Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber

by Mike Isaac

The two investors knew Kalanick meant it. But so did they. When Cohler and Fenton presented him with the letter, the syndicate started a ticking clock. It was currently close to noon. They gave Kalanick an ultimatum: They needed an answer by the end of the day, around 6:00 p.m. If he declined to answer, if he took too long, if he tried to stall them further—if he did anything that seemed like an underhanded maneuver—the venture capitalists would walk out of the room, text members of the syndicate and immediately spin up the communications machine to take the fight public. By the next morning, the fight would be on the front page of the New York Times. Word would spread fast, and other investors—emboldened by the hard-line stance taken by Uber’s largest shareholders—would ultimately join them.