Uber Ousts Uber Eats Head As It Looks To Stem Losses

As Uber aims to stem losses from its Eats business in places where there is no indication that it will turn into a number one or two player, the executive leading the Eats business of Uber is departing the firm. Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, who is the current head of international rides of Uber, will take the place of Jason Droege per a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Droege will be “available until June to help with the transition” per the company, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday (Feb. 25).

Dara Khosrowshahi, the chief executive of Uber, said in a statement per the report, “as Eats moves into its next phase of more profitable growth, I am happy to have Pierre at the helm, and look forward to him applying his nearly eight years of experience with our Rides business to capture the many opportunities that lie ahead for Eats.”

In a tweet, Jason Droege said that he “decided to step down” from his Eats role. He continued, “I feel lucky to have been part of Eats, from the 1st order in Toronto in Dec ’15 to one of the world’s largest marketplaces. This success is a testament to the hard work of our team, and I’m honored to have played a part[.]”

A report surfaced in January that Uber was selling its money-losing food delivery service in India to Zomato for a 9.99 percent business stake. The rideshare company also recently got rid of ventures in China, Russia, and Southeast Asia to keep its promise to get rid of money-losers and turn a profit.

Forrester analyst Satish Meena told reporters that even with the Uber arrangement, Zomato’s local rival Swiggy has a larger cut of the food delivery business of India. Zomato was valued at $3.55 billion earlier this month and was founded in 2008.

Khosrowshahi said in a statement at the time, “India remains an exceptionally important market to Uber and we will continue to invest in growing our local Rides business.”