Dive Brief:
- Rideshare company Lyft announced insider Michael Brous will be its next finance chief, succeeding Erin Brewer on her planned retirement, according to a Wednesday press release and securities filing. Brewer plans to remain working as an advisor through Dec. 15 to help support the transition, Lyft said.
- Brous, who currently serves as Lyft’s head of Lyft Urban Solutions and safety and community care, will take the San Francisco-based company’s top finance seat effective Sept. 28, according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
- The CFO transition comes as the San Francisco-based company looks to expand its usage of autonomous vehicles — announcing Wednesday that it now offers driverless rides in Nashville, Tennessee through a partnership with Google’s Waymo. The launch comes about a year after the two first announced their teamup and marks the first city where AV rides are available through both the Waymo and Lyft mobile apps, according to the Wednesday release.
Dive Insight:
Brous, 39, joined the rideshare company in 2018 through its acquisition of Motivate — the world’s largest “bikeshare” company which operates such brands as Citi Bike, Divvy and Capital Bikeshare, according to a report by CFO Dive sister publication Smart Cities Dive at the time.
Brous, who served as Motivate’s VP of finance, first took the role of head of FP&A for Lyft and has held a variety of roles throughout his subsequent eight years with the company, stepping into his most recent role last November, according to his LinkedIn profile. As CFO, Brous will look to build on the “fantastic foundation” left by Brewer, he said in a Wednesday post on LinkedIn.
Brewer, meanwhile, will be stepping down after three years as CFO — a tenure which included Lyft’s first investor day in 2024 and the expansion of its services to global markets, the departing finance chief highlighted in a LinkedIn post.
“I’m so honored to pass the reins to one of the most respected leaders at Lyft, Michael Brous,” Brewer wrote on LinkedIn. “We’ve worked side by side for years, and I’ve watched him drive impressive growth for Lyft Urban Solutions. He knows this company and this team, and he knows how to get results. I know Lyft will be in great hands.”
In association with the appointment, Brous will receive an annual base salary of $650,000, and will be eligible for an annual cash bonus opportunity equal to 50% of his base pay, according to the SEC filing. Subject to approval by the Board, Brous will also be granted two awards of restricted stock units: One with a grant date value of approximately $775,000, and another with a grant date value of approximately $2 million, the company said.
"As we scale our global platform and grow our AV capabilities, Michael’s financial discipline, operational chops, and deep knowledge of our business and customers make him the perfect choice as our next CFO," CEO David Risher said in a statement included in the release. "He has delivered results again and again — across finance, strategy, growth, and operations. I am excited to partner with him as we execute on our next chapter of growth."
Lyft’s pick of the 39-year old company veteran also comes as the average age of new CFOs when hired fell in the first half of this year to 48.2 years old, CFO Dive previously reported.
Brous will be taking the finance reins as Lyft takes further steps to keep pace with rival Uber in the AV industry. Lyft is now offering driverless rides in two U.S. cities, with its announcement of Waymo rides in Nashville after the rideshare launched a similar service with May Mobility in Atlanta, Georgia last year.
Nashville Lyft users can be matched with a Waymo vehicle at no additional cost, the company said Wednesday — noting that to be eligible for such a service, they must request a route that takes place within a particular service area, which the company expects to expand in the future.
The rollout of the Nashville service comes as Lyft seeks to catch up with rival Uber, which is facing changes in its own relationship with Waymo. The AV provider recently announced plans to offer AV rides through its own mobile application in two cities — Atlanta and Austin, Texas — where Uber previously exclusively offered the service, Bloomberg reported in July.
Uber currently offers AV rides live through its platform in seven cities — expecting to increase to 15 by year’s end, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said during the company’s Q2 2026 earnings call on Aug. 5.
Uber has also pledged to spend $10 billion over the company years across equity investments, infrastructure and vehicle offset commitments related to the technology, according to Khosrowshahi.
Others in the automotive space, including electric vehicle maker Rivian and the Elon Musk-led Tesla, have also increased spending on AV technologies, with Uber expecting to purchase 10,000 fully-autonomous robotaxi vehicles from Rivian for its own fleet, CFO Dive previously reported. As spending jumps, however, safety concerns about the technology have also risen.
In February, U.S. lawmakers pressed officials from both Tesla and Waymo about recent software challenges, CBS News reported at the time, while reports of crashes, near-misses and glitches have sprung up alongside the technology’s rollout.
Nashville riders are able to decline a driverless ride or to opt entirely out of the option, Lyft said Wednesday, stating “human drivers will continue to serve riders throughout and around the service area, creating a hybrid network of human-driven and autonomously driven vehicles.”
