The Uber campaign: how ex-Obama aides helped sell firm to world

[Boiler 45,922]

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/jul/10/uber-campaign-how-ex-obama-aides-helped-sell-firm-to-world

 

During the trip, Plouffe did the rounds for Uber, going to meet the BBC, the London mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith and executives of a potential Russian investor in Mayfair, as well as giving a talk at the Institute for Public Policy Research thinktank, calendars in the leaked documents show.

All standard fare for Plouffe, an A-list political operator who had joined Uber the year before, bringing with him a contacts book to die for and the political nous and clout sought by Uber’s then chief executive, Travis Kalanick.

Kalanick wanted someone to help Uber take on the “big taxi cartels”. Plouffe, who had led Obama’s successful campaign for the White House in 2008, was ideal.

A campaigner by trade, Plouffe became one of the central figures in Uber’s global lobbying effort, using his experience to get the company access to leaders, officials and diplomats. Uber also relied on another Obama alumnus as a consultant for political advice, Jim Messina, who had served as Plouffe’s deputy and first introduced him to Kalanick. The files suggest that in some cases Uber tried to use him to gain access to public officials.

 

An awful lot of dirt has come out, none of it surprising. Well I suppose that it came out.

[JeanneAdil 6,606]

not surprised 

[TBoneTX 45,872]

Yet another 0bummer of a situation.

[LIBrty4all 3,754]

Uber broke laws, duped police and secretly lobbied governments, leak reveals

 

Quote

A leaked trove of confidential files has revealed the inside story of how the tech giant Uber flouted laws, duped police, exploited violence against drivers and secretly lobbied governments during its aggressive global expansion.

The unprecedented leak to the Guardian of more than 124,000 documents – known as the Uber files – lays bare the ethically questionable practices that fuelled the company’s transformation into one of Silicon Valley’s most famous exports.

The leak spans a five-year period when Uber was run by its co-founder Travis Kalanick, who tried to force the cab-hailing service into cities around the world, even if that meant breaching laws and taxi regulations.

 

During the fierce global backlash, the data shows how Uber tried to shore up support by discreetly courting prime ministers, presidents, billionaires, oligarchs and media barons.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/jul/10/uber-files-leak-reveals-global-lobbying-campaign

[Dashinka 24,717]

14 hours ago, LIBrty4all said:

Uber broke laws, duped police and secretly lobbied governments, leak reveals

 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/jul/10/uber-files-leak-reveals-global-lobbying-campaign

Right out of the rules for radicals playbook it would seem.