SAN FRANCISCO - Talk about irony.

David Bonderman, a partner at US private equity firm TPG, resigned from Uber's board of directors after he made a disparaging remark about women at a board meeting on Tuesday (June 13) to address, among other things, the ride hailing company's problem with sexual harassment.

The New York Times first reported the resignation citing two people with knowledge of the matter.

A fellow board member Ariana Huffington was explaining the benefits of having more women on Uber's board, when Mr Bonderman said, "Actually, what it shows is that it's much more likely there'll be more talking," Yahoo Finance first reported with leaked audio.

"Oh, come on, David," Ms Huffington said in response.

Mr Bonderman later apologised in an email to all Uber employees. TPG is an investor in Uber.

The meeting at Uber's San Francisco headquarters was called to discuss the results of an investigation into the start-up's toxic culture, marked by allegations of sexism and harassment.

In the same meeting, the Uber board announced an indefinite leave of absence for CEO Travis Kalanick, who has long been grappling with criticisms of his leadership and workplace culture, and dealing with the death of his mother last month in a boating accident.

Uber's board of directors was composed entirely of men until 2016 when Ms Huffington came on board, the Times reported. Earlier this week, Uber announced the addition of second female director - Wan Ling Martello, the executive vice-president of Nestle in South Asia.