Uber’s Kalanick Selling A Third Of His Uber Holdings

Uber former CEO Travis Kalanick will be selling nearly a full third of his 10 percent stake in Uber for $1.4 billion, according to new reports.

The move comes as part of a deal with SoftBank, which will soon own 17.5 percent of Uber — a position mostly gained by buying out early investor and employee shares in the firm. Those agreements were finalized last week and will close in early 2018, according to Uber.

Kalanick, who was ousted in June after a string of scandals rocked the ride-sharing firm, had offered to sell off more of his stake — but there was a limit on how much SoftBank was looking to pick-up, and so instead Kalanick will officially be selling off 2.9 percent. Other investors were also unable to sell off as much of their stock as they wished.

None of the involved parties offered any official comment on the sale.

Kalanick, with the sales, will be a billionaire for the first time officially as opposed to on paper. This will also be Kalanick’s first sale of shares in the firm he founded over a decade ago.  The SoftBank buyout will likely represent the last time Uber employees can cash out their shares before the company’s long-awaited IPO at some point in the future.