---
title: "Uber policy chief Jill Hazelbaker leaves for OpenAI on November 30, ahead of its FTC pricing response"
description: "The same earnings-day 8-K carries record margins and the exit of Jill Hazelbaker, the executive who has run Uber's public defense since 2015, to OpenAI. Her November 30 departure lands weeks before Uber's answer is due in the FTC's surge-pricing inquiry."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Applications"
published: 2026-11-04T15:17:20.013Z
modified: 2026-11-04T15:17:20.013Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/uber-policy-chief-jill-hazelbaker-leaves-for-openai-on-november-30-ahead-of-its-ftc-pricing-response
language: en
keywords: "Uber, OpenAI, FTC, Leadership, Regulation"
---

# Uber policy chief Jill Hazelbaker leaves for OpenAI on November 30, ahead of its FTC pricing response

> The same earnings-day 8-K carries record margins and the exit of Jill Hazelbaker, the executive who has run Uber's public defense since 2015, to OpenAI. Her November 30 departure lands weeks before Uber's answer is due in the FTC's surge-pricing inquiry.

## The exit no wire carried

[Uber](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/uber)'s third-quarter 8-K carries two disclosures [1]. One is the quarter. The other, in Item 5.02, is that [Jill Hazelbaker](https://theinference.org/markets/people/jill-hazelbaker), the company's president and chief corporate affairs officer, [steps down November 30 "for an external opportunity"](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1543151/000154315126000039/0001543151-26-000039-index.htm) [1]. [Dara Khosrowshahi](https://theinference.org/markets/people/dara-khosrowshahi), Uber's CEO, recalls her on his first calls after taking the top job, with "a strong point of view and a clear plan on what we needed to do to right the ship" [1].

The destination was public the day before: [OpenAI](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/openai) [named Hazelbaker its chief corporate affairs officer](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/uber-president-jill-hazelbaker-joins-204431583.html), running global communications and corporate positioning for the frontier AI lab [3][4].

She joined Uber in 2015, led policy and communications through the Kalanick era, and was promoted to president in May 2026 with human resources and real estate added to a remit that already spanned marketing, communications, policy and safety [3][4]. Weeks after the promotion she [cut 23% of the HR division's positions](https://theinference.org/article/uber-gave-30-000-workers-an-ai-agent-and-kept-the-price-a-secret), part of a broader 10% workforce layoff [3]. The quarter's wire coverage, an automated earnings snapshot and a pre-print analyst roundup, carries none of the exit [5][8].

## The engine she leaves running

The quarter itself was the strongest print of the year. [Gross bookings rose 20% year over year to $59.8 billion](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/uber-announces-results-third-quarter-115500361.html), the fifth consecutive quarter above 20%, on 4.1 billion trips and 215 million monthly active consumers [2]. Revenue grew 10% to $14.77 billion, but business model changes cut reported revenue growth by 8 points, which is how Mobility revenue fell 2% while Mobility bookings rose 18% [2].

*Chart: **Revenue hit a record $14.77B in Q3 2026, but growth slowed to 10% from 20%** Line chart of Uber's quarterly revenue from the third quarter of 2024 through the third quarter of 2026, in billions of dollars, showing the dip in early 2026 and the record in the third quarter.*

*Quarterly revenue, USD billions. Q3 2024 through Q2 2026 from Uber's SEC filings [12]; Q3 2026 as reported in Uber's Q3 2026 earnings release [2]. [2][12]*

The profit line is the record: adjusted EBITDA of $2.96 billion, 5.0% of gross bookings, and non-GAAP operating income of $2.3 billion, up 38%, at a record 3.9% of bookings [2]. The non-GAAP print of $0.88 edged past [FactSet](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/factset)'s $0.86, and the stock nudged higher Wednesday after closing Tuesday at $66.60, still down about 18% in 2026 while the S&P 500 gained more than 10% [6][7][8].

*Chart: **Profit measures grew 1.5 to 2 times faster than bookings in Q3 2026** Column chart comparing Uber's adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP operating income for the quarters ended September 30, 2025, and 2026, in billions of dollars.*

*Three months ended September 30, USD billions. Both measures and both periods as stated in the reconciliation tables of Uber's Q3 2026 earnings press release and 8-K exhibit [1][2]. [1][2]*

## A regulator opens the hood

On October 28 the [Federal Trade Commission](https://theinference.org/article/the-ftc-wants-uber-s-pricing-formulas-the-earnings-call-is-its-first-test) [issued orders under Section 6(b) of its statute](https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/ftc-launches-new-inquiry-into-5469308/) to nine companies, Uber and [Lyft](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/lyft) among them, alongside [DoorDash](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/doordash), Instacart, Target, [Walmart](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/walmart), Delta, United and JetBlue, demanding the inputs behind consumer prices and gig-worker pay [9][11]. The orders reach pricing methodologies, job assignments, A/B tests and the personal-data inputs that feed them [11].

