Key Takeaways

  • Uber Technologies' Vice President of Strategic Finance, Balaji Krishnamurthy, will on February 16become Chief Financial Officer, succeeding current finance chief Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah. The ride-hailing company announced the news alongside its Q4 earnings on Wednesday.
  • Mahendra-Rajah, who served as Uber's CFO for two years, said on the company's earnings call Wednesday that he is leaving to pursue another opportunity "where I can serve the United States and give back to a country that has given so much to me and my family." He said the opportunity arose during the holiday season but did not provide further details.
  • Following the transition, Mahendra-Rajah will serve as a senior financial advisor reporting to CEO Dara Khosrowshahi until July 1, according to a company filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing states his departure will be treated as a "qualifying termination under the company's amended 2019 executive severance plan" and is not due to any disagreement on financial disclosures or accounting matters.

Deep Dive

Under the terms of Uber's separation agreement, Mahendra-Rajah is entitled to benefits including a lump-sum cash payment equivalent to 12 months of his base salary, a target annual bonus, and 12 months of medical and dental premiums, according to his latest proxy filing from March.

Shawn Cole, president and co-founder of executive search firm Cowen Partners, told CFO Dive via email that departing under such terms and qualifying for the plan's benefits "indicates an amicable separation, further supported by his continued advisory role."

"Companies typically structure an orderly transition as a 'involuntary termination' without cause for plan purposes, even if the departure is friendly," Cole said. "It's a clean way to formalize economic treatment (severance and related equity handling) without implying fault or dispute."

Regarding the choice of Krishnamurthy as the new CFO, Cole believes the move "reflects continuity and investor communication discipline." "I don't expect this change to bring substantial alterations to business plans or operating models; this looks like a prudent CFO choice for a 'cash flow plus options' phase—selectively funding long-term projects while protecting the core business."

Promoting an insider to the CFO seat could be a way to bring Uber's finance function "back to a steady state," Josh Crist, co-managing partner at Crist Kolder, told CFO Dive.

"Honestly, in my view, this looks like an external CFO was brought in and essentially experienced what we call in the industry 'organ rejection,'" Crist said of the change. "I'm not sure this move directly reflects company strategy, but placing a familiar person in the CFO role does signal an intention to stabilize."

Krishnamurthy takes the financial helm as the company focuses more comprehensively on its expansion plans for autonomous taxis and autonomous vehicle technology—an area he has long championed.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Krishnamurthy joined Uber in November 2019 as a senior manager of investor relations and has served as Vice President of Strategic Finance and Investor Relations since January 2025. Previously, he spent eight years at Goldman Sachs as a vice president and has served on the board of autonomous trucking company Waabi since September 2024.

As CFO, Krishnamurthy will receive an annual base salary of $600,000 and a one-time restricted stock unit award of $5 million, according to the filing. He will also receive approximately $9.4 million in restricted stock units subject to time and performance vesting conditions, and will be entitled to purchase common stock for $3.1 million. Krishnamurthy will be eligible to participate in Uber's executive bonus plan and executive severance plan.

The company said Wednesday it continues to advance plans to expand autonomous driving technology. Uber reported total bookings grew 22% year-over-year for the quarter ended December 31, and as it heads into 2026, Khosrowshahi said in a statement accompanying the earnings that the company has "a clear path to becoming the world's largest autonomous mobility provider."

The company aimsto expand its autonomous mobility services—including partnerships with electric vehicle maker Lucid and autonomous driving technology company Nuro—to 15 cities by year-end, Khosrowshahi said on the earnings call, according to a transcript.

The ride-hailing company faces growing competition in autonomous taxis and autonomous vehicles, including from companies like electric vehicle maker Tesla, a technology that has long been a passion of CEO Elon Musk. CFO Dive previously reported.

Krishnamurthy has previously noted in social media posts that the growth curve for autonomous vehicles may be slower than others expect, but he has also expressed hisbeliefin the potential for autonomous driving technology to open up a $1 trillion total addressable market for Uber in the U.S., according to a post he made on X on February 6, 2025.

The new CFO reiterated his belief in the technology's potential on Wednesday's earnings call. For the full year 2025, Uber generated approximately$10 billionin free cash flow, up 65% year-over-year—which "gives us significant room to invest to ensure we advance our autonomous driving strategy and evaluate any selective bolt-on M&A opportunities as they arise," Krishnamurthy said on the call in response to an analyst's question.

Despite the company reporting growth in total bookings and free cash flow, Uber Technologies' net income for the quarter ended December 31 fell 96% year-over-year to $296 million, partly due to a $1.6 billion net headwind related to the revaluation of its equity investments, according to its earnings report.

Shares fell about 5% following the earnings and CFO announcement. However, "the business continues to perform well, with accelerating growth and continued year-over-year expansion of profit margins," according to a client note written by William Blair's analyst team led by Ralph Schackart. "We believe its autonomous driving strategy will continue to evolve, and the company's scale should make it a competitor in the future global autonomous driving landscape."

This article has been updated with analyst commentary and additional details.