Uber is having a really rough couple of weeks.
On Tuesday, a video emerged in which Uber CEO Travis Kalanick argues heatedly with a driver about fares. The video quickly made the rounds on the internet, and now, Kalanick is saying he needs "leadership help."
In the dashcam video obtained by Bloomberg News, the driver tells Kalanick that he's lost $97,000 in income because of the company lowering fares. The man, identified as Fawzi Kamel, says, "I'm bankrupt because of you."
Then the executive lashes back.
"You know what? Some people don't like to take responsibility for their own shit. They blame everything in their life on somebody else. Good luck," he said before slamming the car's door.
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After the video (which you can watch below) went public, Kalanick issued a statement to Uber employees. In it, he says he must "grow up" and apologizes to Kamel as well as the driver community.
"This is the first time I've been willing to admit that I need leadership help and I intend to get it," he said.
The outburst, reportedly from early in February, is the latest in a string of problems for Kalanick and his company, which has become a global ride-hailing giant largely by challenging laws and authorities.
Last week Uber found itself in a sexual harassment firestorm stemming from an essay published by a woman who used to work there as an engineer. Susan Fowler said said that her prospects at the company evaporated after she complained about sexual advances from her boss. She added that the human resources department ignored her complaints because her superior was a high performer.
After that news broke, Kalanick called for an independent investigation, and the company hired former Attorney General Eric Holder to help.
Then, on Tuesday, a top engineering executive, Amit Singhal, left Uber five weeks after his hire was announced. According to a report by Recode, Singhal failed to disclose that he'd left his previous job at Google because of a sexual harassment allegation.
But the company's controversies don't end there.
Last week, Waymo, a self-driving car company that used to be part of Google, sued Uber in federal court, alleging betrayal and high-tech espionage.
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The 28-page complaint accuses Anthony Levandowski, a former top manager for Google's self-driving car project, of stealing technology now propelling Uber's effort to build an autonomous vehicle fleet.
The lawsuit alleges that the theft occurred before Levandowski left Google to found a startup called Otto that is building self-driving big-rig trucks. Uber bought Otto for $680 million last year, and Levandowski is now overseeing Uber's autonomous car effort.
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