The only executive to hold a high-ranking position at both Uber and Lyft is leaving Uber

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Travis VanderZanden

Uber

Uber's VP of Driver Growth, Travis VanderZanden, has announced he's leaving Uber in the next few weeks.

Uber's VP of Driver Growth, Travis VanderZanden, is leaving the company after nearly two years to spend more time with his daughters and family, according to an email sent around to Uber team members on Wednesday.

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Beyond being the other high-ranking executive to be named Travis at Uber, VanderZanden also held the special distinction of having worked at both Lyft and Uber.

VanderZanden first joined Lyft in 2013 after it acquired his on-demand car washing startup, Cherry. Previously, he'd also been the CRO and first business employee of Yammer.

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At Lyft, VanderZanden served as COO for the fast-growing Uber competitor until tensions with the startup's cofounders led him to resign from the role. In October 2014, he joined Uber to lead its international growth and brought with him Stephen Schnell, another former Lyft and Cherry employee.

It wasn't a clean transition, though, and Lyft sued VanderZanden for allegedly stealing company secrets and breaking his confidentiality pledge when he joined Uber. VanderZanden has always denied that he took any information to Uber, and the parties settled the lawsuit in June for undisclosed terms.

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During his two years at Uber, VanderZanden first lead the company's international growth before being tasked with growing the company's pool of drivers. In the position as VP of Driver Supply, VanderZanden worked closely with Ed Baker, Uber's VP of Growth, who will now take over parts of his teams. There's no replacement named for the role.

"Besides sharing a name, Travis and I have shared the same passion for creating the best experience for the millions of people who drive with Uber around the world," Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said in a statement to Business Insider. "And like the entrepreneur he is, over the last two years Travis has built a strong team relentlessly focused on just that. I thank him for being such a great partner and wish him all the best."

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