Investor lawsuit a ‘public and personal attack’

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Uber Ex-CEO Travis Kalanick speaks at a Vanity Fair summit at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on October 19, 2016 in San Francisco, California.

The ousted chief executive officer of Uber Technologies called a lawsuit filed against him by one of the company’s top investors a “public and personal attack” without merit, according to court documents filed late on Thursday.

Venture capital firm Benchmark Capital, which says it owns 13 percent of Uber and controls 20 percent of the voting power, sued former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick last week to force him off the board, where he still has a seat, and rescind his remaining power there, citing fraud and deception.

Kalanick said in the court filing that the lawsuit is part of Benchmark’s larger scheme to oust him from the company he helped found, and take away his power. Benchmark has no proof for its accusations, the documents say, and the legal quarrel should take place in arbitration.