DETROIT, USA: Uber Technologies Inc. faced a fresh round of turmoil Thursday, with its global operations chief resigning and a major investor suing the ride-hailing company’s former CEO.
Ryan Graves told Uber staff in an e-mail Thursday that he will transition out of his role as senior vice president of global operations in mid-September. Graves will remain on Uber’s board.
That board — and its support for former CEO Travis Kalanick — was the subject of a lawsuit filed Thursday in Delaware Chancery Court by Benchmark Capital Partners.
Benchmark is a major investor with 13 percent of Uber’s stock. It claims Kalanick is trying to pack Uber’s board with his allies and eventually return to his post as CEO. The venture capital firm says that would harm Uber’s shareholders, employees, drivers and customers.
A spokesperson for Kalanick said the lawsuit is “completely without merit and riddled with lies and false allegations.”
In the lawsuit, Benchmark claims Kalanick concealed material information from investors when he created three new board seats in 2016 and gave himself the right to appoint people to those seats. Among other things, Benchmark said, Kalanick knew Uber might be accused of stealing trade secrets from Waymo, Google’s self-driving car unit. Waymo sued Uber earlier this year.
The lawsuit also says Kalanick didn’t discuss his failure to curb Uber’s pervasive culture of discrimination and sexual harassment.
Kalanick resigned under pressure in June after a monthslong investigation into harassment and other behavior problems at the San Francisco-based company. But he quickly appointed himself to one of the three board seats. The other two remain vacant.
Benchmark says Kalanick has acquired “a disproportionate level of influence over the board, ensuring that he would continue to have an outsized role in Uber’s strategic direction even if forced to resign as CEO.” The firm says Kalanick has already interfered in the board’s attempts to hire a new CEO.
Benchmark wants to remove the three additional seats and return the board to eight members. It’s also asking the court to prevent Kalanick from participating in board meetings.
Uber said it had no comment on the lawsuit. But in a statement, Kalanick’s spokesperson said the lawsuit is an attempt to deprive Kalanick of his rights as an Uber founder and shareholder.
“Travis will continue to act in the interests of Uber and all of its stakeholders and is confident that these entirely baseless claims will be rejected,” the statement said.
More Uber woes: Executive resigns, investor sues ousted CEO
More Uber woes: Executive resigns, investor sues ousted CEO
New Murabba seeks contractors for Mukaab Towers fit-outs: MEED
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s New Murabba Development Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund, has issued a request for information to gauge the market for modular and offsite fit-out solutions for its flagship Mukaab development, MEED reported on Wednesday.
The RFI was released on Jan. 26, with submissions due by Feb. 11. NMDC has also scheduled a market engagement meeting during the first week of February to discuss potential solutions with prospective contractors.
Sources close to the project told MEED that NMDC is “seeking experienced suppliers and contractors to advise on the feasibility, constraints, and execution strategy for using non-load-bearing modular systems for the four corner towers framing the Mukaab structure.” The feedback gathered from these discussions will be incorporated into later design and procurement decisions.
The four towers — two residential (North and South) and two mixed-use (East and West) — are integral to the Mukaab’s architectural layout. Each tower is expected to rise approximately 375 meters and span over 80 stories. Key modular elements under consideration include bathroom pods, kitchen pods, dressing room modules, panelized steel partition systems, and other offsite-manufactured fit-out solutions.
Early works on the Mukaab were completed last year, with NMDC preparing to award the estimated $1 billion contract for the main raft works. This was highlighted in a presentation by NMDC’s chief project delivery officer on Sept. 9, 2025, during the Future Projects Forum in Riyadh.
Earlier this month, US-based Parsons Corp. was awarded a contract by NMDC to provide design and construction technical support. Parsons will act as the lead design consultant for infrastructure, delivering services covering public buildings, infrastructure, landscaping, and the public realm at New Murabba. The firm will also support the development of the project’s downtown experience, which spans 14 million sq. meters of residential, workplace, and entertainment space.
The Parsons contract follows NMDC’s October 2025 agreements with three other US-based engineering firms for design work across the development. New York-headquartered Kohn Pedersen Fox was appointed to lead early design for the first residential community, while Aecom and Jacobs were selected as lead design consultants for the Mukaab district.
In August 2025, NMDC signed a memorandum of understanding with Falcons Creative Group, another US-based firm, to develop the creative vision and immersive experiences for the Mukaab project. Meanwhile, Beijing-based China Harbour Engineering Co. completed the excavation works for the Mukaab, and UAE-headquartered HSSG Foundation Contracting executed the foundation works.
