After driving Uber to heights, Kalanick downshifts

WASHINGTON: Travis Kalanick has been the driving force behind Uber, taking a spur-of-moment idea and turning it into the world’s most valuable venture-funded tech startup. 

But Kalanick’s brash personality and freewheeling management style made him a liability as well as an asset to the global ridesharing giant, prompting his decision Tuesday to take an indefinite leave of absence.