Travis Kalanick is a name to remember when talking about American entrepreneurs. Born on August 6, 1976, Kalanick was ambitious to study computer coding. He ended up getting admission in computer engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) but dropped out of the university later to commence his start-up business. Travis Kalanick Biography is surely worth reading.
This successful billionaire is the founder of Uber, an online mobile application bridging the gap between customers and freelance drivers for transportation. He also served as the CEO of Uber from 2009 to 2017. He came up with the idea of Uber in 2009 and showed full determination to establish the newly proposed business idea.
Although Travis was hopeful for the success of Uber and his career, he eventually ended up resigning from the position of CEO at Uber due to constant cases of discrimination and sexual harassment.
Childhood of Travis Kalanick:
Travis Kalanick was born on August 6, 1976. He grew up in the suburbs of Northbridge, Los Angeles, United States of America. His mother, Bonnie Renée Horowitz Bloom, was a former worker at ‘Los Angeles Daily News and the Father’s name was Donald Edward Kalanick. Travis got love and constant consideration from the parents, along with his siblings. Kalanick had two half-sisters and a brother, named Cody, who is a firefighter. At a young age, he started getting an interest in coding and web-sharing technology.
Careers during life:
Kalanick faced the worst of challenges during his career. His journey began when he started his venture, Scour-a start-up for dealing in internet search engine and file-sharing services. This company was one of the first few dot-com companies that allowed sharing movies and music sharing through online channels. But unfortunately, the company faced severe infringement and copyright charges by motion companies, suing Scour. This case forced Kalanick to file for bankruptcy in 2000 and he also sold his assets.
In 2001, Kalanick came out of bankruptcy when he founded Red Swoosh (a file-sharing technology.) He sold this company for a whopping $19 million in 2007 to Akamai Technologies. In 2009, he launched Uber, whose success skyrocketed over the period. However, This successful venture still faced a few hurdles. Taxicab drivers around the world halted the company, who protested against unfair market competition.
Family and personal life:
Travis Kalanick was born to Bonnie Renée Horowitz Bloom, a former ‘Los Angeles Daily News’ employee, and Donald Edward Kalanick. The family lived together along with three other siblings; two sisters and one brother. Donald has been in two long relationships in the past, but he is currently unmarried. He lives in a townhouse in the upper hills of Castro District, in the neighborhood of San Francisco. The name of his house is “The Jam Pad” which has its own dedicated Twitter account.
Current Position:
After leaving the position of CEO at Uber, Kalanick announced a new venture fund, 10100, that claims for investments in profitable and non-profitable organizations, in 2018. Currently, he works as the CEO of City Storage Systems. In 2019, Kalanick sold all of his shares at Uber for around $2.5 billion. At present, he holds an estimated net worth of about 2.8 billion dollars.