Uber reported its first operating profit on Tuesday on the back of better control of costs, marking a turning point for the chronically lossmaking company after years of heavy spending in a controversial dash for growth.
The long-awaited landmark in the ride-hailing company’s finances came after it had racked up a total of $31.5bn in operating losses since 2014, the first year for which it disclosed details of its finances.
Uber had previously undergone one of the most ambitious global expansions undertaken by a tech start-up, tapping mountains of cheap capital to subsidise rides and grab market share. The aggressive push involved it flouting taxi regulations in many countries and, to critics, made Uber a byword for Silicon Valley arrogance in the cheap-money decade between the financial crisis and the coronavirus pandemic.
Read the full story on the Financial Times here.