Latest news with #LyftDriver
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Yahoo
Florida Teen, 17, Charged with Murder After Allegedly Shooting Lyft Driver During Memorial Day Weekend
A Florida teenager has been charged with an open count of murder after allegedly shooting a Lyft driver The Bay County Sheriff's Office (BCSO) responded to the shooting report at around 2:24 a.m. local time on Saturday, May 24 Brayden Raul Gomez, 17, was later identified as the suspect, according to a BSCO news releaseA Florida teenager has been arrested after allegedly fatally shooting a rideshare driver. At around 2:24 a.m. local time on Saturday, May 24, the Bay County Sheriff's Office (BCSO) responded to a report of a shooting on Wildwood Road and Emerald Cove Street in Panama City Beach, authorities said in a news release shared on Facebook. Upon arrival, deputies found a victim with a gunshot wound on the road, and their vehicle located roughly 100 yards north of them. The victim, who police believe was working as a Lyft driver, succumbed to the injury after being transported to a local hospital, per the news release. Their name has not been released. Brayden Raul Gomez, 17, was later located on Dorothy Avenue and identified as the suspect. Authorities believe the victim was driving the Bay County teen to his requested location before the shooting, according to the BCSO. In a statement to PEOPLE, a spokesperson for Lyft said, "Our hearts are with [the victim's] family and loved ones in the midst of this terrible tragedy." "We have reached out to offer support to them during this difficult time and are assisting law enforcement in their ongoing investigation," they added. "The rider has been permanently removed from the Lyft community." Following the discovery of the victim and their vehicle, deputies were joined by BCSO Criminal Investigations, as the Crime Scene unit processed the scene and discovered blood and bullet holes in the car. Wildwood Road remained closed overnight during processing but has since reopened. A witness alleged that the suspect was "firing as he fled" the scene, and that he had scaled a fence before entering the neighborhood of Woodlawn, according to the BCSO news release. Gomez has since been charged with an Open Count of Murder and taken to the Bay County Jail. The BCSO did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for further information on Sunday, May 25. One Facebook user, who commented under the BCSO's arrest announcement, alleged that they were familiar with the driver of the vehicle. "I knew the victim and yes this is devastating," they wrote. The social media commenter added, "He was a good man and loved by his family and friends. Til we see you again in heaven. RIP Prayers for His family.😢💔🙏🏻." Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Another Facebook user, who claimed to be a Lyft driver in the area, wrote that they too had completed "pick-ups and drop-offs in that neighborhood" and have "felt safe with" each of their riders. "Unfortunately, underage riders are common and rides are often requested via accounts of people they know," they wrote. "Lyft tells us that we can terminate a ride if a rider is under age and alone, but where does that leave that kid... The driver was likely just trying to make money because of the holiday weekend." The shooting comes over a month after a 15-year-old in North Carolina was arrested and charged with fatally shooting a Lyft driver in October 2024, ABC News reported. Another 15-year-old boy was arrested and charged in Washington, D.C., in connection with the death of a Lyft driver a year before. The teen was sentenced to three years in prison, per WUSA 9. Read the original article on People
Time of India
10-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Lyft CEO David Risher shares key lessons he learned from Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos
Lyft CEO David Risher said he has spent years working with two of the biggest names in business — Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos and is now applying the lessons he learned from both of them to shape his leadership at Lyft. Risher joined Lyft as CEO in 2023. In a letter to employees that year, he shared what he had learned from his earlier jobs: "From Microsoft, I learned how to compete ... Operation Sindoor 'Pakistan army moving its troops in forward areas': Key takeaways from govt briefing 'Pak used drones, long-range weapons, jets to attack India's military sites' 'Attempted malicious misinformation campaign': Govt calls out Pakistan's propaganda From Amazon, I learned how to obsess over customers," he wrote. Lyft posted record-high ride numbers in 2024. Risher says he's relying on another important lesson he picked up from Gates: focus more on weaknesses than on strengths. Lyft CEO on lesson he learnt from Bill Gates Risher recalled a key moment from the 1990s when he saw Gates answer a question at a Microsoft conference. Gates was asked about plans for Excel, which was already very popular at the time. "Gates just very honestly, and frankly, very directly said, 'I don't spend any of my time thinking about Excel because I know that right now we've got [around] 60% market share, and I know that's going to go to 80 or 90 ... I don't have to worry about that. I don't have to think about that," Risher told Fox Business in March 2024. