Ryan Graves (businessman)

Graves worked for General Electric. He eventually got an internship at Foursquare by pretending to work for them after they turned him down for a job.^[2]

In February 2010, Graves became the first employee of Uber, receiving the job by responding "here's a tip. email me :)" to a post by Travis Kalanick on Twitter. Graves started out as general manager and was named CEO shortly after the launch.^[3] In December 2010, Kalanick succeeded Graves as CEO and Graves became chief operating officer (COO).^[4]

By 2019, Graves owned 31.9 million shares in Uber. That year, he resigned from the board of directors of Uber.^[5]

In 2018, Graves founded Saltwater, his family office, focused on investments in technology businesses.^[6]

In February 2021, Graves made a $50 million investment in and became a member of the board of directors of Metromile, a pay-per-mile auto insurer.^[7]

Graves is married to Molly Graves, his college sweetheart and a kindergarten teacher. They have four children, all sons, and live on the island of Kauaʻi, Hawaii. He is a supporter of the San Diego Padres baseball team.^[1]

Graves serves on the board of directors of Charity: Water and has pledged at least 1% of his net worth to the charity, which focuses on delivering clean water solutions to people in developing nations.^[8]