San Francisco - Uber Technologies CEO Travis Kalanick quit
President Donald Trump's business advisory group on Thursday
amid mounting pressure from activists and employees who oppose
the administration's immigration policies.
Critics included Uber drivers, many of whom are immigrants
themselves.
"Joining the group was not meant to be an endorsement of the
president or his agenda but unfortunately it has been
misinterpreted to be exactly that," Kalanick, who had planned to
attend a meeting of the group on Friday, said in an email to
staff that was seen by Reuters.
Uber spokeswoman Chelsea Kohler later confirmed that he had
left the group.
Social media campaigns had targeted Uber, urging users to
delete accounts and opt for rival Lyft. Uber has been
emailing users who deleted their accounts to say it shares their
concerns and will compensate drivers affected by the ban.
Kalanick said he spoke briefly to Trump about the
immigration order "and its issues for our community" and told
the president he would not join the economic council.
The CEO came under increasing pressure to leave the council
after Trump issued an executive order temporarily barring people
from seven majority-Muslim nations from entering the United
States.
"There are many ways we will continue to advocate for just
change on immigration but staying on the council was going to
get in the way of that. The executive order is hurting many
people in communities all across America," he wrote in a note to
employees. "Families are being separated, people are stranded
overseas and there's a growing fear the US is no longer a
place that welcomes immigrants."
The White House said in a statement Thursday evening that
did not mention Uber that Trump "understands the importance of
an open dialogue with fellow business leaders to discuss how to
best make our nation's economy stronger."
The move could put pressure on other CEOs expected to attend
a meeting with Trump on Friday. General Motors Co said
its chief executive would attend, while Walt Disney said earlier Thursday its chief executive would not attend
because of a long-planned board meeting.
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Others expected to take part include the CEOs of JPMorgan
Chase & Co, Blackstone Group, IBM and Wal-Mart Stores. Others that are part of the
council include Tesla CEO Elon Musk, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi and Boston Consulting Group CEO Rich
Lesser.
Musk said he would attend the meeting. "In tomorrow's
meeting, I and others will express our objections to the recent
executive order on immigration and offer suggestions for changes
to the policy," he said in a tweet on Thursday.
Kalanick's departure could signal a growing rift between
technology companies and Washington.
"There is a battle brewing between Trump and Silicon
Valley," said Neeraj Agrawal, general partner at Battery
Ventures. "They [the Trump administration] clearly don't value
the economic activity generated by tech."
Microsoft on Thursday said it proposed a
modification of Trump's travel limits.
Technology companies including Microsoft, Google owner
Alphabet, Apple and Amazon.com have opposed Trump's order, arguing that they rely on
workers from around the world.
Amazon and Expedia have filed court documents
supporting a legal challenge to the order by the Washington
state attorney general.