Kyle Vogt, the serial entrepreneur who co-founded and led Cruise from a startup in a garage through its acquisition and ownership by General Motors, has resigned, according to an email sent to employees Sunday evening.
In another email, also viewed by TechCrunch, GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra announced that Mo Elshenawy, who is executive vice president of engineering at Cruise, will serve as president and CTO for Cruise. Craig Glidden, a Cruise board member and GM’s EVP of legal and policy who was recently put in charge of as chief administrative officer at Cruise, will continue in that role. Jon McNeill, a member of GM’s board, has been appointed vice chairman of the Cruise board. McNeill, who joined the Cruise board recently, will now serve alongside Cruise Board Chair Mary Barra. A statement from a Cruise confirms Barra’s email.
The executive shakeup comes a less than a month after the California Department of Motor Vehicles suspended Cruise’s permits to operate self-driving vehicles on public roads after an October 2 incident that saw a pedestrian – who had been initially hit by a human-driven car and landed in the path of a Cruise robotaxi – run over and dragged 20 feet by the AV. A video, which TechCrunch also viewed, showed the robotaxi braking aggressively and coming to a stop over the woman. The DMV’s order of suspension stated that Cruise withheld about seven seconds of video footage, which showed the robotaxi then attempting to pull over and subsequently dragging the woman 20 feet.
Vogt’s email sent to all employees — and viewed by TechCrunch — reads:
I have resigned from my position as CEO of Cruise.
The last 10 years have been amazing, and I’m grateful to everyone who helpeds Cruise along the way. The startup I launched in my garage has given over 250,000 driverless rides across several cities, with each ride inspiring people with a small taste of the future.
Cruise is still just getting started, and I believe it has a great future ahead. You all are brilliant, driven and resilient. I’m deeply saddened I won’t be working next to you anymore. However, I know you’re executing against a very strong, multi-year technology roadmap and exciting product vision, and I’m thrilled to see what Cruise has in store in its next chapter!
Cruisers, you’ve got this! Regardless of what originally brought you to work on AVs, remember why this work matters. The status quo on our roads sucks, but together we’ve proven there is something far better around the corner.
Vogt also posted a message Sunday evening on the social media site X that used similar language as the internal email. He ended the social media thread with this message “As for what’s next for me, I plan to spend time with my family and explore some new ideas. Thanks for the great ride! ”
Morale at Cruise has been low since the October 2 incident, with employees pointing the finger at poor management that didn’t prioritize safety at the company. Employee discontent was further inflamed last week when Cruise suspended its employee share-selling program for the fourth quarter. Sources who spoke to TechCrunch on the condition of anonymity said they could lose upwards of tens of thousands of dollars as a result of this decision.
Over the weekend, Cruise backtracked on that move. Vogt sent out an email on Saturday saying that certain employees could sell a limited number of shares in a one-time opportunity. Vogt didn’t provide many details but said the company was developing a plan to conduct a new tender offer to provide restricted stock unit liquidity to mitigate potential tax implications. TechCrunch has viewed the email.
Vogt went on to offer his staff a blanket apology for “the situation Cruise is in today.”
Vogt and Cruise’s chief product officer Dan Kan founded the autonomous vehicle company in 2013. Initially, the pair had focused on kits that could retrofit on a vehicle. The startup soon pivoted to a different business model. GM took interest and acquired the company in March 2016 in a deal of cash and stock valued at more than $1 billion.
Previously, Vogt had co-founded Justin.tv, a website that allowed anyone to broadcast video online, Twitch, a live-streaming platform, and Socialcam, a mobile social video app. Twitch was acquired by Amazon in 2014 for $970 million, and Socialcam by Autodesk for $60 million in 2012.