Pressure on politicians, deception and illegality: how Uber established itself in cities around the world

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has revealed how the US company Uber managed to enter the world's major metropolises. Through thousands of leaked documents, the journalistic investigation reveals the lies, illegal practices and pressures against politicians carried out by the company founded in 2009 in Silicon Valley.

124,000 documents spanning from 2013 to 2017 - including WhatsApp messages and emails - lay bare the practices orchestrated by the company's then boss and co-founder, Travis Kalanick. The evidence, gathered by The Guardian and ICIJ, points to meetings with politicians to ask for favours - including the cessation of investigations and changing policies on workers' rights - and even with Russian oligarchs to get closer to the Kremlin.

During these years, there was strong pressure on governments and higher-ups to stop investigations against the company. However, in case law enforcement authorities continued to investigate, Uber had a "kill button" that shut down all machines and servers, making it impossible to access content.

Uber Files revealed that the company used technological smokescreens to thwart raids in places like the Netherlands, Belgium, Russia, Bulgaria, Denmark and Spain. "Sometimes we get in trouble because, well, we're fucking illegal," an Uber executive stated in the leaked files. "We've officially become pirates," notes another. 

On the other hand, Kalanick saw the clashes between taxi drivers and Uber drivers as an opportunity to generate public support for the company. "Violence guarantees success," the brand's co-founder said at the time. In one of the leaked documents, Kalanick rejects the reluctance of some executives to send drivers to a taxi demonstration despite the high risk of violence. "I think it's worth it," he said. 

In addition to these tactics used by Kalanick to gain a foothold in the public transport market, the journalistic investigation points out that while Uber was establishing itself around the world, the company was saving millions of dollars in taxes through tax havens such as the Bermuda Islands.

Despite this, several world leaders have maintained contact with Uber executives - many of them former advisers to former President Barack Obama - including then US Vice President Joe Biden, former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves. In total, the records reveal more than 100 meetings between Uber executives and public officials between 2014 and 2016, including 12 meetings with representatives of the European Commission that have not been publicly disclosed.

Among the key politicians is the current French president, Emmanuel Macron, who is said to have facilitated the company's establishment in the country when he was Minister of Economy. "Mega top meeting with Emmanuel Macron this morning. France loves us after all," Mark McGann, one of the brand's top lobbyists, wrote in a report. McGann also described the meeting with the current French president as "spectacular, the likes of which we have never seen before".

Months later, Macron reached a secret "agreement" with the company to ensure that Uber could operate in France. The French president and Kalanick met at least four times: in Paris and at the World Economic Forum in Davos, according to the documents. At that event in Switzerland in 2016, Biden also met with Kalanick. As ICIJ explains, Biden was so impressed by Kalanick that he "modified his keynote speech to tout the company's global impact". 

But Macron was not the only politician on the continent to strike deals with Uber. Former European commissioner and Dutch transport minister Neelie Kroes lobbied members of the government to "force the regulator and the police to back down" on an investigation into Uber in Amsterdam.

At the other extreme are politicians who were not supportive of the company's actions, such as the current German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, who demanded a wage increase for Uber drivers when he was mayor of Hamburg. "He's a real clown," the company's management said. 

"The Russia trips seem to have been a success," wrote Rachel Whetstone, Uber's director of communications, to McGann after visiting Moscow with Kalanick in 2016. As The Washington Post's Ian Duncan explains, the company had struggled to establish ties in a complicated nation for Western companies, as, according to the Uber Files, Russia was considered one of the most important foreign markets.

For this reason, Uber even established contacts with Russian oligarchs, many of whom are currently sanctioned by the West for their links to the Kremlin and support for the invasion of Ukraine.

As the US newspaper reports, the files show that the chief executive of Sberbank - a bank subject to Western sanctions - Herman Gref, met with Uber executives and introduced them to the mayor of Moscow. The documents also reveal that in February 2016 the company accepted $200m from LetterOne, the investment firm of Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven, oligarchs sanctioned by the European Union.

Despite Uber's attempts to establish itself in Russia, there were still voices critical of the company. In 2014, a year after the company entered the country, a member of the Duma wrote to Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev calling for Uber to be banned from operating in Russia. As a result, Uber executives began looking for oligarchs and other influential figures who could become allies.

Roman Abramovich, former owner of Chelsea F.C., or Alisher Usmanov, another sanctioned oligarch, were among the candidates presented by Dmitri Izmailov, Uber's manager in Russia. They finally managed to reach an agreement with Usmanov, who would invest $20 million in Uber before the end of 2015, according to Uber's filings. Abramovich, for his part, decided not to invest, although he did advise Uber on other partners in Russia, notes The Washington Post.

However, despite many efforts, Uber failed to conquer the Russian market. "What a waste of money," lamented McGann. After Kalanick stepped down as CEO of the company, Uber signed an agreement in Russia to form a joint venture controlled by the Russian company Yandex. 

The recently leaked Uber Files are part of a long list of scandals linked to the US company, such as cases of sexual harassment and racial discrimination. All of this, coupled with concerns about the company's labour rights, pushed Kalanick to step down as head of the company in 2019 after pressure from investors.

"There are a lot of things our former CEO said almost a decade ago that we certainly would not condone today," said Uber spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker, following the Uber Files leak. Hazelbaker has assured that Uber "is a different company", arguing that "90% of current employees joined after Dara Khosrowshahi became CEO". "We have not and will not make excuses for past behaviour that is clearly not in line with our current values," she added. 

Americas Coordinator: José Antonio Sierra.