Kyle Vogt, the co-founder of Cruise who led the company from a startup to its acquisition by General Motors (GM), has resigned from his CEO position. This development was revealed in an email Vogt sent to employees, as reported by TechCrunch, which obtained a copy of the email.
Following Vogt’s departure, GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra announced in another internal email that Mo Elshenawy, Cruise’s Executive Vice President of Engineering, will now serve as President and CTO of Cruise.
Additionally, Craig Glidden, a member of the Cruise board and GM’s EVP of Legal and Policy, will maintain his role as Chief Administrative Officer. Jon McNeill, a GM board member with previous experience at Lyft and Tesla, has been named Vice Chairman of the Cruise Board. A Cruise spokesperson confirmed these changes.
The CEO position at Cruise remains vacant as of Sunday. This executive reshuffling comes shortly after the California Department of Motor Vehicles suspended Cruise’s permits for self-driving vehicles, following an incident where a pedestrian was injured by a Cruise robotaxi.
Vogt’s farewell email expressed gratitude for the past decade and confidence in Cruise’s future. He also shared his plans to spend time with family and explore new ideas. Barra, in her email, acknowledged Vogt’s contribution and stressed the board’s commitment to safety, transparency, and rebuilding public trust.
The incident leading to the permit suspension has affected morale at Cruise, leading to layoffs and a temporary halt in their driverless fleet operations. Additionally, Cruise reversed a decision to suspend its employee share-selling program following employee backlash.
Cruise, co-founded by Vogt and Dan Kan in 2013, was acquired by GM in 2016 for over $1 billion. Vogt’s entrepreneurial journey includes co-founding Justin.tv, Twitch, and Socialcam, which were acquired by Amazon and Autodesk, respectively.
