Hunt for new Uber CEO heats up as Nikesh Arora, Marissa Mayer among executives willing to fill Travis Kalanick's shoes

When Uber's founder Travis Kalanick resigned from his post as CEO on June 21, the question on everyone's mind was who would take over a company that has been tarnished by multiple issues and allegations over the last few months. However, proving everyone wrong, it appears that the list of people willing to fill Kalanick's shoes is pretty long.

In fact, the list includes company executives who have made quite a mark on the industry. Uber has reportedly received numerous interests since Kalanick stepped down and among them is former Google sales executive Nikesh Arora, who has also previously worked with SoftBank Group as president.

Not just Arora, the list includes seasoned names such as former Ford CEO Mark Fields, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, GE chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt, HP Enterprise President and CEO Meg Whitman and former Twitter COO Adam Bain, reported Fortune.

Some other names gunning for the post are Disney's ex-COO Thomas Staggs, Wal-Mart's former CIO Karenann Terrell and CVS Executive Vice President Helena Foulkes.

Considering Uber has been down in the dumps for a while now, why are the above-mentioned executives vying for the position? "This is a fantastic opportunity for someone who's wired for problem-solving and wants to make their mark by turning around the image of the company," Jason Hanold, managing partner at Hanold Associates, a boutique executive search firm told the New York Times.

"Yes, they're inheriting Uber's entire toxic culture. But they're also getting thousands of employees who are hungry to change it." Even with all the problems that companies like Uber have, there will always be top candidates who want to go there. These people are problem solvers: The hairier a scenario is, the more they're attracted to trying to fix it."

Meanwhile, the name that has made the most amount of noise when it comes to replacing Kalanick is that of former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, who herself has made it to the list of tainted executives.

Mayer joined the list after she left Yahoo on June 13, 2017, with $186 million in stock, after failing to turn around the brand, which was once a profitable venture. In fact, Mayer gained more attention when she recently defended Kalanick and said that the former Uber CEO was unaware of the inappropriate and sexist culture in the firm.

Speaking at the Annual Stanford Directors' College, Mayer said: "I count Travis as one of my friends. I think he's a phenomenal leader; Uber is ridiculously interesting. I just don't think he knew. When your company scales that quickly, it's hard," reported the San Francisco Chronicle.

With all the big names in the picture, it looks like the race for the next Uber CEO is only heating up.