Uber hires Dara Khosrowshahi as chief exec

"We are delighted to announce that Uber's board has voted unanimously to appoint Khosrowshahi to be our new CEO," Uber executives said in an email sent to employees late Tuesday.

Khosrowshahi is credited with turning Expedia into a global travel services behemoth, winning admiration from employees on the journey.

Uber is hoping he will now slip into the driver's seat at the controversy-battered ride-sharing service and steer it along a similarly glorious route.

Replacing co-founder, Travis Kalanick

Khosrowshahi replaces Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick, who was pressured to resign as chief of the leading smartphone-summoned ride service.

Kalanick was the driving force behind Uber, taking a spur-of-moment idea and turning it into the world's most valuable venture-funded tech startup.

But his brash personality and freewheeling management style, which some argue set a problematic tone at the company, made him a liability as well as an asset to the global ridesharing company. In June, he stepped down as chief executive.

Source: AFP