Report: After 5 Years, Uber CFO Nelson Chai Plans to Leave

Uber Chief Financial Officer Nelson Chai is reportedly planning to leave the firm after five years.

Chai told the company’s CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, that he intends to move on, but an effective date has not been chosen, Bloomberg reported Monday (July 10), citing unnamed sources.

Uber did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

A company spokesperson told Bloomberg in a statement: “Over the past five years, Nelson has been essential to putting Uber on secure financial footing, steering the company from billions of dollars in losses,” to improved earnings, strong free cash flow and heading toward an operating profit. “We are not going to comment on any executive’s potential career decisions during a quiet period.”

Chai joined Uber in 2018 — at a time when the company had been operating without a CFO for three years — after being chosen by Khosrowshahi to lead the ride-hailing firm’s initial public offering (IPO) that would be completed in 2019, according to the Bloomberg report.

In the years that followed the IPO, Uber acquired delivery firm Postmates for $2.65 billion in 2020, bought logistics operator Transplace for $2.25 billion in 2021, and achieved its first quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA in 2022, the report said.

The move comes at a time when Uber has been rolling out new services and strategies in its ride-hailing and food delivery businesses.

For example, as PYMNTS reported June 26, Uber is taking advantage of its multiservice platform to drive sales, leveraging its customer data from the Rides vertical to identify and take advantage of occasions to sell consumers on its Eats offerings.

In another move, on June 1, Uber announced it is launching Uber Business Comfort, a ride type exclusive to business travelers. This offering includes priority pickup, newer cars, more legroom, highly rated drivers, custom preferences and a designated, 24/7 personalized support service.

Weeks earlier, on May 17, Uber launched a “teen accounts” service for riders aged 13 to 17 that allows them to book highly supervised rides on its platform. This program is open only to “experienced and highly rated drivers” and gives parents the ability to contact the driver directly during the trip.