who-owns-uber

Who Owns Uber?

Uber’s principal individual shareholders comprise Yasir Al-Rumayyan (3.73%), the Governor of the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Dara Khosrowshahi, the founder and CEO of Uber. There is Morgan Stanley, with 5.12% ownership among the top institutional investors.

How did Uber’s ownership change over the last years?

Shareholders’ ownership in Uber completely changed in 2022, when Softbank, the main shareholder, liquidated its stake to keep up with the mounting losses of its portfolio.

uber-boards-of-directors
uber-kpis
Uber Financial Statements.

The history of Uber 

As Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, pointed out in its financial prospectus.

Uber started at a specific moment in the business world.

The “rise of smartphones, the advent of app stores, and the desire for on-demand work supercharged Uber’s growth and created an entirely new standard of consumer convenience.”

Some context below: 

iphone-sales-2007-09

Uber is the very definition of a disruptor. The company, which at one point was the most valuable private startup in the world, has revolutionized the way consumers hail a ride, order takeout from their favorite restaurant, and even earn a living.

With its various transportation and delivery services now available in more than 10,500 cities across 72 countries, it is sometimes easy to forget that Uber started as a humble startup selling limousine rides.

One simple idea

It is December 2008, and friends Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp are attending the LeWeb technology conference in Paris.

Both men were entrepreneurs cashed up after recently selling their respective startups.

One night during the conference, the two could not find a cab in the middle of a snowstorm.

Kalanick credits Camp with the idea for Uber, which at that time consisted of a rideshare limousine service that could be requested from a smartphone app. 

UberCab

Kalanick and Camp went their separate ways after the conference, but the latter remained interested in the idea and started work on a prototype with friends Conrad Whelan and Oscar Salazar while he was still CEO of StumbleUpon. 

Camp purchased the domain name UberCab.com and convinced Kalanick to come on board as a chief incubator.

In early 2010, the app was tested in New York City with three vehicles, and an official launch was held in San Francisco a few months later.

The service, which was initially more expensive than a traditional taxi, was nevertheless popular in the city among tech employees. 

UberCab then became known as Uber after the founders realized that it was not a cab company in the traditional sense.

Around this time, Uber hired its first employee Ryan Graves with a now-infamous tweet from Kalanick explaining that he was looking for a product manager.

Expansion and funding

In May 2011, Uber expanded into New York City and was met with resistance and criticism from the city’s established taxi industry.

Uber then became available in Paris in December as an almost ceremonious nod to the place where it had all started three years earlier.

In the same month, at the 2011 LeWeb technology conference, Kalanick announced a Series B funding round worth $37 million with Jeff Bezos and Goldman Sachs among the backers.

The company launched UberX in July 2012 to open up the platform to non-limousine vehicles such as the Cadillac Escalade and Toyota Prius Hybrid.

This would mark the first time the company would seek out drivers using their own vehicles as transportation.

Perhaps more significantly, UberX would eventually expand into other vehicle models and other forms of transportation, such as scooters and bikes. 

In August 2013, Uber expanded into Africa and India with a Series C funding round worth $258 million.

The following year, the first Uber ride was hailed in China – which may prove to be Uber’s largest market in the future.

Recapping the Uber history

  • Uber was, at one point, the most valuable startup in the world and has now revolutionized how consumers hail a ride, order takeout, and even earn a living.
  • The idea for the company came after co-founders Garrett Camp, and Travis Kalanick struggled to hail a cab in a snowstorm during a tech conference in Paris. Camp and two friends developed a prototype app for a service that would be known as UberCab.
  • Uber gained early traction with tech employees after officially launching in San Francisco in 2010. Uber became available in New York City and Paris in 2011 and then in other countries in 2012 and 2013. The launch of UberX signaled a turning point for Uber as it allowed drivers to use their non-luxury vehicles.

Uber companies 

Uber Freight

uber-freight-business-model

Uber Freight is a subsidiary that provides a digital freight brokerage platform. The platform connects shippers with carriers and helps them manage their transportation needs.

