Uber Law Head’s Pay Spiked Amid Kamala Harris Campaign Leave (1)

Uber Technologies Inc. gave longtime top lawyer D. Anthony “Tony” West a pay package valued at almost $12.7 million in 2024—a roughly 22% year-over-year increase—despite him taking three months of unpaid leave, according to a proxy statement filed late Monday.

West took the leave of absence to assist his sister-in-law, former Vice President Kamala Harris, in her unsuccessful US presidential campaign. He joined the ridesharing giant as chief legal officer in 2017 after serving as the top lawyer at PepsiCo Inc.

Uber disclosed that the bulk of West’s total compensation came from almost $10.3 million in stock awards, as well as nearly $2.4 million in cash, which includes prorated sums for the $800,000 annual base salary he partially relinquished during the period he was away from the San Francisco-based company between Aug. 17 and Nov. 10 of last year.

During that time West, 59, sought to help Harris strengthen her ties to Silicon Valley business leaders.

West’s remuneration topped the more than $10 million he received from Uber in both 2023 and 2022, years in which his compensation comprised mostly long-term equity awards. West has sold off more than $13.9 million in Uber shares within the last year, according to securities filings. Bloomberg data shows that he still owns about $11.5 million in Uber stock.

Uber attributed the increase in West’s compensation last year to share price appreciation and accounting complexities.

In recent years West has served as Uber’s public face in navigating a series of critical legal, public policy, and regulatory challenges—including teaming up with other gig economy giants in an ongoing worker classification battle.

Uber disclosed last summer that chief deputy general counsel Kathleen “Katie” Waitzman took over West’s duties as general counsel during his absence, while deputy general counsel Elizabeth Abbene Coleman took on his corporate secretary responsibilities. The company’s made other changes to its legal team.

Uber confirmed that its chief trust and security officer Heather Childs, who previously worked with West in the Obama Justice Department, was appointed last month its new chief ethics, compliance, and security officer. Scott Schools, another former federal prosecutor who had been Uber’s ethics and compliance chief, left in October to lead compliance at OpenAI.

In September, Uber hired Charandeep Kaur as global head of legal operations. Kaur, an attorney and legal efficiency expert, had been a senior director of legal operations and chief of staff to the general counsel at Juniper Networks Inc.

Uber’s law department under West’s leadership has also been fertile ground for other companies looking for legal recruits.

Nathan Barksdale, a former senior product counsel for emerging technologies at Uber, was named head of legal late last year at artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI Inc. Jane Pollack, who spent more than five years at Uber, which she joined at the same time as West, became general counsel in September for the Anti-Defamation League, an advocacy group fighting anti-Semitism.