Travis Kalanick is taking a leave of absence from Uber

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick will take a leave of absence from the company to "work on myself" and to deal with a recent family tragedy, according to an email he sent to the company.

When he returns to the ride-hailing giant, Kalanick will be stripped of some duties, and Uber's board will appoint an independent chair to "limit his influence," Bloomberg reported.

It's not known when Kalanick will return to the company. Uber did not respond to immediate request for comment.

"Recent events have brought home for me that people are more important than work, and that I need to take some time off of the day-to-day to grieve my mother, whom I buried on Friday, to reflect, to work on myself, and to focus on building out a world-class leadership team," Kalanick wrote in the e-mail, obtained first by Recode.

The CEO had been weighing whether to step away from the company, which has been grappling with a series of crises. The idea of him leaving gained extra momentum after his mother died in a boating accident over Memorial Day weekend.

Kalanick apparently made his decision to take a leave from  at almost the last minute. Even a few hours before Tuesday's company meeting, Kalanick had reportedly not made up his mind on what he wanted to do.

His announcement of his leave of absence came as the company was presenting to employees the findings of a report prepared by former Attorney General Eric Holder, which was studying Uber's workplace culture. The report did not recommend that Kalanick step away from the company, but Uber's board discussed it with the CEO during an emergency board meeting on Sunday. Holder did recommend that Kalanick's responsibilities be reviewed and reallocated.

"The Board should evaluate the extent to which some of the responsibilities that Mr. Kalanick has historically possessed should be shared or given outright to other members of senior management," the report said. 

It also recommended that Uber continue its search for a Chief Operating Officer who could act as a "full partner" to the CEO, but one who focuses on the day-to-day operations and company culture.

"For Uber 2.0 to succeed there is nothing more important than dedicating my time to building out the leadership team," Kalanick wrote in his email. "But if we are going to work on Uber 2.0, I also need to work on Travis 2.0 to become the leader that this company needs and that you deserve."

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