Uber founder Travis Kalanick has resigned as CEO of the ride-hailing service just one week after taking an indefinite leave of absence.
The New York Times reported Kalanick was facing intense pressure from Uber's investors.
Sources close to the situation told the Times that five of the San Francisco-based startup's major investors demanded Kalanick resign immediately. The investors sent Kalanick a letter titled "Moving Uber Forward" that urged him to leave the company as they believe it's in need of a change in leadership.
Kalanick will remain on Uber's board of directors.
"I love Uber more than anything in the world and at this difficult moment in my personal life I have accepted the investors request to step aside so that Uber can go back to building rather than be distracted with another fight," Kalanick said in a statement via the Times.
Uber has come under fire in recent months following a slew of scandals, including sexual harassment allegations and the dismissal of more than 20 employees.
TravelPulse's Gabe Zaldivar reported last week that Kalanick's departure left the company with a committee of leaders, including Rachel Holt, manager of North America, Francis Frei, senior vice president of leadership and strategy and Liane Hornsey, chief of human resources.
One of the investors pushing for Kalanick's resignation included venture capital firm Benchmark. The firm's partner and Uber board member Bill Gurley had high praise for Kalanick.
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Kalanick's ouster comes on the heels of Uber's "180 Days of Change" campaign aimed at improving the driver experience. The company rolled out new changes on Tuesday to how drivers earn money, including a new tipping feature.
Uber promises more improvements over the course of the next six months.
"Uber has become a global service providing roughly 15 million rides per day across 500 cities, and international markets are growing as fast as ever. People love the product itself, and they see companies like Uber as the future. Which is why we must now hold ourselves to a higher standard going forward," Uber co-founder Garrett Camp wrote in a Medium post on Tuesday.
"We've formed a new executive leadership team, and the board is actively recruiting new directors and talented executives."
The investors' letter to Kalanick also demanded he support a board-led search for a new CEO and that the company immediately hire an experienced chief financial officer.
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