Uber taps decades-long finance veteran for CFO seat

Dive Brief:

Uber Technologies said Wednesday that Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah, a finance veteran with an extensive background in the technology sector, will be taking over as its CFO.
Mahendra-Rajah, who currently serves as CFO of semiconductor company Analog Devices, will join Uber on Nov. 13, the ride-sharing giant said in a press release.
He will replace Nelson Chai, who is stepping down after five years in the finance chief’s seat.

Dive Insight:

In his new role, Mahendra-Rajah, 53, will be entitled to an annual base salary of $800,000 and will be eligible to participate in Uber’s executive bonus plan, the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Chai will stay with the company through Jan. 5 to assist with the transition of his duties, the filing said.

Mahendra-Rajah has served as Analog Devices’s CFO since September 2017, according to his LinkedIn profile. Prior to joining that company, he was finance chief of WABCO Holdings, a global supplier of commercial vehicle technologies, from June 2014 to September 2017.

He also previously served in financial leadership roles at Applied Materials, Visa, and United Technologies.

“Prashanth is an incredibly skilled and dynamic finance executive, with decades of experience across a variety of complex industries,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in the Wednesday release.

San Francisco, California-based Uber is transitioning to a new CFO as it focuses on post-COVID-19 pandemic growth. The company struggled with a slump in ridership during the pandemic, as many people were stuck at home.

On Aug. 1, Uber reported its first-ever quarterly operating profit as well as its first quarter of free cash flow over $1 billion for its second quarter ended June 30. The rideshare reported free cash flow of $1.1 billion, as well as a generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, operating profit of $326 million.

“We remain focused on scaling GAAP operating income and free cash flow, while also making disciplined investments to appropriately fund growth initiatives that will carry into the future,” Khosrowshahi said during an earnings call at the time.

During the same call, Khosrowshahi credited Chai — whose resignation announcement coincided with the release of the earnings report — with playing a huge part of Uber's transformation over the past five years, taking it “public, gearing the company to profitability through unprecedented times, establishing credibility and trust with our investor base, and building a phenomenal team along the way.”