Ousted CEO Kalanick Names Two Directors to Uber Board

Uber Inc. founder and ousted CEO Travis Kalanick unilaterally appointed two new members to the ride-share service’s board on Friday, four days ahead of a board vote that could take away his right to do so.

Kalanick named former Xerox CEO Ursula Burner and former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain as directors, effective immediately. He says he made the appointments now so that the full board would “be in place for proper deliberation.”

Proposals to be considered by Uber’s board on Tuesday would set a deadline to take the company public, curb Kalanick’s voting power and shift much of his ability to control board seats to new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.

A source tells CNN Kalanick had held back making the board appointments out of respect for efforts to resolve a lawsuit filed in August by investor Benchmark. The venture capital firm accuses Kalanick of fraud for failing to disclose information about the company problems before the board agreed to give him control to add more directors.

Kalanick was removed as CEO in June amid mounting legal and employee-related crises, most of them a result of Kalanick’s abrasive and confrontational management style. The drama has prompted more than a dozen senior executives to leave the company so far this year.