Uber files for the most-hyped IPO of the year

Uber filed to go public, but it's got a few more items to check off before it gets to ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange, likely sometime in early May.

• Driver classification: 60,000 drivers who had entered into arbitration agreements have filed, or said they plan to file, demands asserting that they have been misclassified as independent contractors. Uber agreed to a $20 million settlement with thousands of drivers in Massachusetts and California earlier this year over a similar claim.
• Government investigation over 2016 data breach: Uber says its facing ongoing criminal inquiries and investigations by the US Justice Department, as well as from other government agencies, in the United States and abroad.

Companies are obligated to tell investors why giving them money might be a risky proposition. Uber, which has never turned a profit and said it may never earn any money, could be a particularly risky company to invest in.

We expect our operating expenses to increase significantly in the foreseeable future, and we may not achieve profitability.

Uber has said this before, but it is spending like crazy to stay ahead of the competition, expand into new cities and develop driverless cars. Those aren't cheap, and Uber said it may never turn a profit.

Our business would be adversely affected if Drivers were classified as employees instead of independent contractors.

Failure to rehabilitate our brand and reputation will cause our business to suffer.

If we fail to develop and successfully commercialize autonomous vehicle technologies 

Uber faces stiff competition in the meal delivery market, but the company thinks it has a leg up on its rivals. "We believe that our scale enables the average delivery time for Uber Eats to be faster than the average delivery time for our competitors."

Uber and Lyft are obviously similar companies. But their filings to go public differ in some subtle but telling ways.

• Uber mentioned "Lyft" six times in its filing to go public. Lyft mentioned "Uber" 15 times.
• Lyft mentioned "safety" 45 times. Uber: 80 times.
• Lyft referred to "scooters" 127 times. Uber mentioned "scooters" (typically "e-scooters") 67 times.
• Uber mentioned "meal delivery" 56 times. Lyft never mentioned about it at all.

Uber's single largest shareholder isn't the company's founder or even the venture capital firm that was Uber's earliest investor.

But other people and companies will be worth a lot of money when Uber goes public.

• 2018 revenue: $11.3 billion (⬆️ 42%)
• 2018 adjusted net loss: $1.8 billion (⬇️ 30%)
• Drivers: 3.9 million drivers*
• Customers trips: 1.5 billion*
• Average wait time for riders: 5 minutes*

* Fourth quarter of 2018

"Of course, in getting from point A to point B we didn't get everything right. Some of the attributes that made Uber a wildly successful startup — a fierce sense of entrepreneurialism, our willingness to take risks that others might not, and that famous Uber hustle — led to missteps along the way. In fact, when I joined Uber as CEO, many people asked me why I would leave the stability of my previous job for one that was anything but. My answer was simple: Uber is a once-in-a-generation company, and the opportunity ahead of it is enormous."

Payments will be based on how many trips drivers have made since they started driving for Uber:

• $100 for 2,500 trips
• $500 for 5,000 trips
• $1,000 for 10,000 trips
• $10,000 for 20,000 trips

Drivers eligible for the appreciation awards will have the option to buy shares ahead of the IPO.

Lyft also rewarded some top drivers with cash bonuses of $1,000 or $10,000, depending on certain trip thresholds. Drivers had the option to use the money to buy shares in the company as well.