The company announced yesterday (June 2) that Uber long-time executive Andrew MacDonald was appointed as the company's president and first chief operating officer. He is the first to have a COO title since resigning in 2019, according to public documents. McDonald will report directly to CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and oversee Uber’s global mobility, delivery and autonomy sector.
“Today, I'm as energetic as I started over a decade ago and excited about the coming decade,” McDonald said in a statement.
Most recently, MacDonald served as Uber's senior vice president of liquidity and business operations. He joined the company in 2012 and became Toronto's first general manager. As part of the promotion, he will move from Toronto to New York City and receive $5 million in stock, but adhere to time and performance-based conditions.
“This is the natural next step in our growth as a company, as we drive growth by increasing engagement across the platform,” said Khosrowshahi, who has led Uber since 2017. Promotions will not affect the CEO role of Khosrowshahi. He reportedly assured employees in an internal memorandum that he “has no plan to go anywhere soon—than global flights trying to keep up with our growing footprint.”
The dream of becoming a “super application”
MacDonald's new role is at Uber's transition from a ride-hailing company to a company focused on food delivery, travel and autonomous taxis. Khosrowshahi said last year that the company hopes to eventually build a “super app”.
Uber shows a strong passion for autonomous driving technology, expanding into autonomous space through partnerships with companies such as Waymo and Wayve. The company is still on a solid financial basis: Last month, it reported quarterly revenue growth of 14% year-on-year to $11.5 billion, while quarterly profit soared to $1.7 billion, compared with a net loss of $654 million a year ago.
As Uber expands its global footprint, McDonald is not the only executive. Currently, Asia Pacific General Manager Pradeep Parameswaran will serve as the head of global mobility. Susan Anderson, who previously led Uber’s grocery and retail business, will be the global leader in delivery. Meanwhile, Sarfraz Maredia, head of delivery rates in the Americas, has been promoted to head of global autonomous action and delivery.
Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, a senior at Uber for more than 12 years, will resign from his position as senior vice president as part of the administrative makeover. “It's hard to imagine without Pierre because without Pierre, there's not much Uber,” Khosrowshahi said in a statement. He didn't provide details on what plans to do next.
