What's Next For Uber? Sheryl Sandberg Board's 'First Choice' CEO Candidate, Sources Say

In the wake of Travis Kalanick’s hasty resignation from Uber on Tuesday, sources close to the company’s executive board say Arianna Huffington and others are pushing for a woman to lead the embattled ride-sharing service: Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg.

A report Wednesday in the New York Post says the Facebook COO and Lean In author is the Uber board’s “first choice” to replace Kalanick as Uber’s CEO. Although Huffington and Uber co-founder Garrett Camp have been Kalanick’s longtime supporters, sources close to the board suggest the board is convinced a female candidate would be the best choice for dealing with the string of sexual harassment issues that have plagued the company.

Marissa Mayer, who resigned last week as chief executive of Yahoo, is another candidate being considered as well as CVS executive Helena Foulkes, who was interviewing for Uber’s No.2 position even before Kalanick stepped down, sources tell the Post. Although they add that despite the board’s desire to see Sandberg lead the company, “That doesn’t mean they’re going to get her.”

Read: Sheryl Sandberg Says Facebook Increasing Real-Time Monitoring Of Extremists

“Sheryl is seen is exactly what this company needs right now,” the source told the Post. “It starts with the optics.”

Post-Kalanick Power Vacuum At Uber

A wide corporate power vacuum has been created at Uber following the departure of Kalanick and his confidante Emil Michael, who also was forced out last week. The company does not have a Chief Financial Officer, Chief Marketing Officer or a head of engineering as the company looks to regain leadership following a slew of scandals.

Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder ridiculed the company in a report released last week that detailed Uber’s culture of sexual harassment. A Texas Jane Doe filed an intrusion and defamation lawsuit last week against Uber, Kalanick and former executives Emil Michael and Eric Alexander. The suit alleges the three executives blamed her 2014 rape by a driver on a conspiracy set up by a competing ride-sharing company.

Sandberg spent 6 years developing lucrative online advertising programs as vice president of Google before Mark Zuckerberg hired her away to Facebook in March 2008. From 1996 to 2001 she worked for U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Larry Summers under President Bill Clinton. Forbes estimates her net worth is $1.62 billion.

Fellow Uber board member Bill Gurley, a partner at Benchmark Capital that was one of the investment firms that sent a letter demanding Kalanick’s resignation, took to Twitter Wednesday applauding Kalanick’s work at the company: “There will be many pages in the history books devoted to @travisk – very few entrepreneurs have had such a lasting impact on the world.” Menlo Ventures and Fidelity were among the other investors pressuring Kalanick’s departure.

Kalanick wrote an email to the company staff last week announcing his plans to remain on the board of the company as well as his eventual return to Uber as “Travis 2.0.” He will also maintain majority voting control over the company’s shares.

Among the other potential candidates rumored to take over Uber are AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, Turner CEO John Martin and former Disney operating chief Tom Staggs.