By digitizing the freight industry, Uber Freight aims to make it more efficient, reliable, and affordable. 

The platform uses real-time data and machine learning algorithms to match shippers with carriers and optimize routes, resulting in faster and more cost-effective delivery of goods.

Uber Freight is also committed to sustainable transportation practices and has implemented initiatives to reduce carbon emissions.

At present, the company has around $17 billion in Freight Under Management (FUM) and more than 200,000 users.

Uber Health

Uber Health is a subsidiary that provides transportation for healthcare organizations and their patients.

Primarily, the platform aims to provide a reliable and efficient transportation solution for patients who face barriers to accessing healthcare. 

Healthcare providers can schedule rides for their patients through the Uber Health dashboard, and patients receive trip information and reminders via text message.

Uber Health also provides a higher level of privacy and security for healthcare-related trips, ensuring that a patient’s personal information is protected.

Jump Bikes

Jump Bikes is a dockless electric bike-sharing system.

The bikes are equipped with electric motors and GPS trackers that enable customers to find and unlock them using the Uber app. 

Jump Bikes provides a convenient and affordable transportation option for short trips, reducing congestion and emissions in urban areas.

The bikes are also designed with safety in mind and feature bright colors, front and rear lights, and a sturdy frame. Jump Bikes has expanded rapidly since its launch and is now available in over 30 cities worldwide.

Uber acquired the bike-share start-up JUMP for around $200 million in 2018.

The company later transferred the business to Lime in May 2020, but as part of the deal, Uber led a $170 million investment in Lime and Jump Bikes itself is still available in both the Uber and Lime apps.

Careem

Careem is a transportation network company based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The company was founded in 2012 and has since expanded to over 100 cities in 14 countries in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. 

Careem offers a variety of transportation services, including ride-hailing, bike-sharing, and food delivery.

The company also provides employment opportunities for thousands of drivers in the regions it serves. 

What’s more, Careem has a strong commitment to social responsibility and has implemented various initiatives to support the communities in which it operates.

These include providing free rides for healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and partnering with local organizations to support refugees and vulnerable populations. 

Uber acquired Careem for $3.1 billion in early 2020 and later launched the digital payment platform Careem Pay in April 2022.

Driazly

Drizly is an online alcohol delivery service that allows customers to order beer, wine, liquor, and mixers for delivery to their doorstep.

The company was founded in 2012 by Nick Rellas, Spencer Frazier, and Justin Robinson and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. 

Drizly partners with local liquor stores in over 1,400 cities across the United States and Canada to provide a wide selection of products to customers.

Customers can use the Drizly website or mobile app to browse products, place orders, and track delivery.

There are several delivery options such as same-day delivery and scheduled delivery for a future date. 

Uber acquired Drizly for $1.1 billion in cash and stock in 2021

Uber Business Model Today

Nowadays, Uber is a platform business that spans through mobility, delivery, and freight.

uber-revenue-by-segment
Uber’s mobility platform generated $14 billion in 2022, followed by the delivery platform (Uber Eats), with $10.9 billion in revenue, and the freight platform, with $6.95 billion in revenue. The mobility platform still represents the core business model of Uber, and it has accelerated again after the end of the Covid-19 pandemic. On the other hand, thanks to the company restructuring in the last few years, Uber has built two multi-billion dollar segments from delivery and freight, on top of the core platform.

During the pandemic, the delivery segment played a key role in Uber’s business growth, as the lockdown measures constrained the mobility platform.

Yet by 2022, the mobility platform was back on track.

Uber vs. Uber Eats Gross Bookings
After the pandemic hit, the Uber core platform (mobility) slew down substantially, and its volume in gross bookings was replaced by the incredible growth of the delivery business (Uber Eats). However, by the end of 2022, the mobility platform’s volume was larger than the volume of gross bookings on the delivery platform. Indeed, in Q4 2022, Uber mobility reported a volume of $14.89 billion, compared to the $13.31 billion in gross bookings for the delivery platform.

