What's next for Uber as new CEO gets behind the wheel?

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Uber has selected Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive officer of Expedia, as the company’s new CEO late on Tuesday.

Khosrowshahi, who has led online travel agent Expedia since 2005, arrived two months after Uber’s former CEO Travis Kalanick announced his departure from the company he co-founded, following pressure from shareholders.

Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Expedia, Inc., attending the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 7, 2016 in Sun Valley, Idaho. / AFP Photo

The Iranian-born CEO was once the highest paid chief executive of a US public company in 2015, according to a report compiled by Equilar and the Associated Press. Experts believed that Uber offered him about 200 million US dollars to accept the job.

Khosrowshahi may not be as popular as the other choices like Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s Meg Whitman or General Electric’s Jeff Immelt, but he is still seen as a qualified and respected choice for Uber’s CEO. According to reports, “He’s got an extraordinarily deep network” as well as other influential family members in the business community that will surely help him restructure the ride-sharing giant, changing it from money loser to turning a profit, as well as totally upending the company's infamously toxic work culture.

"Opportunity of a lifetime"

Dara Khosrowshahi is aware of the challenges ahead. Nevertheless, he considers his new job as an “opportunity of a lifetime.”

“Uber is a company that is redefining the transportation industry on a global basis; to be part of that story is something that is interesting and would be a real privilege,” Khosrowshahi said in a Bloomberg interview at Expedia’s headquarters in Bellevue, Washington.

“Are there difficulties? Are there complexities? Are there challenges? Absolutely, but that’s also what makes it fun. I am not in this to coast. I’m in it to get my hands dirty and build a team and do something that people will look back on with tons of satisfaction.”

The San Francisco-based company has had a rough year so far, with a series of self-inflicted scandals. A third party review of 215 sexual harassments lead to Uber firing 20 employees. But before even dealing with that, Khosrowshahi must deal with the problem that his predecessor Travis reportedly fostered a cult of personality at Uber. More than a thousand employees even launched a signature campaign to try and reinstate Travis.

Travis Kalanick, CEO of the global ride sharing service Uber, attends a press conference in Beijing on January 11, 2016. The Uber CEO spoke at a press conference announcing a partnership with Chinese conglomerate HNA Group. Uber launched in China in February 2014 and is active in 21 cities there, with plans to be in 100 cities within a year. / AFP PHOTO

The lack of senior leadership also adds to the startup’s problems. Khosrowshahi is yet to have a chief operating officer, leaving Uber leaderless when it comes to strategy and day-to-day operations.

Then comes Uber’s immediate external problem: the pending legal battle with Waymo, Google’s self-driving car subsidiary. One of Waymo’s top engineers left Waymo for Uber, and downloaded a significant amount of Waymo technical data to take to Uber before he left. Uber initially claimed the suit had no merit but the new management now needs to re-evaluate the company’s current legal strategy for the lawsuit.

The much greater issue? Uber is yet to make money. According to reports, around 50 percent of the cost of the ride you take is subsidized by Uber itself, eating up money it has from venture capital investors. Uber lost 2.8 billion US dollars in 2016, excluding its failed venture in China. Most estimates put Uber’s cash stack at around 7 billion US dollars, which means Uber has about three years of burn left.

Ride-sharing app Uber said on August 29, 2017 it had paid nearly 10 million US dollars in fines and drivers' compensation to return to the Philippines' roads, after it was suspended for defying the government. / AFP Photo

Before Khosrowshahi officially steps in, a spokesman for the company confirmed the existence of a preliminary investigation as the US Justice Department probes whether managers at Uber violated US laws against bribery of foreign officials, specifically the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Not a one-man show

From its top people to the drivers, the list of scandals involving Uber right now goes on and on. And Khosrowshahi has a lot of catching up to do. In a Bloomberg report where Khosrowshahi spoke publicly for the first time, the new chief said he plans to tackle allegations of sexual discrimination and systemic cultural issues.

It will be a tough task for Khosrowshahi to really steer the controversy-battered company back onto a smoother road – and unlike many of Kalanick’s supporters believe, the success and failure of a company cannot be just in the hands of the CEO. The recovery of Uber is now up to Khosrowshahi’s new hires. With the major changes that need to happen, he’s clearly going to need a unified team working together to keep Uber afloat.