Uber Adds To List Of Crimes, Now Being Investigated For Bribing Foreign Officials

Ah, Uber – along with Wells Fargo, easily my favorite criminal enterprise. With Travis Kalanick as its mob boss, the company has basically ignored the rule of law ever since its inception, essentially daring the powers that be to crack down on it and relying on its huge bankroll of money to survive while it tries to build a monopoly in any one of a variety of endeavors. Now, even as they announce a new CEO, the company still can’t avoid the past illegality it has engaged in.

As we headed into last weekend and Jeff Immelt dropped out, Meg Whitman was apparently the choice of the board to become the new CEO. But she demanded far more independence from the board members that still were loyal to Kalanick and Kalanick himself, who still remains a board member, than they were apparently ready to allow. That left the board with the only remaining choice, Expedia’s Dara Khosrowshahi, to take the helm.

Meanwhile. it appears the DOJ is now investigating Uber for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, essentially exploring the possibility, or probability based on Uber’s history, that the company was paying bribes to foreign officials in order to further its business. It is unknown whether this investigation pertains to just one official or just one country or perhaps multiple officials in multiple countries.

I have to believe that any other company that engaged in as much blatant criminality as Uber would have been shuttered long ago. But the big money in Silicon Valley and on Wall Street apparently have invested so much money into the Uber sinkhole they are unwilling to let it die the death it deserves. And, as I’ve said until I’m blue in the face, corporate criminality like Uber’s will never end unless a senior executive does some serious jail time. And if ever there was a candidate for that “honor”, it would be Kalanick.