Indeed, by 2022, gross bookings on the mobility platform passed the delivery platform again, and Uber’s core mobility platform generated $8.36 billion in revenue, compared to Uber Eats’s $6.95 billion in revenue.

uber-vs-uber-eats

The revenue growth of the mobility platform was driven by massive growth in gross bookings post-pandemic and an increased take rate of the core platform vs. the delivery platform.

uber-vs-uber-eats-take-rate
In 2022, Uber mobility took 27% of each booking on the platform. At the same time, Uber Eats took 20% of each booking on the delivery platform. The take rate varies according to demand and supply but also market dynamics. In short, in periods of increased competition, the service might charge lower take rates to keep up with it. In 2022, Uber pushed on efficiency, thus raising its take rates, to move toward profitability.

The main focus of Uber is on the mobility and delivery platform.

Visual Stories Connected To Uber

Uber

uber-business-model
Uber is a two-sided marketplace, a platform business model that connects drivers and riders, with an interface with gamification elements that make it easy for two sides to connect and transact. Uber makes money by collecting fees from the platform’s gross bookings.

Uber Revenue

uber-revenue

Is Uber Profitable?

is-uber-profitable
As of 2022, on net revenues of $31.87 billion, Uber posted a net loss of $9.14 billion. In 2021, Uber posted a lower net loss ($496 million), primary thanks to the business divestitures of various assets. Throughout its history, on an annual basis, Uber has never made a profit. Yet, it has also shown incredible business growth, over the years, with its revenue at $3.8 billion in 2016, to almost $32 billion in 2022.

Uber Eats

uber-eats-business-model
Uber Eats is a three-sided marketplace connecting a driver, a restaurant owner, and a customer with the Uber Eats platform at the center. The three-sided marketplace moves around three players: Restaurants pay commission on the orders to Uber Eats; Customers pay small delivery charges, and at times, cancellation fees; Drivers earn through making reliable deliveries on time.

Uber Eats Revenue

uber-eats-revenue
In 2022 Uber Eats reached almost $11 billion in revenue, compared to over $8.3 billion in revenue in 2021 and $3.9 billion in revenue in 2020.

Is Uber Eats Profitable?

is-uber-eats-profitable
For the first time since its inception, Uber Eats’ EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) – which measures a company’s operational efficiency – was positive for $551 million, compared to negative $348 million in 2021; negative $870 million in negative EBIDTA in 2020; and over $1.3 billion negative EBIDTA in 2019.

Uber Freight

uber-freight-revenue
Uber Freight has grown from a $1 billion segment in 2020 to almost $7 billion in revenue in 2022, representing nearly 22% of Uber’s total revenue in the same year.

Uber Revenue Breakdown

uber-revenues-breakdown
In 2022, Uber generated $14 billion from its core platform (mobility), followed by $10.9 billion from the delivery platform (Uber Eats) and $6.95 billion from the freight platform. The company generates most of its revenue in North America.

Uber Advertising

uber-advertising
In 2022 Uber launched its advertising segment, which comprises revenue from sponsored listing fees paid by merchants and brands in exchange for advertising on the platform. By the end of the year, Uber advertising had generated $500 million in revenue from 315K merchants.

Food Delivery Business Models

food-delivery-business-model
In the food delivery business model companies leverage technology to build platforms that enable users to have the food delivered at home. This business model usually is set up as a platform and multi-sided marketplace, where the food delivery company makes money by charging commissions to the restaurant and to the customer.

DoorDash

how-does-doordash-make-money
DoorDash is a platform business model that enables restaurants to set up no-cost delivery operations. At the same time, customers get their food at home, and dashers (delivery people) earn some extra money. DoorDash makes money by markup prices through delivery fees, memberships, and advertising for restaurants on the marketplace.

Glovo

glovo-business-model
Glovo is a Spanish on-demand courier service that purchases and delivers products ordered through a mobile app. Founded in 2015 by Oscar Pierre and Sacha Michaud as a way to “uberize” local services. Glovo makes money via delivery fees, mini-supermarkets (fulfillment centers that Glovo operates in partnership with grocery store chains), and dark kitchens (enabling restaurants to increase their capacity).

