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Uber fell below the price of its initial public offering on Friday, a disappointing start to one of the most anticipated debut in years, and one that will certainly raise concerns for other money-hungry start-ups. ready to quote on the stock market.
Shares of the company specializing in the financing of strikes opened at $ 42, almost 7% less than the price of $ 45. Uber's I.P.O. A valuation of $ 82.4 billion makes the company one of the most valuable in the United States, but it is less noble than expected before starting to present its shares to investors.
Uber is the largest company to emerge from the era of smartphone apps, which began a little over a decade ago Apple launched the iPhone in 2007. While other companies adapted their activities to mobile devices, Uber was a native of the mobile early on, allowing people to hail rides by simply pressing a button. their smartphone.
Along the way, Uber has changed the way people move, allowing millions of people without a taxi license to become drivers without hiring them as full-time employees, an arrangement known as "group work" that led to protests and lawsuits.
But the helicopter transportation service route to the public market was difficult. Last year, investment banks said that Uber could be valued at $ 120 billion, which would have made it the largest US company ever to have been listed. But this number has declined in recent weeks because of the question of whether Uber can earn money and gyrations of the stock market, which have begun its market debut.
This caution extended early in the trading session on Friday, which may reflect investors' experience with rival Lyft. Lyft progressed at its beginnings but has since fallen well below its I.P.O. price.
Uber's debut also limited a volatile week for the markets. On Friday, the S & P 500 index was on its way to its fifth consecutive daily decline and its worst weekly performance of the year, due to worsening trade tensions between the United States and China.
Founded by Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick in 2009, Uber debuted as a premium black car service for the Silicon Valley elite. The app took hold of the introduction of the iPhone, which featured an accelerometer, an electronic instrument used to measure speed changes, and then a global positioning system, used by Uber to help drivers and drivers alike. navigate the world around them.
The application, originally called UberCab, grew out of Mr. Camp's frustration at San Francisco's poor transportation options and an unreliable taxi industry. After insisting, Mr. Camp asked Mr. Kalanick to run the company as General Manager.
Soon, UberCab became Uber and grew rapidly across the United States. Growth has really exploded when the company introduced UberX, an inexpensive option that offers customers great rates and a near-ubiquitous service that is rapidly expanding around the world.
In 2014, Mr. Kalanick's company was changed from name to verb. For "Uber", somewhere meant catching a ride, even as competitors with identical offers were appearing on several continents. Mr. Kalanick, known for his competitive spirit and flawless approach to capitalism, has raised billions of dollars in venture capital, constituting a veritable treasure trove of war against his rivals with subsidized and artificially discounted tour fares. In 2016, Uber's valuation exceeded $ 60 billion.
The company was in trouble in 2017. After years of fierce commercial tactics and a rampant culture of party, harassment and other illicit behavior, Uber's reputation has been overtaken. Mr. Kalanick was the victim of multiple personal scandals, which resulted in his eventual ouster.
Since then, his successor, Dara Khosrowshahi, former head of the online travel market Expedia, has been given the goal of cleaning up the troubled company. His motto has always been to "do the right thing. Period."
Mr. Khosrowshahi's task is difficult. Although the company has spent millions of dollars to improve its brand, Uber's reputation remains tarnished for some users. It also needs to improve its relationship with drivers, some of whom Wednesday went on strike around the world to protest what they saw as Uber's unfair business practices.
[VoiciunhommequiconduitpourUberdepuis2012[Here'sonemanwhohasdriveforUbersince2012[VoiciunhommequiconduitpourUberdepuis2012[Here’sonemanwhohasdriveforUbersince2012He earns about $ 40,000 a year.]
And then there are the losses. Uber has spent nearly $ 2 billion in 2018 and is not planning to become profitable in the near future as it spends to attract attention and grow into new activities, such as Uber Eats, its service of food delivery and its development of autonomous vehicles.
Mr. Khosrowshahi did not explain in detail how Uber plans to eventually make a profit. But he often compares the company to Amazon, the e-commerce giant who has been losing money for years diversifying into other companies before using his platform to generate profits. .
"What started with" pressing a button, going for a ride, "has become something much deeper," Khosrowshahi said in Uber's papers.
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