SoftBank is in the process of closing on a substantial stake in Uber that would value the company at $48 billion—a significant reduction from its previous valuation of $69 billion. To make room for SoftBank, Uber investors had to cash out of their shares. Here’s a list of who’s sold what:
- Cofounder and former CEO Travis Kalanick sold a third of his 10% stake in the company to SoftBank, yielding him $1.4 billion.
- Benchmark Capital is selling $900 million worth of its shares to SoftBank, according to Recode.
- GV proffered “significantly less than half” of its shares to SoftBank, reports Bloomberg.
SoftBank is also injecting an additional $1.25 billion of fresh capital into Uber, buying shares at the current valuation of $67.5 billion. The investment from the Japanese conglomerate is a major boon for Uber, which has suffered through a series of crises this year.
The influx of capital is important for Uber as it prepares for a public offering in 2019. The company is recuperating from a year full of scandal as it addresses systemic sexual harassment as well as regulation-flouting business practices. Since taking the lead at Uber, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has moved quickly to set his agenda. This year he announced his intentions to prepare Uber for an IPO, hired Barney Harford as a COO, and has attempted to mend the company’s relationship with regulators in the U.S. and U.K. Though Khosrowshahi has made significant progress, he still has much to prove. In addition to achieving broader strategic goals, the CEO must also help Uber emerge unscathed from an ongoing legal battle with Alphabet-owned Waymo. The trial is currently scheduled for February.
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