Instacart Business Model

how-does-instacart-make-money
Instacart’s business model relies on enabling an easy set up for grocery stores, the comfort for customers to get their shopping delivered at home, and an additional income stream for personal shoppers. Instacart makes money by charging service fees, via memberships, and by running performance advertising on its platform.

Grubhub Business Model

grubhub-business-model
Grubhub is an online and mobile platform for restaurant pick-up and delivery orders. In 2018 the company connected 95,000 takeout restaurants in over 1,700 U.S. cities and London. The Grubhub portfolio of brands like Seamless, LevelUp, Eat24, AllMenus, MenuPages, andTapingo. The company makes money primarily by charging restaurants a pre-order commission and it generates revenues when diners place an order on its platform. Also, it charges restaurants that use Grubhub delivery services and when diners pay for those services. 

Shipt Business Model

how-does-shipt-make-money
Shipt is a North American integrated delivery service for groceries, home products, and electronics initially funded by Bill Smith, a highly experienced entrepreneur with a history of creating successful start-ups; in 2014, Smith used $3 million of his own money to create the first iteration of Shipt, the company was acquired by Target in 2017 in a cash deal worth $550 million. Membership fees predominantly drive Shipt revenue generation.

Related Tech Ownership Case Studies

Who Owns OpenAI

who-owns-openai
OpenAI is an artificial intelligence research laboratory that transitioned into a for-profit organization in 2019, which comprised an entity called OpenAI LP and the non-profit parent foundation OpenAI. The lab, which was founded in 2015 by Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and various others, has a core focus on the development of friendly AI that benefits society as a whole. Yet now has primarily evolved as a capped-for-profit entity with an exclusive commercial license to Microsoft.

Who Owns Airbnb

who-owns-airbnb
Its co-founders primarily own Airbnb: Brian Chesky, with 76,407,686 Class B shares, which gives him 29.1% of ownership; Nathan Blecharczyk, with 232,306 Class A and 64,646,713 Class B, which give him 25.3%; and Joe Gebbia, which has 5,113,865 Class A and 58,023,452 Class B, which give him 22.9% ownership.

Who Owns Google

who-owns-google
Google is primarily owned by its founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who have more than 51% voting power. Other individual shareholders comprise John Doerr (1.5%), a venture capitalist and early investor in Google, and CEO, Sundar Pichai. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has 4.2% voting power. The most prominent institutional shareholders are mutual funds BlackRock and The Vanguard Group, with 2.7% and 3.1%, respectively.

Who Owns Facebook

who-owns-facebook
Mark Zuckerberg is the largest shareholder in the company. Zuckerberg retains ownership and control of the company. Like Google, Facebook has issued two common stocks, Class A and Class B. The holders of Class B common stocks are entitled to ten votes per share, and holders of our Class A common stocks are entitled to one vote per share. Mark Zuckerberg has a voting power of 56.9%; he’s the primary decision-maker. Other individual investors comprise Sheryl Sandberg, Christopher Cox, Marc Andreessen, Peter Thiel, Dustin Moskovitz, and Eduardo Saverin.

Who Owns Apple

who-owns-apple
As of 2023, major Apple shareholders comprised Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway with 5.73% of the company’s stock (valued at over $130 billion). Followed by other individual shareholders like Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, with about 3.3 million shares, Artur Levinson, chairman of Apple, with over 4.5 million shares, and others.

Who Owns Amazon

who-owns-amazon
With 64,588,418 shares, Jeff Bezos is the major individual investor. Owning 12.7% of the company. Other top individual investors comprise Amazon’s CEO Andy Jessy, with 94,729 shares. Top institutional investors include mutual funds like The Vanguard Group (6.6% ownership) and BlackRock (5.7% ownership). 

Who Owns Microsoft

who-owns-microsoft
Major shareholders comprise co-founder Bill Gates, who stepped down from the company’s board in 2020, which is why these shares are no longer publicly reported. In 2019, Gates still owned a stake of 103 million stocks, which accounted for 1.34% of the company’s ownership (worth over $23 billion in January 2023). Other individual shareholders comprise Satya Nadella, the company’s CEO, Brad Smith (former president), Jean-Philippe Courtois (EVP), and Amy Hood (former CFO).

