Travis Kalanick, an American entrepreneur, is best known for his involvement with the car-ride service provider Uber. Despite facing setbacks with his previous start-up, Scour, due to copyright infringement accusations, Kalanick persevered and successfully established Red Swoosh. After selling Red Swoosh to Akamai Technologies, he co-founded Uber, which experienced both success and controversy under his leadership. Despite his controversial tenure, Kalanick’s entrepreneurial achievements have earned him a place on Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans.
Quick Facts
- Also Known As: Travis Cordell Kalanick
- Age: 47 Years, 47 Year Old Males
- Family:
- Father: Donald Edward Kalanick
- Mother: Bonnie Horowitz Kalanick
- Partner: Angie You
- Born Country: United States
- Internet Entrepreneurs
- American Men
- Notable Alumni: Granada Hills Charter High School
- Ancestry: Slovak American, Czech American, German American, Austrian American
- U.S. State: California
- City: Los Angeles
- Education: University Of California, Los Angeles, Granada Hills Charter High School
Childhood & Early Life
Travis Cordell Kalanick was born on August 6, 1976, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., to Bonnie Renée Horowitz Bloom and Donald Edward Kalanick. He grew up in the Northridge suburb of California and had two half-sisters and a brother named Cory. Kalanick developed an interest in computers at a young age and had already learned to write computer code by the time he reached middle school. He attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he studied computer engineering and business economics. He dropped out in 1998 to start his first business venture.
Career
In 1998, Kalanick joined his UCLA dropout mates Michael Todd and Vince Busam to establish the online file-exchange service called ‘Scour Exchange’ and a multimedia search engine named ‘Scour Inc.’ However, the company had to be declared bankrupt in 2000 due to a lawsuit worth $250 billion filed against them for copyright infringement. Kalanick then collaborated with Michael Todd to establish his second start-up, a peer-to-peer file-sharing company named ‘Red Swoosh.’ After facing initial difficulties, ‘Red Swoosh’ eventually accelerated its business and was sold to ‘Akamai Technologies’ in 2007.
In 2009, Kalanick co-founded ‘Uber’ with Canadian entrepreneur Garrett Camp. He became the CEO of ‘Uber’ in October 2010. However, his association with President Donald Trump’s ‘Strategy and Policy Forum’ and the company’s failed HR policies related to sexual harassment and discrimination led to criticism and controversies. Kalanick took an indefinite leave of absence in June 2017 and resigned as the CEO later that month. He remained on the board of directors.
Kalanick was involved in a controversy with the venture capital firm ‘Benchmark’ in August 2017, but the case was settled in January 2018. He announced the launch of his new venture fund, ‘10100,’ in March 2018. In June 2018, he entered the prepared-food delivery sector by acquiring a controlling interest in ‘FoodStars.’ Kalanick stepped down from the board of directors of ‘Uber’ in December 2019.
Family & Personal Life
Kalanick owns a townhouse in San Francisco and is a supporter of the Libertarian Party. He is known to be a fan of novelist Ayn Rand.