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And Uber can't use any of the trade secrets from Waymo. Maybe I missed something, but isn't this a win for Waymo?
by mbesto 9y ago
And Uber can't use any of the trade secrets from Waymo. Maybe I missed something, but isn't this a win for Waymo?
- xbmcuser 9y agoWaymo became a minor investor in Uber in future can vote for Uber to buy or rent it's cars. If I recall correctly Google ventures was an early investor in Uber as well. So Alphabet might own a lot more of Uber once it's Ipo
- mbesto 9y agoIIRC it's like 7%. Sure that gets you voting rights, but that's minuscule. I'd be more worried about SoftBank's influence as they have more at stake. > So Alphabet might own a lot more of Uber once it's Ipo Huh? Your position of ownership doesn't magically go up once you IPO, it normally only goes down (you get diluted or you liquidate your position).
- Retric 9y agoMany public shares are diluted enough their owners don't vote.
- burner890 9y agoThere is no evidence Uber has any trade secrets from Waymo that they would have to stop using. That was why Google settled. If Uber did have any trade secrets they would have lost the case outright.
- Retric 9y agoUber gave up 245 million dollars. That's not based on nothing. Really, if it was an open and shut case Uber could have gotten it dismissed. The fact they figured giving up 1/4 a billion dollars was better than continuing to fight says a lot more about their situation than any internet commentators can. The only reason for them to spend that money is because they was a significant chance aka well over 25% they would have lost significantly more by fighting.
- valuearb 9y agoThey didn’t give up a single dollar. They gave up a tiny sliver of equity that might be worth $245M someday.
- Retric 9y agoThere is a secondary market for Uber stock that's moderately liquid. It's not a public company, but every shareholder takes a haircut when they hand out more stock.