Dara Khosrowshahi’s path to becoming Uber’s CEO may have come as a surprise, but he may be the leader the company needs

In the weeks leading up to Uber deciding who would replace ousted CEO Travis Kalanick, a few names were floated to the public. None of them were Dara Khosrowshahi’s.

The then-Expedia CEO managed to remain shrouded in mystery as the company’s board of directors got closer to nailing down their pick. Publicly, the board grappled over whether to choose HPE’s Meg Whitman, the de facto choice for investor Benchmark, or former General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt, Kalanick’s choice. But late on Aug. 27, the decision came down: It would be the dark horse candidate, Khosrowshahi.

In his short time as Uber’s CEO, Khosrowshahi has come up against a number of public issues, often touted as relics of the company’s shady past. From data breaches to Alphabet’s lawsuit against the company to the ride-hail player’s increasing quarterly losses, Khosrowshahi has a lot to fix as Uber’s new leader. So far, the former investment banker has overhauled some of the embattled ride-hail player’s company values, faced down local and international regulators, and taken the difficult steps to clean house, as needed.

With an eye on taking the company public in 2019, Khosrowshahi will have his work cut out for him in 2018.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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