The documents reveal the broad support Uber received from politicians such as current French President Emmanuel Macron, who was then economy minister, and Nélia Kruse, then the European Union’s (EU) digital affairs commissioner.
Uber has acknowledged that the company’s past actions are not in line with its current values, and claims that Uber is a different company now.
More than 124,000 files were leaked to the media, including 83,000 e-mails, as well as recordings of conversations from 2013 to 2017.
The documents were leaked to the British newspaper “Guardian”, which shared them with the International Consortium for Investigative Journalism and several other media.
The documents reveal for the first time how Uber, spending $90 million a year on public relations and lobbying, has won political support for its efforts to destroy Europe’s taxi industry.
While French taxi drivers protested loudly and sometimes violently against Uber, Macron was on friendly terms with Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, promising to reform French laws in favor of Uber.
Uber’s ruthless business practices were already known, but these documents provide the first glimpse into the company’s internal affairs, revealing how far Uber was willing to go to achieve its goals.
The documents reveal that Kruse, the former EU digital commissioner, discussed opportunities to work for the company before the end of her term and secretly supported Uber’s interests, potentially breaching EU ethics rules.
At that time, “Uber” was not only one of the world’s fastest growing companies, but also one of the most controversial. The company has been linked to lawsuits, allegations of sexual harassment and data security breaches.
In the end, the shareholders got tired of this situation and in 2017, Kalanick was forced to resign.
Uber says Kalanick’s successor as CEO, Dar Khosrowshahi, has been tasked with overhauling all aspects of the company’s operations and has introduced the tight controls needed for a publicly traded company.
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