- 10 years after Uber began as a tiny startup called UberCar, it's going public in one of the biggest IPOs ever.
- Some of Uber's earliest employees, such as former CEO Travis Kalanick and cofounder Oscar Salazar, are no longer at the company.
- Others, such as Rachel Holt and Austin Geidt, have stayed on and steadily moved up in the company.
- Here's a look at 12 of Uber's first employees and what they're doing now.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
In 2009, a tiny startup called UberCab was founded; today, it's just called Uber, and it's one of Silicon Valley's most successful companies. Uber operates in more than 700 cities worldwide.
Now, Uber is going public in one of the biggest IPOs of all time with an initial market cap of $75.5 billion.Trading opened at $42 per share. Some of Uber's first investors could make up to $1.3 billion in total from the IPO, according to Bloomberg.
Read more: Uber is sliding after its IPO, and Main Street traders who struggled to invest dodged a bullet
Many of Uber's earliest employees still work at Uber, including former intern Austin Geidt, who's now the Head of Strategy for the company's Advanced Technologies Group and rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on the day of Uber's IPO.
Others have left to pursue other startups and related ventures. At least three of the company's early employees — former CEO Travis Kalanick, Ryan Graves, and Garrett Camp — are now billionaires.
Here's what 12 of Uber's earliest employees are doing now.
SEE ALSO: Here's who's getting rich on Uber's massive IPO
Oscar Salazar
Employed by Uber from: 2009 to 2011
Former position at Uber: Founding Member
Where he is now: Although there's some dispute about it, early Uber documentation refers to Salazar as a cofounder of the company. He and cofounder Garrett Camp attended business school together, then built Uber's first prototype with another school friend, Conrad Whelan.
Salazar departed the company amicably soon after it launched. Besides being an active investor in companies like Egyptian motorcycle and tuk-tuk ride-hailing startup Halan, he has launched other companies like Pager, which sends a doctor or nurse to you with a tap of your phone, and Ride, a carpooling app for commuters.
More recently, he launched Ogon LLC, an advisory firm to companies like Rubicon Global Inc., ALEX AND ANI, and Sontra Cargo.
Salazar has a roughly $250 million stake in Uber and is expected to sell about $10 million worth of shares, Bloomberg reported in April.
Curtis Chambers
Employed by Uber from: 2010 to 2017
Former position at Uber: Director of Engineering
Where he is now: Before Uber, Chambers helped build Expensify, the popular online expense-reports startup, as well as contributing to open-source Drupal and Django. As Uber's seventh employee, Chambers worked on UberEATS and later became the director of engineering for Uber's trucking operation, the position he held when he left the company in 2017.
On both Twitter and LinkedIn, Chambers now describes himself as a "Professional Dad."
Austin Geidt
Employed by Uber from: 2010 to present
Position at Uber: Head of Strategy for Uber's Advanced Technologies Group
Where she is now: Geidt started at Uber as an "overdressed" intern and employee number four; she says she struggled for the first months. At first, her job wasn't well defined and saw her moving from handing out flyers to passersby to cold-calling drivers.
In the past, she has also been open about her history with drug addiction and recovery.
Geidt has moved up as Uber has grown. Since 2016, she's been the head of strategy for Uber's Advanced Technologies Group, which deals with self-driving technology.
On May 10, 2019, the day of Uber's IPO, Geidt was one the one to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider