Bonnie Kalanick, the mother of Uber CEO Travis Kalanick was killed in a boating accident on Friday. The accident also left Kalanick's father, Donald, seriously hurt.
Writing about the tragedy, Recode's Kara Swisher posted an unpublished section of her Vanity Fair profile of Kalanick that includes a nice section on Bonnie Kalanick. The photo above, posted by Kalanick on social media, was of the three of them at the Kentucky Derby earlier this month.
"Last night Travis and his family suffered an unspeakable tragedy," an Uber representative said in a statement. "His mother passed away in a devastating boating accident near Fresno and his father is in serious condition. Our thoughts and prayers are with Travis and his family in this heartbreaking time."
Bonnie and Donald were avid boaters in the area over the past 30 years and Travis' brother, Cory, is a fireman in Fresno.
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This story appears throughout media today, including such outlets as ABC News, The Guardian, Buzzfeed, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, Fox News, and various You Tube news channels. My rude question is , why?
Not to speak ill of the dead, but who cares?
Stories like this are a symptom of something unfortunate in America, which is the way we make celebrities out of certain business people. Kalanick provides a service , for which he has become obscenely wealthy. People who like or need his service use it. OK, good for him.
What on earth qualifies him as a celebrity or elevates him to the point that the death of someone in his family becomes a national news story?
Businesses are "marketed" through making celebrities out of the CEO's. We make them famous and give them adulation. Give me a break.
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Uber owes its New York City ... Manhattan last June by the New York TaxiWorkers Alliance, which represents 5,000 Uber drivers, against the company.
Nothing against his mother, but he should not be a celebrity and this should not be "news".
It seems a bit contradictory to me, then, that you bothered to post it if you feel it's not news.
It is news. The story has been in most of the mainstream media today. That doesn't mean it should be.
But John, by posting it on NT you're disseminating it, and helping to MAKE it news. ???