The appointment of Uber’s new CEO may be the best thing that’s happened to Silicon Valley in years

I don’t think Khosrowshahi’s appointment will evaporate the industry’s issues around sexism, inequality and prejudice, but the 48-year-old appears to have a strong moral compass

Dara Khosrowshahi is set to take over at Uber, after a year of scandal for the company (Getty)

When I googled Dara Khosrowshahi for a first impression of the man taking over at Uber – the brilliantly disruptive yet scandal-steeped ride-hailing company – one of the pictures that came up was of the Iranian-American businessman walking through what appears to be a park, sporting aviator shades and a Patagonia-branded body warmer.

With a pensive expression on his face, he looks positively rugged and outdoorsy. An adventure-seeker. He reminds me of Tom Cruise as Maverick, but without the Scientology association or the saccharine Hollywood kitsch. Balding but bearded – a look rocked by Goldman Sachs patriarch Lloyd Blankfein – he’s got something statesman-like about him; a flavour of Barack Obama strolling from Marine One to the White House.

Dara’s here to get s**t done. And Lord knows Uber needs it.

Khosrowshahi is many things that predecessor Travis Kalanick is not.

Though undeniably a visionary, Kalanick, who co-founded Uber in 2009 and led it as CEO until his messy exit in June, was also responsible for steering the company from one scandal to the next. His legacy as top dog will be marred by legal battles, concerns around privacy and safety, and accusations of fostering an “asshole” culture that tolerates of sexism and misogyny.

Earlier this year, investors – even those who might be accused of valuing profits above morals – started to signal that enough is enough. Venture capital firm Benchmark accused Kalanick of fraud.

Things were getting thorny. Something had to give.

With Khosrowshahi’s appointment, Uber’s board (on which Kalanick still sits) appears to be taking the reins from a flailing tech bro, crushed by the sheer weight of his own success, and placing them in the hands of an adult: a businessman with a proven ability to grow an already thriving company into something sustainable and market-dominating. Crucially, perhaps, it’s introducing someone from outside of Silicon Valley to the upper echelons of a hitherto elite ecosystem. And one that’s desperately in need of perspective and scrutiny.

Alongside Hewlett Packard’s Meg Whitman and General Electric’s Jeffrey Immelt, Khosrowshahi was widely considered a wildcard for the top job. His background is far from typical among his peers. He came to the US in 1978 when his home country of Iran was bracing for revolution. His father worked for an industrial conglomerate, but was detained for six years while back home looking after his own ailing father. From the age of 13, Khosrowshahi and his two siblings were raised by their mother alone.

In the 1990s, after graduating from Ivy League Brown University, Khosrowshahi worked at boutique investment bank Allen & Co as a media analyst. One of his clients was the prominent businessman and entertainment industry executive Barry Diller, for whom he later went to work. In 2001, Diller’s company bought travel site Expedia, which was originally founded as a division of Microsoft, and in 2005 Khosrowshahi was named CEO – a title he’s held ever since.

During his 12 year tenure, Khosrowshahi expanded Expedia’s presence into 60 countries, buying rivals and navigating crises. Shares in the company have more than tripled in value over the last decade. He’s fended off competition and spotted challenges before they became crippling. He’s transformed Expedia into a household name.

When his possible move to Uber was reported, shares in Expedia fell more than 4 per cent and analysts at investment bank SunTrust Robinson Humphrey dubbed it “an incremental negative” for his existing employer.

But beyond his résumé, Khosrowshahi may also have the kind of personality that is so desperately needed in “The Valley” right now. He’s proven that he’s likeable.

In a survey of employees conducted by job site Glassdoor, Khosrowshahi was this year voted America’s 39th most popular CEO, ahead of Apple’s Tim Cook, General Motor’s Mary Barra and eBay’s Devin Wenig.

What enhances his charm is that – in a world that’s come to be associated with chauvinism – he’s not afraid of sharing publicly on subjects that don’t necessarily emphasise his rock-solid competency or alpha-male prowess. Like his mum.

After the publication of that Glassdoor survey, he endearingly shared his mother’s and father’s contrasting responses on Twitter. His “mom” apparently, praised him – “Nice! You made the top 100!”—while his dad took a firmer line: “#39 is good but you were #11 in 2015.” Many children of Middle Eastern parents will probably be able to relate.

Despite not being an avid Tweeter, it wasn’t the first time his mother had earned a mention on her son’s feed. In May, after appearing on a CNBC interview, he took to the social media platform to declare that he “didn’t screw it up (according to mom)”. Later that month he tweeted: “Very lucky to have my mom and my wife in my life – wouldn’t be here without them”. And it wasn’t even Women’s Equality Day.

I’m probably not the only person who would endorse a shift in Silicon Valley’s ratio of mummys’ boys to tech bros. (Not saying, of course, that this gentleman necessarily is one.)

I’m not naïve. I don’t think Khosrowshahi’s appointment will evaporate the industry’s issues around sexism, inequality and prejudice. He has an awful lot to prove and faces an unnerving fix-list at Uber – from turning a profit, to improving investor relations and eventually taking the company going public – even before he turns his attention to culture. But I’m encouraged.

The 48-year-old appears to have a strong moral compass. He was one of the first CEOs of Big Business to support a lawsuit against Donald Trump’s travel ban. He has deep intercultural awareness, and gives the impression of having real appreciation for the fact that equal treatment of the sexes is a necessity for progress.

Travis Kalanick is an extraordinary entrepreneur. He’s arguably created the most impressive start-up the world has ever seen. But Uber is no longer a start-up and Kalanick, it seems, has cracked under pressure.

On Tuesday night, Khosrowshahi humbly described the chance to head up Uber as an “opportunity of a lifetime” for himself. It’s now up to the industry to treat his appointment as exactly that.