Uber’s first employee resigns from company’s board of directors after IPO makes him a billionaire

Uber’s first employee, who once served as the company’s CEO, has stepped down from the board of directors shortly after the ride-sharing app’s IPO made him a billionaire. 

Ryan Graves, 36, who quit working for Uber in 2017 but remained a shareholder and on the board, informed the company of his plans on Thursday, according to SEC records reported on Friday.

The filing noted that the reason for Graves’ resignation ‘was not the result of any disagreement’ between him and the company or its board of directors.

Ron Sugar, the independent chairperson of Uber’s board, said it accepted Graves’ resignation and thanked him for his ‘contributions to Uber’s success,’ according to Fox Business.

He also called Graves ‘one of the key people who helped shape Uber into the company that it is today.’

In less than nine years with Uber, Graves’ net worth has skyrocketed to an estimated $1.4 billion.

It all started with a tweet for the Miami University of Ohio econ major, who responded to an online inquiry from Uber executive Travis Kalanick on January 5, 2010 about a job opportunity at the then-fledgling company.

‘Funny story how we brought him in,’ Kalanick wrote in a December 2010 blog post. ‘I was hitting Craigslist, Twitter, and other channels looking for the right candidate. What resulted was the Awesomest [sic] job post and response I’ve ever seen.’

At the time, Graves was working as an IT Program Leader at General Electric.

Graves, 36, became Uber’s first employee in 2010 after responding to a tweet from Uber co-Founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick about a job opportunity

Kalanick previously called his Twitter back-and-forth with Graves ‘the Awesomest [sic] job post and response I’ve ever seen’

‘Looking 4 entrepreneurial product mgr/biz-dev killer 4 a location based service.. pre-launch, BIG equity, big peeps involved–ANY TIPS??’ Kalanick tweeted in 2010.

‘@KonaTbone heres a tip. email me 🙂 graves.ryan[at]gmail.com,’ Graves replied. 

Graves briefly served as Uber’s CEO before becoming its Senior Vice President of Operations in December of 2010 after Kalanick took over as the company’s chief executive.

Kalanick was forced to resign as the company’s leader in June of 2017 following a major sexual harassment scandal.

Graves quit working as an Uber employee in September of 2017 while remaining on its board of directors. 

Uber’s stock price performance over the last five days

He went on to found his own asset management company, Saltwater Capital LLC, in January of 2018.

Graves owns 31.9 million shares in Uber stock. He officially became a billionaire on May 10 when the company went public at a valuation of roughly $75.5 billion.

But Uber’s stock plunged 7.6 percent on the first day of trading, making it the worst-performing IPO in US stock market history at the time.

The stock’s poor performance didn’t stop Uber employees, many of whom own stock in the company, from partying hard at the company’s Silicon Valley offices on IPO day.

Uber managers were forced to shut down at least one party at one of the company’s California satellite offices. Another Uber official reportedly quit her job when festivities got out of hand at the office.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi sent a letter to employees to reassuring them of the company’s bright future after their rough start as a publicly traded corporation.

‘Remember that the Facebook and Amazon post-IPO trading was incredibly difficult for those companies. And look at how they have delivered since,’ Khosrowshahi wrote.

Graves’ tenure with the rideshare industry leader’s board officially ends on Monday.

Kalanick (pictured) took over as CEO of Uber until he was forced to resign in June of 2017 following a sexual harassment scandal

Graves quit working as an Uber employee in September of 2017 while remaining on its board of directors. He went on to found his own asset management company, Saltwater Capital LLC, in January of 2018