The narrative of Uber, the ride-sharing firm, as told by its CEO Travis Kalanick, who is eventually ousted in a boardroom coup following severe internal and external struggles with unforeseeable results.
Showtime’s ‘Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber,’ which follows the remarkable, true storey of ride-sharing business Uber from the perspective of its CEO Travis Kalanick, is a series unlike any other.
After all, it tells the storey of the company’s highs and lows through the perspective of the person who was eventually expelled in a coup that many saw as inevitable after months of internal and external conflicts.
One such occurrence occurred in 2017, when Travis had a public spat with driver Fawzi Kamel. So, if you’re interested in learning more about the latter, here’s what we know.
Fawzi Kamel, Who is He?
It was Superbowl Sunday, February 5, 2017, when Uber driver Fawzi Kamel picked up the company’s CEO as a passenger, forcing him to express his sentiments. As a result, once the journey was over and the two women in the back seat who were accompanying his boss exited, the then-37-year-old brought up the price drops and how they affected the drivers.
As a driver for Uber Black, the company’s luxury service, the “competitor” argument didn’t sit well with Fawzi, who began to question the business model in general, resulting in a heated confrontation.
“But people don’t trust you anymore,” Fawzi stated during their debate, referring to his investment in the company by purchasing a fancy car so that he could drive, only to lose money due to reduced fares.
“Do you believe people will continue to buy cars?” … Because of you, I lost $97,000. Because of you, I’m bankrupt. Every day, you’re changing.” Travis lost his temper at that point, later explaining, “You know what, some people don’t like to accept responsibility for their own s***.” They place blame on others for everything that goes wrong in their lives. “Best of luck!”
"Uber Driver Fawzi Kamel Explains Why He Argued With CEO Kalanick” https://t.co/e4gsVPu5ZK [Because Kalanick is a cunt?]
— Stilgherrian (@stilgherrian) March 2, 2017
Unhappy and irritated, Fawzi gave the 40-year-old CEO a one-star rating before giving over dashcam surveillance footage of the event to Bloomberg, who released it in late February.
Travis not only issued an e-mail to his whole employees apologising for the video, but he also sought out to Fawzi to set up a one-on-one meeting for a personal apology that lasted more than an hour.
According to reports, the two discussed Uber pricing policy again, and the CEO then decided to compensate Fawzi by paying him $200,000 out of pocket.
What happened to Fawzi Kamel and Where is He Now?
“Uber keeps decreasing pricing every season to acquire more ridership to satisfy their growth,” Fawzi explained, “and it didn’t matter to Uber if the driver isn’t even making minimum wage.”
“And the worst part is that they call us partners, yet they set the rules, set the pricing, and even pick the cars you can drive.” “The actual issue is that the original Uber Black vehicle drivers are the genuine Uber investors,” he continued.
“How come the initial Uber Black car drivers earned nothing but the angel investors in Uber made their $20,000 into millions?”
In terms of where Fawzi is now, we can see that the former Uber employee is still a California resident who prefers to stay out of the spotlight. He appears to have worked for a handful of limousine firms prior to joining the ride-sharing company, but he currently appears to be employed by Anise LLC in Petaluma.
The first episode of this four-part docu-drama will air on Showtime on Sunday, February 27 at 10 p.m. ET/PT, with new episodes airing weekly after that.
Showtime is included in most cable bundles, but you can also watch it without cable on Showtime Now for a 30-day free trial.
