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Uber CEO and co-founder Travis Kalanick. Picture: Paul Sakluma
UBER boss Travis Kalanick has been a very naughty chief executive at times.
The CEO of the world-conquering ride sharing app has seen no shortage of controversies in his rise to the top. He was filmed berating one of his drivers over a fare, been compelled to hire a former US Attorney General to carry out an investigation into sexual harassment at the company, and penned an open letter to employees admitting that he needs to grow up.
But perhaps nothing captures the turbulence of his leadership better than a tense meeting Mr Kalanick endured with Apple CEO Tim Cook in 2015.
The previously unreported meeting was a moment the Uber boss was dreading and when the two Silicon Valley heavyweights were in the room together it was fraught with tension, according to an in-depth feature by The New York Times.
“So, I’ve heard you’ve been breaking some of our rules,” Mr Cook said in his calm, Southern tone, the paper reported.
The problem was Uber had deliberately broken Apple’s rules when it comes to the App Store in a plan that was destined to come unstuck but was nonetheless impressive in its audacity.
Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly gave Uber CEO a serious dressing down over its app shenanigans. Picture: Bernd ThissenSource:AFP
Uber was pulling a fast one on Apple and using software to identify iPhones even after their owners deleted the app, or even wiped the phone completely. It’s known as fingerprinting and it’s not an overly uncommon technique in the tech world and is often used in anti-fraud measures. But it does breach the rules Apple sets out for clients using its App Store.
If you uninstall an app that uses fingerprinting, it leaves behind a small piece of code that can be used as an identifier if the app is ever reinstalled on the device.
In order to prevent Apple from finding out, Mr Kalanick ordered a his engineers to “geofence” Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California, the Times reported.
He had them set up a way to digitally identify when someone was reviewing Uber’s software in a specific location and obfuscate the code they were looking at, effectively creating something akin to a force field of deception.
Eventually Apple cottoned on, hence the uncomfortable 2015 meeting.
In the session, Apple CEO Tim Cook played the ultimate trump card. He told Mr Kalanick to cut it out or he would yank the Uber app from the Apple Store — a move that would all but cripple the service.
Of course, the Uber CEO acquiesced.
It’s better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission, as the old adage goes. And it’s clearly a philosophy that Mr Kalanick has embraced during his time turning Uber into arguably the most disruptive global company in the iPhone era.
Uber has spread to more than 70 countries and achieved an eye-watering market valuation of $92 billion, as it continues to grow.
During that time Mr Kalanick has shown a willingness, if not an eagerness, to flout laws and government regulations, exploit legal grey areas and even deceive law enforcement agencies for his own benefit.
In some cases it has paid dividends, but in others like the run in with Apple, it has brought the company to the edge of potential disaster.
From sexual harassment allegations to social media opposition, Uber’s steered off the road. WSJ’s Lee Hawkins explains the company’s missteps. Photo/video: Drew Evans/The Wall Street Journal.