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Invest $200 in Amazon without buying stocks to earn a second salary Marketsall Sign Up Undo At the time, more than 30 million people around the world were using Excel. Gates' thinking, Risher explained, was that it was better to focus on weaker areas where improvement was needed, instead of spending time on products that were already successful. Tackling Lyft's challenges head-on In a letter to shareholders in April 2025, Risher praised Lyft's "best-ever results" in 2024, but quickly turned to the company's ongoing challenges. "Looked at as a whole, the rideshare experience had become worse than it was a decade ago," he wrote. To better understand Lyft's problems, Risher said he regularly becomes a driver himself. "Every six weeks or so, I open my Lyft Driver app and hit the road. It's the best way to understand the experience of drivers, to pick up on frustrations we can improve upon, and to talk to riders. I love every minute of it," he wrote. One big complaint he noticed was about surge pricing — the practice of raising ride prices when demand is high. After hearing frequent complaints from riders, Risher asked his team to work on fixes. These included adding more drivers and giving riders the option to lock in set prices ahead of time for regular trips. "By the end of 2024, we could see that these were the right investments when drivers chose us at record rates," Risher wrote. Risher also admitted he hasn't always gotten it right in the past. "Over the years, I've made mistakes on both ends — avoiding the work of diving into a troubled area, swooping down on issues that don't matter, the works," he wrote. Still, he believes focusing on weaknesses is key to leadership success. "But I've never met a great leader who isn't curious about the details," Risher added.
CNBC
09-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Lyft CEO: I worked for both Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos—here are the most important lessons I learned
Lyft CEO David Risher spent more than a decade working under two of the world's most successful businessmen, Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos. Perhaps predictably, Risher learned a lot, he says. When he joined Lyft as CEO in 2023, Risher pointed to specific lessons he picked up from Gates at Microsoft, where Risher was the general manager in charge of the Access database, and under Bezos at Amazon, where he was the tech giant's senior vice president of retail. "From Microsoft, I learned how to compete ... From Amazon, I learned how to obsess over customers," Risher wrote in a 2023 letter to Lyft employees. More recently, after Lyft posted record-high annual ride numbers in 2024, Risher is leaning into a specific lesson he learned from his time under Gates: Spend more time focusing on your weaknesses than your strengths. Specifically, Risher experienced a "revealing" moment watching Gates get asked during an executive conference in the 1990s about the company's plans for Microsoft Excel, which was relatively new and highly popular at the time, Risher told Fox Business in March 2024. "[Gates] just very honestly, and frankly, very directly said, 'I don't spend any of my time thinking about Excel because I know that right now we've got [around] 60% market share, and I know that's going to go to 80 or 90 ... I don't have to worry about that. I don't have to think about that," Risher said. More than 30 million people around the world used Excel in 1996, giving it a dominant position in its market, said the company. That runaway success is exactly why Gates didn't want to spend too much time focusing on it, said Risher: The billionaire understood that he could create more value and make better use of his time by focusing on areas and products that needed improvement. In an April letter to Lyft's shareholders, Risher briefly touted the company's "best-ever results" in 2024 before switching to the areas where the company still needs to improve. "Looked at as a whole, the rideshare experience had become worse than it was a decade ago," wrote Risher. To address this, he's spent his time at Lyft looking for weaknesses in the company's business model, he wrote. "Every six weeks or so, I open my Lyft Driver app and hit the road. It's the best way to understand the experience of drivers, to pick up on frustrations we can improve upon, and to talk to riders. I love every minute of it," Risher wrote. He observed the "deeply unpopular" practice of surge pricing, where ride-share platforms raise prices during times when customer demand for drivers is particularly high. After hearing riders express their frustration with that practice, Risher told his team to focus on changes, like an initiative to increase the supply of drivers and a feature that allows riders to lock in a set price ahead of time, during their most frequent commute periods. "By the end of 2024, we could see that these were the right investments when drivers chose us at record rates," Risher wrote, adding that the company's recent success is a direct result of its willingness to drill down into areas where it was falling short. "Over the years, I've made mistakes on both ends — avoiding the work of diving into a troubled area, swooping down on issues that don't matter, the works," Risher noted. "But I've never met a great leader who isn't curious about the details."
