Lyft announces new CEO, says co-founders will step aside from management positions

By Catherine Thorbecke, CNN

Lyft announced on Monday that Amazon veteran David Risher will join as chief executive next month, and that co-founders Logan Green and John Zimmer will step down from their management positions at the ride-hailing company.

Green, who is currently the CEO, will be succeeded by Risher effective April 17, the company said in a statement. Zimmer, Lyft’s president, will also step down from his role as of June 30, the company said. Both Green and Zimmer will stay on at Lyft in non-executive roles as chair and vice chair of the Lyft board, respectively. No replacement for Zimmer was named.

The leadership shakeup at the ride-hailing company comes as it has struggled to turn a profit over the years and after its stock has taken a beating in recent months, shedding more than 13% so far in 2023. Late last year the company said it was cutting 13% of its staff, or 700 employees, as part of a major effort to cut costs. Lyft’s stock rose about 4% in after-hours trading Monday on the news.

Lyft emphasized Risher’s management experience at Amazon and Microsoft, though he has not worked at either in two decades according to his LinkedIn profile. He was the 37th employee of Amazon, and went on to become the e-commerce giant’s first head of product and head of US retail, according to a statement from Lyft.

Risher has been a member of the Lyft board since July 2021, and has spent the past 13 years working at a nonprofit he co-founded aimed at getting children to read more.

“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,” Risher said in a statement.

Green added in a separate statement that building the company over the past 16 years has “been the adventure of a lifetime.”

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