The parents of Uber CEO Travis Kalanick were both in a boating accident on Friday. His mother passed away, and his father is currently in the hospital in “serious” condition. The New York Times’ Mike Isaac was the first to report the news on Twitter.
Uber provided Business Insider with the following statement:
“Last night Travis and his family suffered an unspeakable tragedy. His mother passed away in a devastating boating accident near Fresno and his father is in serious condition. Our thoughts and prayers are with Travis and his family in this heartbreaking time.”
Business Insider also obtained an internal email that Uber sent to its employees, informing them of the news:
“Team:
I’m writing to share some heartbreaking news. Last night Travis’ mother died in a tragic boating accident near Fresno. His father, who was also on the boat, is in serious condition and is being treated at the hospital. This is an unthinkable tragedy as everyone in the Uber family knows how incredibly close Travis is to his parents.
Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family, and we wanted to let his Uber family know right away.
I know we all want to do whatever we can to help, and I’ll communicate again as soon as there is something we can share.”
The Fresno Bee, a local newspaper from Fresno, California, has details of the accident: Kalanick’s parents, Bonnie and Donald Kalanick, were reportedly on their boat in Pine Flat Lake in Fresno County, a place where they’d gone boating for years, when it suddenly hit a rock and sank. The accident was reported between 2 and 3 p.m. on Friday afternoon, when the couple was found on the shore. Bonnie suffered fatal injuries, but ;Donald suffered “moderate” injuries and was flown via helicopter to a local medical center. He is reportedly in “serious” condition, according to Uber.
The Fresno County Sheriff’s dive team will reportedly recover and examine the boat on Saturday, according to the Fresno Bee.