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Lyft Inc said on Monday founders Logan Green and John Zimmer would step down as CEO and president, with board member David Risher taking on the top role as the ride-hailing firm struggles to keep up with bigger rival Uber.

The change in guard comes after a weak quarterly forecast worsened concerns that profits would get squeezed by price cuts undertaken to avoid being a distant second to Uber – which boasts better pricing power, a global presence and a food delivery business.

Risher, a former Amazon and Microsoft executive, ran non-profit Worldreader for over a decade before joining Lyft’s board in 2021.

“Risher has his work cut out ahead as we believe all options are now on the table for Lyft including a potential sale with a new CEO in the seat,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.

He will be tasked with overcoming cost challenges and finding new strategies to attract drivers to the platform as demand rises with more people returning to offices and travel resuming.

“As a member of the board, he knows both the challenges and opportunities ahead … when David left Amazon, Jeff Bezos publicly thanked him, vowing to ’build on the foundation you helped pour’,” Green said in a statement.

Shares of Lyft lost nearly three-quarters of its value in 2022 and is down about 13% this year. Uber has gained 24%.

Lyft has said it is yet to completely recover from pandemic lows in some parts of the United States, where most of its operations are based.

Shares of Lyft, which is yet to report an annual profit, rose about 3% in trading after the bell.

A member of the Lyft board of directors since July 2021, Risher will become CEO on April 17, while Green and Zimmer will continue to serve as chair and vice chair of the board.

Risher will be paid an annual salary of $725,000 and will get a signing bonus of $3.25 million, the company said.

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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)