Amazon Executive to Replace Lyft CEO, President

Passengers make their way to the rideshare location at LAX in November 2020. Al Seib/Los Angeles Times/TNS

The co-founders of ride-sharing company Lyft are stepping down from their full-time executive roles and will be replaced by a former Amaon executive, the company announced on Monday.

The current CEO and president, Logan Green and John Zimmer, respectively, will transition into non-executive roles as chair and vice-chair of the Lyft board.

David Risher, a former Amazon and Microsoft executive who joined Lyft’s board of directors in July 2021, will take over as CEO from April 17.

Risher co-founded Worldreader, a non-profit organization that has helped over 21 million people read. He was also Amazon’s first head of product and helped lead the company’s growth from $15 million to over $4 billion in sales.

According to the company, the former Amazon executive’s appointment follows a thorough search process conducted by the Lyft board. Sean Aggarwal, the current Lyft board chair, will be transitioning to the role of lead independent director.

The co-founders will focus on supporting the transition to Risher and the company’s continued growth.

“When the search committee asked me to consider this role, at first I was gobsmacked, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the competitive spirit I learned at Microsoft, the customer obsession I learned at Amazon, and the do-more-with-less lessons I learned leading Worldreader are exactly what Lyft needs right now,” Risher said in a statement.

“I am honored to step into the CEO role at such an important moment in the company’s history, and am prepared to take this business to new levels of success.”

‘Adventure of a Lifetime’

Green and Zimmer talked about the “adventure” of creating Lyft and how people thought they were crazy.

“Billions of rides later, our industry is defined by the model of ridesharing that Lyft pioneered,“ Green said in the same statement. ”All founders eventually find the right moment to step back and the right leaders to take their company forward.”

Speaking about Risher, Green said he was the stand-out replacement, who has the “right energy, ambition, and experience” to lead the company.

“Leaders in our industry who worked with David affirmed that he’s a customer-obsessed leader who drives hard—when David left Amazon, Jeff Bezos publicly thanked him, vowing to ‘build on the foundation you helped pour.’ David is the absolute right person to build on our foundation,” Green said.

Green and Zimmer launched Lyft three years after Uber in 2012. Since then, the company boasts one of the largest transportation networks in North America, combining services for rideshare, bikes, scooters, car rentals, and transit all in one app.

“Logan and I were told we were crazy to think people would share a ride in another person’s car,“ Zimmer said in the same statement. ”Over a decade later, Lyft is creating economic opportunity, building a sustainable future, and helping people make meaningful connections—with the support of millions of riders and drivers.”

Zimmer said he’s excited about what the future holds and is looking forward to working with Risher going forward.

Following the announcement, Lyft’s stock price increased by approximately 4 percent in after-hours trading. But they still remain 87 percent lower than their initial public offering (IPO) price in 2019.

Uber Outpacing Lyft

The leadership changes come two months after Lyft lowered its profit forecast for the latest quarter, citing the need to cut fares in order to compete with Uber.

In the statement on Monday, Lyst said the company has not revised its Q1 2023 outlook for revenue, Contribution Margin, and Adjusted EBITDA, which was announced on Feb. 9.

Uber has steadily gained market share over Lyft since the start of the pandemic, being able to rely on its food delivery service during lockdowns and international diversification to offset the impact of reduced ridership.

Lyft’s reported financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2022 show the company’s revenue was $1.2 billion, which is a 21 percent increase from the same period in 2021. However, Lyft also reported a net loss of $588.1 million in Q4 2022, compared to a net loss of $283.2 million in Q4 2021.

The company plans to release its Q1 2023 financial results in early May.

Last November, Lyft laid off 13 percent of its staff, or about 700 employees, excluding drivers, as part of cost-cutting measures amid decades-high inflation in the U.S. economy where the company operates primarily.