Chairman Andrew Ferguson put it as an equity question: consumers "[deserve to know whether companies use their web surfing habits or other personal data to estimate the highest price they can charge each consumer](https://www.retaildive.com/news/ftc-orders-target-walmart-personalized-pricing-inquiry/873173/)" [10]. Recipients have 45 days from receipt, which lands in December, and the FTC can go to federal court to compel compliance [10][11]; the study is information-gathering, not a finding of wrongdoing [9][11].

Uber's own quarter shows why the questions matter: the non-GAAP operating income excludes $484 million in legal, non-income tax and regulatory reserve charges and $186 million in restructuring, and the company defines the reserve line as matters tied to worker classification [2].

## Two camps, one deadline

The first camp reads the exit as a routine lure: a veteran of Google and Snap taking a bigger seat, her portfolio grown so broad that Uber will have to split it anyway [4][3]. Uber's bench has been churning regardless: Sarfraz Maredia, global head of autonomous mobility and delivery, leaves later this month after 12 years, and Susan Anderson, who ran delivery, left in June [3].

The second camp counts the calendar: Uber must explain its pricing and driver-pay methodology to Washington weeks after the executive who has run its public defense for a decade walks out [1][3].

No source connects the two events, and the FTC's order is a study, not a charge [9]; the timing is the fact, not the motive.

## What to watch: who files, and what it says

The quarter is not the risk. Uber guided Q4 to $63.25 billion to $65.25 billion in bookings and $0.95 to $0.99 in non-GAAP EPS [2], and put a tripling target on its [robotaxi ramp](https://theinference.org/article/uber-s-robotaxi-fleet-belongs-to-suppliers-who-also-sell-to-its-rivals), about 700 fully driverless vehicles by year-end and over 2,000 in 2027 [1], a buildout whose driver-pay economics sit inside the FTC's questions [9].

Watch the December filing: what Uber hands over, how much it discloses, and who signs it. The answer to the regulator lands weeks after its chief messenger is gone.

## Takeaway

The same 8-K that reports Uber's most profitable quarter also discloses that the president who ran its public defense since 2015 leaves for OpenAI on November 30, weeks before its December answer to the FTC's surge-pricing inquiry.

## Sources

1. [SEC EDGAR, Uber Technologies Form 8-K, filed 4 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1543151/000154315126000039/0001543151-26-000039-index.htm)
2. [Business Wire via Yahoo Finance, Uber Announces Results for Third Quarter 2026, 4 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/uber-announces-results-third-quarter-115500361.html)
3. [Yahoo Finance (Investing.com), Uber president Jill Hazelbaker joins OpenAI as communications chief, 3 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/uber-president-jill-hazelbaker-joins-204431583.html)
4. [Crypto Briefing, Jill Hazelbaker leaves Uber to become OpenAI's chief corporate affairs officer, 3 November 2026](https://cryptobriefing.com/jill-hazelbaker-joins-openai-corporate-affairs/)
5. [Associated Press via Yahoo Finance, Uber: Q3 Earnings Snapshot, 4 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/uber-q3-earnings-snapshot-120509885.html)
6. [Investor's Business Daily, Uber Stock Rises As Q3 Earnings Beat Despite Slower Bookings Growth, 4 November 2026](https://www.investors.com/news/technology/uber-stock-q3-2026-earnings-uber-news/)
7. [CoinCentral, Uber Stock: What Wall Street Expects From Earnings Today, 4 November 2026](https://coincentral.com/uber-stock-what-wall-street-expects-from-earnings-today/)
8. [Benzinga, Uber Gears Up For Q3 Print; Here Are The Recent Forecast Changes From Wall Street's Most Accurate Analysts, 4 November 2026](https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-stock-ratings/price-target/26/11/62853976/uber-gears-up-for-q3-print-here-are-the-recent-forecast-changes-from-wall-streets-most-accurate-analysts)
9. [Newsweek, Full list of companies FTC probing over personalized pricing, 29 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/full-list-of-companies-ftc-probing-over-personalized-pricing/ar-AA2gln3W)
10. [Retail Dive, FTC orders Target, Walmart to provide details in personalized pricing inquiry, 29 October 2026](https://www.retaildive.com/news/ftc-orders-target-walmart-personalized-pricing-inquiry/873173/)
11. [BakerHostetler via JD Supra, FTC Launches New Inquiry into Personalized Pricing, 3 November 2026](https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/ftc-launches-new-inquiry-into-5469308/)
12. [Uber, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 4 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001543151)


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Uber policy chief Jill Hazelbaker leaves for OpenAI on November 30, ahead of its FTC pricing response — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/uber-policy-chief-jill-hazelbaker-leaves-for-openai-on-november-30-ahead-of-its-ftc-pricing-response