Former Uber CEO and co-founder Travis Kalanick today had an announcement to make about his next commercial venture.
Called 10100 (“ten one hundred”), it’s a new investment fund that will follow the directions of his “passions, investments, ideas, and big bets.” He says the idea is to promote large-scale job creation, particularly focusing on real estate, e-commerce, and innovations from countries like China and India.
“Our non-profit efforts will initially focus on education and the future of cities,” Kalanick wrote on Twitter.
Ever since Kalanick stepped down as Uber’s CEO last July, he’s retained some measure of control in the company’s day-to-day operations, thanks to the deal he made with the board for tending his resignation. Under current CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, the company is still struggling to deal with fallout from multiple controversies resulting from Kalanick’s reign since 2009. Him and his henchmen have been accused of stealing trade secrets from Alphabet’s Waymo, covering up a cyberattack that exposed customers, and boatloads of sexual harassment.
However, Uber recently made a deal with Japan-based telecom giant SoftBank that made it the ride-hailing app’s largest shareholder. Consequently, Kalanick now finds himself with considerably less voting power on Uber’s board. It’s something he likely foresaw, but it’s uncertain how long 10100 has been in the works.
Perhaps now it means Uber has some chance to change its public image and, maybe, even become a nice place to work.