Every once in a while I like to check in with the most popular moonlighting operation/money pit in the world - Uber.
Uber lost another $6 Billion n the 1st Quarter of 2022. So how did CNBC spin this?
In 2020 Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi floated the possibility of temporarily suspending services in California if Uber was forced to make its drivers eligible for minimum wage, union membership, and health care benefits. The company spent $190 million to get a ballot measure passed that allowed it to continue exploiting its workers, and it is spending millions more in Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, and other states that have considered this labor reform.
It's extremely rare that I cheer for a judge to overturn an election result, but this is the exception that proves the rule.
The answer to this question may become vitally important to the global financial system.
Some of you may guess that they are all Tech IPO's in 2019.
Except that WeWork hasn't managed to go IPO yet. I'll get back to that point shortly.
Some of you may guess that they are all losing money hand-over-fist, and you would be right.
Scores of spirited demonstrators, including many Uber and Lyft drivers and others showing solidarity, rallied outside Uber headquarters in San Francisco’s Mid-Market district on Wednesday to demand rideshare companies improve driver pay and working conditions.
Tomorrow will witness Uber's IPO, and thousands of "investors" will throw billions of dollars into Uber stocks.
Uber's IPO filing stated such gems as it has “incurred significant losses since inception” and expects its operating expenses to “increase significantly in the foreseeable future.”
For everyone that gets wow'd by phone apps and buzzword like "innovation" and "disruption", this is the news that you've been waiting for.
Finally some data about what a racket Uber/Lyft/AirBnB are.
MIT study shows how much driving for Uber or Lyft sucks
The researchers found profit from ride-hail driving to be “very low”. On an hourly basis, the median profit was $3.37 per hour, with 74% of drivers earning less than the minimum wage in the state where they operate.
Crime was already a big deal on the Wild West Internet; but Uber has taken it to new depths. The more the judge in the Waymo/Alphabet case against Uber digs, the bigger maggots he digs up. Given Uber, this is no surprise. But the implications of what passes for "accepted business practices" on the Internet should terrify everyone.
I had missed the announcement a few days ago from Elon Musk and Tesla automobiles ("auto" as in self-driven--by the car) would be able to drive from L.A. to New York without human assistance by the end of 2017. On top of that, Tesla subtly threw down the gauntlet to Uber (as in Ubermensch?) and announced, in effect, that it will partially control what Tesla purchasers can do with their cars:
