Uber CEO quits Donald Trump's business advisory group

Travis Kalanick PicSameer MarkandeSan FranciscoWashington Uber Technologies Inc Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick quit President Donald Trumps business advisory group on Thursday amid mounting pressure from activists and employees who oppose the administrations immigration policiesCritics included Uber drivers many of whom are immigrants themselves Joining the group was not meant to be an endorsement of the president or his agenda but unfortunately it has been misinterpreted to be exactly that Kalanick who had planned to attend a meeting of the group on Friday said in an email to staff that was seen by ReutersUber spokeswoman Chelsea Kohler later confirmed that he had left the group Social media campaigns had targeted Uber urging users to delete accounts and opt for rival Lyft Inc Uber has been emailing users who deleted their accounts to say it shares their concerns and will compensate drivers affected by the banKalanick said he spoke briefly to Trump about the immigration order and its issues for our community and told the president he would not join the economic council The CEO came under increasing pressure to leave the council after Trump issued an executive order temporarily barring people from seven majorityMuslim nations from entering the UnitedStatesThere are many ways we will continue to advocate for just change on immigration but staying on the council was going to get in the way of that The executive order is hurting many people in communities all across America he wrote in a note to employees Families are being separated people are stranded overseas and theres a growing fear the US is no longer a place that welcomes immigrantsThe White House said in a statement Thursday evening that did not mention Uber that Trump understands the importance of an open dialogue with fellow business leaders to discuss how to best make our nations economy strongerThe move could put pressure on other CEOs expected to attend a meeting with Trump on Friday General Motors Co said its chief executive would attend while Walt Disney Co said earlier Thursday its chief executive would not attend because of a longplanned board meetingOthers expected to take part include the CEOs of JPMorgan Chase amp Co Blackstone Group LP IBM Corp and WalMart Stores Inc Others that are part of the council include Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk PepsiCo Inc CEO Indra Nooyi and Boston Consulting Group CEO Rich LesserMusk said he would attend the meeting In tomorrows meeting I and others will express our objections to the recent executive order on immigration and offer suggestions for changes to the policy he said in a tweet on ThursdayKalanicks departure could signal a growing rift between technology companies and Washington There is a battle brewing between Trump and Silicon Valley said Neeraj Agrawal general partner at Battery Ventures They the Trump administration clearly dont value the economic activity generated by techMicrosoft Corp on Thursday said it proposed a modification of Trumps travel limits Technology companies including Microsoft Google owner Alphabet Inc Apple Inc and Amazoncom Inc have opposed Trumps order arguing that they rely on workers from around the worldAmazon and Expedia Inc have filed court documents supporting a legal challenge to the order by the Washington state attorney general