2017年十大商业丑闻

Uber一再出事

如果说之前Uber遇到的法律纠纷就像开车过减速带的颠簸，那么2017年Uber遇到的事堪称高速路上10辆车大追尾。前有性骚扰指控，后有针对创始人卡兰尼克领导能力的质疑，甚至还有犯罪调查。2月，前员工苏珊·富勒指控Uber内部性骚扰频繁出现。5月，司法部宣布对Uber开展犯罪调查，因为Uber被指使用名叫“Greyball”的软件在某些地区非法运营时规避地方监管者调查。结果是，6月卡兰尼克离职，给接任者——时任Expedia首席执行官的达拉·克斯罗萨西留下重整公司的巨大烂摊子。

接下来发生的事导致收拾烂摊子几乎变成“不可能的任务”：就在克斯罗萨西出任后不久，英国伦敦就宣布取缔Uber，11月有消息称Uber数据库遭黑，约5700万用户资料有泄露风险。

跟坐美联航飞机不一样，Uber用户选择其实很多，转头就可以选择豪华出租车。而且由于Uber犯错连连，市场份额也被竞争对手Lyft抢走，之前一年Uber市场份额为84%，2017年降至74%。

Uber估值曾高达680亿美元。但出这么多事后，日本银行软银收购其股份时估值已降至480亿美元。

Uber, Uber, and More Uber

If Uber’s past run-ins with the law were speed bumps, then 2017 hit the ride-hailing company like a 10-car pileup, with sexual harassment allegations, questions about founder Travis Kalanick’s leadership, and criminal probes. In February, former Uber employee Susan Fowler came forward alleging a culture of sexual harassment in the Silicon Valley giant. In May, the Justice Department revealed a criminal probe into Uber’s alleged use of a software dubbed “Greyball” to avoid regulators in geographic regions where it was operating illegally. That all helped lead to the ouster of Kalanick in June, giving then-Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi the unenviable task of reforming the firm.

What made it seem like even more of a Sisyphean ordeal: Shortly after Khosrowshahi took the reins, London banned Uber from the U.K. capital, and in November, it was revealed that Uber had been hacked, putting the data of some 57 million users in danger.

Unlike in the case of United Airlines, Uber’s users have chosen alternatives to the black cars. Due to its ongoing woes, Uber has ceded part of its market share to Lyft, now controlling 74% of the U.S. market against 84% last year.

Uber once had a valuation of about $68 billion. Japanese banking firm SoftBank meanwhile bought a stake in the company valuing it at $48 billion.