Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick resigns as chief executive

Uber Technologies co-founder Travis Kalanick stepped down as chief executive of the ride-hailing service, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

Kalanick's exit came under pressure from Uber's investors, who were seeking his exit.

According to the paper, the investors included one of Uber’s biggest shareholders, the venture capital firm Benchmark, which has one of its partners, Bill Gurley, on Uber’s board.

The investors are said to have made their demand for Kalanick to step down in a letter delivered to the chief executive while he was in Chicago, people with knowledge of the situation said.

Kalanick will remain on Uber’s board of directors.

 “I love Uber more than anything in the world and at this difficult moment in my personal life I have accepted the investors request to step aside so that Uber can go back to building rather than be distracted with another fight,” Kalanick said in a statement.

His resignation comes after a review of practices at the firm which has had scandals including complaints of sexual harassment.

Last week he said he was taking an indefinite leave of absence.