6 ms·

How many ethical and legal violations will be until the CEO of Uber is fired? If this were a public company, 1) the stock would have taken several hits and 2) h

by ziszis 10y ago

How many ethical and legal violations will be until the CEO of Uber is fired? If this were a public company, 1) the stock would have taken several hits and 2) he would have been out a long time ago. A decade ago it was Worldcom and Enron and other giants. It is unfortunate that the founder mythology has shifted some of the worst corporate behavior to start-ups.

danielcampos93 10y ago
I think this will keep Uber private for much longer/indefinably. If they were public, the company's stock would be in the pooper. Since they are private, who knows what secondary markets have 'priced' the effect of all the allegations(toxic management, previous SVP sexual harassment issues,IP theft, running red lights, etc). If anything this will probably ripple to other Unicorns that staying private is a better idea. No accountability so you can get away with way more.
- dastbe 10y ago
  The problem is your workforce still wants a liquidity event that rewards them for helping build a multibillion dollar company. this means either company buy-backs or authorized secondary market transfers that will likely not result in the amount of money they expected. say what you will about the tech giants, at least you know what you're going to get paid.
  - jacquesm 10y ago
    You might not be able to unload at all...
    - bravura 10y ago
      Let's say Uber (or any unicorn) would not provide any liquidity to employees. Could employees unionize and threaten to quit en masse unless a company-wide liquidity solution was offered?
    - seanp2k2 10y ago
      And suddenly that 200K base + 400K stock comp plan is looking a lot more like 150K total comp
  - x0x0 10y ago
    That's why Uber is doing buybacks -- with, naturally, a good haircut for the employees. While Uber’s buyback approach can help it retain talent, it may also benefit the company’s bottom line. Using its own money, Uber purchases common stock for 25 percent to 35 percent less than the price of preferred shares from its most recent funding round, one person familiar with the matter said. It can then turn around and sell shares at a premium in a subsequent round. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-15/uber-gives-restless-employees-a-way-to-cash-out https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-15/uber-give...
    - lancewiggs 10y ago
      Great deal - if you are an insider with shares then sell all of them. This thing is hyper-valued.
samfisher83 10y ago
The reason why Airbnb and Uber are working is because they found a loophole with the law and skirting around it as much as they can. So are you going to fire the guy for doing that?
- madeofpalk 10y ago
  "loophole with the law" is a very interesting way avoiding the fact that they flat our broke the law in jurisdictions and reimbursed fines drivers incurred.
  - stale2002 10y ago
    Well, the laws in question (forced taxi monopoly laws) were bad to begin with.
    - Ntrails 10y ago
      Ah, so it's ok to break laws as long as you disagree with them? Because I have some serious issues with the idea that [insert abhorrent thing] is wrong so it'd be neat to just say it's a bad law and get on with doing it
      - ionised 10y ago
        There is a case to be made for a form of civil disobedience involving significant numbers of people breaking a law in an attempt to have it repealed. I personally break a few laws I just don't care for. Drugs laws to name one. Nobody is taking my LSD from me and I imagine there are millions like me. That said I don't agree with what Uber is doing. They are one company trying to skirt the law.
        kedean 10y ago
        You can't invoke civil disobedience when a commerce is happening, because civil disobedience is a symbolic act, meant to draw attention. As soon as somebody is making money doing it, it's just breaking the law.
aanm1988 10y ago
Well companies are content to just stay private, or go public but hand over 80-90% of the voting power to founders anyway. It's a pretty ridiculous situation.

by ziszis 10y ago

danielcampos93 10y ago

I think this will keep Uber private for much longer/indefinably. If they were public, the company's stock would be in the pooper. Since they are private, who knows what secondary markets have 'priced' the effect of all the allegations(toxic management, previous SVP sexual harassment issues,IP theft, running red lights, etc). If anything this will probably ripple to other Unicorns that staying private is a better idea. No accountability so you can get away with way more.

dastbe 10y ago
The problem is your workforce still wants a liquidity event that rewards them for helping build a multibillion dollar company. this means either company buy-backs or authorized secondary market transfers that will likely not result in the amount of money they expected. say what you will about the tech giants, at least you know what you're going to get paid.
- jacquesm 10y ago
  You might not be able to unload at all...
  - bravura 10y ago
    Let's say Uber (or any unicorn) would not provide any liquidity to employees. Could employees unionize and threaten to quit en masse unless a company-wide liquidity solution was offered?
  - seanp2k2 10y ago
    And suddenly that 200K base + 400K stock comp plan is looking a lot more like 150K total comp
- x0x0 10y ago
  That's why Uber is doing buybacks -- with, naturally, a good haircut for the employees. While Uber’s buyback approach can help it retain talent, it may also benefit the company’s bottom line. Using its own money, Uber purchases common stock for 25 percent to 35 percent less than the price of preferred shares from its most recent funding round, one person familiar with the matter said. It can then turn around and sell shares at a premium in a subsequent round. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-15/uber-gives-restless-employees-a-way-to-cash-out https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-15/uber-give...
  - lancewiggs 10y ago
    Great deal - if you are an insider with shares then sell all of them. This thing is hyper-valued.

samfisher83 10y ago

The reason why Airbnb and Uber are working is because they found a loophole with the law and skirting around it as much as they can. So are you going to fire the guy for doing that?

madeofpalk 10y ago
"loophole with the law" is a very interesting way avoiding the fact that they flat our broke the law in jurisdictions and reimbursed fines drivers incurred.
- stale2002 10y ago
  Well, the laws in question (forced taxi monopoly laws) were bad to begin with.
  - Ntrails 10y ago
    Ah, so it's ok to break laws as long as you disagree with them? Because I have some serious issues with the idea that [insert abhorrent thing] is wrong so it'd be neat to just say it's a bad law and get on with doing it
    - ionised 10y ago
      There is a case to be made for a form of civil disobedience involving significant numbers of people breaking a law in an attempt to have it repealed. I personally break a few laws I just don't care for. Drugs laws to name one. Nobody is taking my LSD from me and I imagine there are millions like me. That said I don't agree with what Uber is doing. They are one company trying to skirt the law.
      - kedean 10y ago
        You can't invoke civil disobedience when a commerce is happening, because civil disobedience is a symbolic act, meant to draw attention. As soon as somebody is making money doing it, it's just breaking the law.

aanm1988 10y ago

Well companies are content to just stay private, or go public but hand over 80-90% of the voting power to founders anyway. It's a pretty ridiculous situation.