Travis
Kalanick

Born Travis Cordell Kalanick on August 6, 1976, in Los Angeles, California, to Bonnie Renée Horowitz Kalanick (Jewish background, worked in retail advertising for the Los Angeles Daily News) and Donald Edward Kalanick (Slovak-Austrian Catholic descent, civil engineer for the city); grew up in the Northridge neighborhood with a half-sister from mother's side and a brother who later became a firefighter; early family environment emphasized competition and achievement.

Early childhood in Northridge, Los Angeles; family provided stable middle-class upbringing; young Travis displayed curiosity and strong-willed personality in a household blending diverse cultural backgrounds.

Continued family life in Northridge; parents encouraged intellectual and competitive pursuits through games and activities; began showing early signs of drive and independence.

Ongoing early development; exposure to father's engineering work sparked initial interest in problem-solving; family home fostered resilience and ambition.

Family life centered on education and outdoor activities in suburban LA; demonstrated precocious abilities and competitive spirit among peers.

Attended local elementary school in Northridge area; excelled in academics; began exploring computers and technology through early home access.

Continued elementary education; deepened fascination with computers; family supported hands-on learning and logical thinking skills.

Ongoing schooling; learned basic programming concepts; spent time tinkering with early computers available at home or school.

Intensified self-directed learning in computing; taught himself coding basics in middle school years; built foundational technical skills.

Continued middle school; explored programming projects; developed reputation as tech-savvy and ambitious child.

Ongoing education in Northridge; avid interest in computers grew; participated in competitive activities reflecting family's emphasis on achievement.

Middle school years; honed coding abilities; began envisioning technology's entrepreneurial potential.

Transitioned toward high school; sold knives door-to-door for Cutco as a teenager, gaining early sales experience and demonstrating hustle.

Enrolled at Granada Hills Charter High School; maintained strong academic performance; continued programming self-study.

Ongoing high school; competitive drive evident in studies and extracurriculars; deepened technical interests.

Continued at Granada Hills; explored business ideas; built resilience through sales experiences.

High school leadership and academics; prepared for college with focus on engineering and computers.

Senior year at Granada Hills Charter High School; graduated with strong record; accepted to University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for computer engineering.

Freshman year at UCLA studying computer engineering and business economics; joined Theta Xi fraternity; co-founded New Way Academy, an SAT test preparation company with a classmate's father, marking first entrepreneurial venture.

Continued UCLA studies; immersed in computer science coursework; balanced fraternity life with academic and side business pursuits.

Ongoing university education; deepened programming expertise; explored startup culture in emerging internet era.

Intensified involvement in tech projects; joined Scour Inc. team toward end of studies; prepared to drop out for full-time opportunities.

Dropped out of UCLA in 1998 to work full-time at Scour Inc., a multimedia search engine and peer-to-peer file sharing service; handled sales and marketing, referring to himself as co-founder.

Continued at Scour amid dot-com boom; company faced growing legal pressures over copyright issues.

Scour filed for bankruptcy in 2000 after major lawsuits from entertainment industries; transitioned to new venture amid challenges.

Co-founded Red Swoosh in 2001 with Michael Todd, a peer-to-peer content delivery software company aimed as a 'revenge business' against prior legal opponents; faced severe funding difficulties post-dot-com crash.

Ongoing Red Swoosh struggles; moved operations leanly, including back to parents' house to cut costs; navigated team tensions.

Continued building Red Swoosh with minimal resources; survived through persistence and small investor deals.

Red Swoosh operations intensified; relocated team temporarily to Thailand for cost efficiency.

Secured key investment from Mark Cuban; focused on product development and survival.

Ongoing growth efforts for Red Swoosh; prepared for potential sale amid improving market conditions.

Sold Red Swoosh to Akamai Technologies in 2007 for ~$19 million (personal take ~$2 million after taxes); relocated to San Francisco; began angel investing in startups like Expensify.

Acted as startup advisor and 'fixer'; hosted informal entrepreneur gatherings at San Francisco 'Jam Pad' apartment; made small investments.

Co-founded UberCab (later Uber) in 2009 with Garrett Camp as a luxury car-hailing app; initially served as mega advisor while Ryan Graves was CEO.

Became CEO of Uber in 2010; ignored regulatory cease-and-desist orders; rebranded to Uber; raised early funding rounds.

Led aggressive expansion; secured major Series A funding from Benchmark; focused on international growth and driver recruitment.

Continued rapid scaling; introduced lower-cost options; navigated increasing regulatory battles.

Uber valued at billions; major investments including from Google Ventures; competitive tactics intensified against rivals like Lyft.

Ongoing leadership amid controversies over company culture; began relationship with Gabi Holzwarth; corporate practices drew scrutiny.

Uber's growth surged globally; personal reputation affected by aggressive public statements; expanded services.

Continued dominance in ride-hailing; faced mounting internal and external pressures over workplace issues.

Resigned as Uber CEO in June 2017 amid investor pressure, scandals, and after mother's death in boating accident (father injured); retained board seat initially; relationship with Holzwarth ended.

Founded 10100 venture fund in March 2018 focused on real estate, e-commerce, and emerging markets; invested ~$150 million in City Storage Systems (CSS) as controlling manager.

Expanded CloudKitchens (CSS subsidiary for ghost kitchens); secured major investments including from Saudi fund; joined Neom advisory board.

Continued building CloudKitchens ecosystem; major real estate purchases including Los Angeles home; low-profile operations amid post-Uber reflection.

CloudKitchens growth accelerated; investments in food delivery infrastructure; maintained focus on operational efficiency.

Ongoing management of CSS and CloudKitchens; navigated post-pandemic shifts in food industry.

Expanded international CloudKitchens operations; emphasized hiring challenges including for project managers.

Continued scaling ghost kitchen model; some location optimizations and closures; investment activities through 10100.

Led CloudKitchens amid market adjustments including delayed Middle East unit IPO and some facility closures (e.g., Oakland); engaged in talks with Uber on potential self-driving deals; maintained low public profile while overseeing real estate and innovation investments; net worth influenced by ongoing ventures.