 in disgrace after revelations of personal scandal, but today is thriving as CEO of Oracle.

Read the full article as published by Fortune.  
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Irv Schenkler is a Clinical Professor and Director of the Management Communication Program at New York University's Stern School of Business.