Who Owns Tesla

who-owns-tesla
By 2022, most of Tesla’s shares are still owned by Elon Musk, among the company’s co-founders and the CEO. Elon Musk is the top individual investor, with a 23.5% stake in the company, equivalent to over 244 million shares. Musk is followed by Lawrence Ellison (founder of Oracle), with a 1.5% company stake. Ellison also sits on Tesla’s board. And Antonio Gracias, among the company’s first investors, has over 1.6 million shares. Other institutional investors and mutual funds like The Vanguard Group (6%), Blackrock (5.1%), and Capital Ventures International also have a good chunk of the company’s stocks.

Who Owns PayPal

who-owns-paypal
PayPal was first founded in 1998; it was called Confinity (among its founders was Peter Thiel); later, it merged with X.com, its major competitor, founded by Elon Musk (which would become known for other companies like Tesla and SpaceX). From this merger, PayPal was born. In 2002, PayPal was bought by eBay for $1.5 billion. eBay spun off PayPal in 2015, which would be listed as an independent entity. Today PayPal owns brands like Braintree, Venmo, Xoom, and iZettle.

Who Owns Netflix

who-owns-netflix
Netflix’s largest individual shareholder is Reed Hastings, co-founder, and former CEO of the company, now Chairperson of Netflix, with a 1.7% stake, valued at over $2.4 billion in February 2023. Other significant individual shareholders comprise Jay C. Hoag, the company’s directors since 1999, and Ted Sarandos, former chief content officer and now Chief Executive Officer of Netflix. Major institutional shareholders comprise The Vanguard Group (7.55% ownership), BlackRock (6.58% ownership), and Capital Research Global Investments (5.84% ownership).

Who Owns TikTok

who-owns-tiktok
TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese internet technology company owning several content platforms worldwide (Douyin, Toutiao, Xigua Video, Helo, Lark, Babe). Bytedance passed the $300 billion private market valuation by 2022, making around $58 billion in revenue in 2022, over $4 billion from TikTok.

Who Owns YouTube

who-owns-youtube
Acquired by Google, in 2006, for $1.65 billion, YouTube is now worth many times over. In 2022, YouTube generated over $29 billion in revenue from advertising alone. YouTube is part of Google (now named Alphabet), and as such, it is owned by main Google’s Alphabet shareholders and is one of the fastest-growing segments for the company.

Who Owns Twitter

who-owns-twitter
As of April 25th, 2022, Elon Musk tried to take over Twitter. Musk tried to purchase the company at $54.20 per share, or about $44 billion. The deal finally closed by October 27th, 2022, and Elon Musk became the largest shareholder.

Who Owns Spotify

who-owns-spotify
The multi-billion music streaming company Spotify is primarily owned by its founders, Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. As of 2023, Daniel Ek has 16.5% ownership of ordinary shares and 31.7% of the voting power. Martin Lorentzon has 10.9% of ordinary shares and 42.6% of the voting power. Another key shareholder is Baillie Gifford & Co, a Scottish-based money management firm, followed by Morgan Stanley, T. Rowe Price, and Tencent.

Who Owns Nvidia

who-owns-nvidia
The top individual shareholder of NVIDIA is Jen-Hsun Huang, founder, and CEO of the company, with 87,521,722 shares giving him 3.50% ownership. Followed by Mark A. Stevens, venture capitalist and a partner at S-Cubed Capital, who was part of the NVIDIA board in 2008 and previously served as a director from 1993 to 2006, with 6,258,803 shares. Institutional investors comprise The Vanguard Group, Inc, with 196,015,550, owning 7.83%. BlackRock, Inc., with 177,858,484, owns 7.10%. And FMR LLC (Fidelity Institutional Asset Management) with 158,039,922, owning 6.31%.

