Lyft Founders Leaving Executive Management Positions

We are maintaining our $34 fair value estimate for Lyft LYFT after the firm announced that its founders, Logan Green and John Zimmer, plan to no longer hold executive management positions. In addition, David Risher will replace Green as CEO beginning on April 17. Green will become chair of the board, while Zimmer, currently the president, will leave his position on June 30 but remain vice chair. Lyft also maintained its first-quarter revenue guidance of $975 million (an 11% increase from 2022) and adjusted EBITDA between $5 million and $15 million.

While this announcement does not affect our Standard Capital Allocation Rating, it could signal that the firm may be considering investing more aggressively in its Lyft delivery business, which is likely to benefit from Risher’s extensive experience at Amazon’s U.S. retail. Another possibility could be that the firm may begin seeking buyers, and not having the founders at the helm may be preferred by some potential bidders.

Risher has served on Lyft’s board since July 2021. Prior to that, he was the cofounder and CEO of nonprofit organization Worldreader, senior vice president of Amazon’s U.S. retail, and general manager at Microsoft.