Uber Eats boss steps down, as company focuses on profitability

The head of Uber’s food delivery service unexpectedly stepped down Tuesday, after serving the unit since its inception.

Jason Droege, the vice president of Uber Everything since March 2014, was part of Uber Eats business since 2015, and will be replaced by Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, Uber’s vice president of international rides, effective immediately.

“I’ve decided to step down from my role @UberEats,” Droege tweeted on Tuesday. “I feel lucky to have been part of Eats, from the 1st order in Toronto in Dec ’15 to one of the world’s largest marketplaces. This success is a testament to the hard work of our team, and I’m honored to have played a part.”

Some news. I’ve decided to step down from my role @UberEats. I feel lucky to have been part of Eats, from the 1st order in Toronto in Dec '15 to one of the world's largest marketplaces. This success is a testament to the hard work of our team,and I'm honored to have played a part
— Jason Droege 🇺🇸 (@jdroege) February 25, 2020

The move comes as Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi clamps down on the company’s finances on a new expedited timeline. The company, which lost $8.5 billion in 2019, says it plans to be profitable, minus a number of major expenses, by the end of the year. In a recent earnings call, Khosrowshahi emphasized that the company was committed to meeting that timeline and had a plan in place to cut expenses and grow the business.

Uber’s stock was down 6% trading at $35.89 per share on Tuesday.

While Uber Eats is one of the company’s fastest-growing units, generating $734 million in revenue last year, it’s also one of the company’s largest expenses. In the fourth quarter alone, the service lost $461 million, minus taxes, depreciation, and other expenses. Uber Eats has more than 400,000 restaurant partners in more than 650 cities across 45 countries.

In 2019, Khosrowshahi announced a new aggressive plan to cut expenses at Eats: Only operate in markets where it could be one of the top two delivery services, and exit all the others.

Given the Uber’s shift from focusing on growth to focusing on profitability, heavily driven by the big losses revealed during its initial public offering, the leadership change at Eats isn’t too shocking, Tom White, analyst at D.A. Davidson, tells Fortune.

“Now that Uber has taken a new, harder look at its Eats business, it would also make sense that if Dara wanted to make a leadership change, now would be the time to do it,” he says.

Uber declined to respond to a request for comment, but provided the following released statement in an filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission:

“Jason’s vision, leadership, analytical mind and entrepreneurial spirit have been the driving force behind Eats’ incredible success, and great assets both to Uber and to me personally,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in the statement. “As Eats moves into its next phase of more profitable growth, I am happy to have Pierre at the helm, and look forward to him applying his nearly eight years of experience with our rides business to capture the many opportunities that lie ahead for Eats.”

Gore-Coty has been at Uber since 2012, starting as a manager in Paris and having helped grow the company’s international rides business since May 2019.