Lyft CEO David Risher shares key lessons he learned from Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos

Lyft CEO David Risher said he has spent years working with two of the biggest names in business — Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos and is now applying the lessons he learned from both of them to shape his leadership at Lyft. Risher joined Lyft as CEO in 2023. In a letter to employees that year, he shared what he had learned from his earlier jobs: “From Microsoft, I learned how to compete … From Amazon, I learned how to obsess over customers,” he wrote.

Lyft posted record-high ride numbers in 2024. Risher says he’s relying on another important lesson he picked up from Gates: focus more on weaknesses than on strengths.