Who Owns Uber

who-owns-uber
Uber’s principal individual shareholders comprise Yasir Al-Rumayyan (3.73%), the Governor of the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Dara Khosrowshahi, the founder and CEO of Uber. There is Morgan Stanley, with 5.12% ownership among the top institutional investors.

Who Owns Shopify

who-owns-shopify
The founder and CEO of Shopify, Tobias Lütke, owned or controlled 7,891,852 Class B multiple voting shares and 5,250 Class A subordinate voting shares, representing approximately 33.8% of the aggregate voting power attached to all of the Company’s outstanding voting shares. Another key stakeholder is John H. Phillips, an angel investor who placed an early bet on Shopify.

Who Owns Roblox

who-owns-roblox
Roblox is owned by David Baszucki and Gregory Baszucki, with a 2.3% and 2.6% stake, respectively. Anthony lee, managing partner at Altos Ventures, with a 15.3% stake.

Who Owns Twitch

who-owns-twitch
In 2014, Twitch was bought by Amazon for $970 million. Therefore Twitch is part of Amazon, comprising other subsidiaries bought over the years, like Audible, Whole Foods, and Zappos (in total, Amazon has 12 subsidiaries). Therefore, as of 2020, Twitch is a multi-billion dollar company, making money primarily via advertising through its video streaming platform (creators use Twitch today across many other verticals).

Who Owns Zoom

who-owns-zoom
Zoom’s principal private shareholders comprise Eric S. Yuan, a Chinese-American billionaire businessman that founded Zoom. Dan Scheinman, board member and angel investor in Zoom since the start, and Santiago Subotovsky, also an early investor in Zoom. Zoom follows a freeterprise business model where free accounts are channeled into enterprise customers.

Who Owns Activision

who-owns-activision
In one of the largest deals in the business world, Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard in a $68.7 billion transaction. Making Microsoft the world’s third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony. However, given the size of the deal, this is still under the scrutiny of regulators who need to approve it. If the deal goes through, Microsoft will become among the largest gaming companies in the world.

Who Owns Pixar

who-owns-pixar
Pixar is owned by The Walt Disney Company, which acquired it in 2006 in a $7.4 billion deal. Today Pixar is part of the Disney Empire. The principal shareholders of Disney comprise Robert Iger, CEO of the company, and institutional investors like The Vanguard Group and Blackrock.

Who Owns Salesforce

who-owns-salesforce
Marc Benioff, Co-CEO of Salesforce, is the primary individual shareholder, with 3% of the company’s stock. Other main individual shareholders comprise Parker Harris, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, and Bret Taylor, former co-CEO. Major institutional shareholders include The Vanguard Group, Fidelity, and BlackRock.

Who Owns Slack

who-owns-slack
In a $27.7 billion deal in 2021, Salesforce’s finalized the acquisition of Slack, which was integrated into Salesforce. Today Slack is still a product mostly independently managed by Salesforce, which incorporated some of its features within its platform. Entrepreneur Marc Benioff primarily owns salesforce.

Who Owns Snapchat

who-owns-snapchat
Evan Spiegel and Robert Cornelius Murphy are the co-founders and, respectively, CEO and CTO of Snapchat. Evan Spiegel owns 3% of Class A stocks, 25.7% of Class B stocks, and 53.4% of Class C stocks for a 53.2% voting power, whereas Robert Murphy owns 6% of Class A stocks, 25.7% of Class B stocks, and 46.6% of Class C stocks for a 46.6% voting power. Snapchat runs an advertising-based business model.

Who Owns Coinbase

who-owns-coinbase
Main individual shareholders comprise co-founders Brian Armstrong (59.5% voting power), Frederick Ernest Ehrsam (26.1% voting power), and other individual investors such as Surojit Chatterjee (current CPO “poached” from Google), Paul Grewal (former magistrate who joined Coinbase as Chief Legal Officer), and venture capitalists who early on invested on Coinbase, like Marc Andreessen (founder of a16z) and Fred Wilson (founder of Union Square Ventures), together with venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz, Paradigm, Ribbit Capital and Union Square Ventures.

Read More:

About The Author

Scroll to Top
FourWeekMBA