The mother of Travis Kalanick, CEO of Uber, has died in a boating accident. Bonnie Kalanick, 71, died after the boat she and her husband, Donald, 78, were riding hit a rock in Pine Flat Lake in Fresno county, California, authorities said.

The couple from the Los Angeles neighborhood of Northridge have been longtime boaters. In a memo to Uber staff, Liane Hornsey, the chief human resources officer, called the incident an “unthinkable tragedy”. She wrote that “everyone in the Uber family knows how incredibly close Travis is to his parents”.

Kalanick posted a photo with his parents on Twitter when they went to the Kentucky Derby together on 6 May.

Hello Louisville!! 1st derby with Mom and dad pic.twitter.com/GXl9HGawXk — travis kalanick (@travisk) May 6, 2017

About 5pm on Friday officers were called to the scene of the accident and found the Kalanicks on a shore of the lake, the Fresno sheriff’s office said.



Bonnie Kalanick died at the scene and her husband was taken to hospital with moderate injuries. He told officers the boat had sunk.

Travis Kalanick, 40, founded Uber in 2009. The company has since grown to become an international operation with a market value of nearly $70bn.

With Reuters and Associated Press