“SoftBank has been working with Morrison Foerster, known as MoFo.”
Uber confirms SoftBank has agreed to invest
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Re: Uber confirms SoftBank has agreed to invest
#12Can anyone explain why $1B is being invested at a $70B valuation, while existing share holdings are being purchased at a lower/to be determined valuation?
In many ways nostromo95 is correct, however that $1B is probably sitting at the top of the liquidation preference stack. The rest of the money would probably be buying earlier preferred stock or common shares which would be riskier especially if the company can't maintain the $70B valuation.
As a side note, if you were to try and double $100B, I think Softbank's approach is pretty good. You'd aim to invest large amounts of capital into late stage companies and negotiate to be the most senior liquidation preference. This strategy would give you growth potential as well as plenty of downside protection. One downside is that companies that take Softbank's money may struggle to raise additional private rounds. As a result, I think Softbank will be the last round of private capital that many of these companies will raise before IPO or some kind of M&A.
Re: Uber confirms SoftBank has agreed to invest
#13So it sounds like the deal was to get Travis Kalanick back onboard/Benchmark an exit?
Kalanick has always been on the board. He never left, but he has struggled to appoint two new board members, which results in Benchmark suing Kalanick. It is specualted SoftBank's investment is to reduce Kalanick's power on the board. Also, I don't think anyone in their right mind would want Kalanick back as CEO; perhaps in the future like Steve Jobs. But Kalanick has much to learn, despite I do feel bad for him for losing his beloved mother while he was ousted as the CEO, regardless of how he ran his company. He basically lost two things he has loved a lot, accordingly to him, which I can understand from my own experience.
In anyway, SoftBank is known for very acute investment, so with SoftBank stepping in, the board won't allow any more fuck-ups. Though I am very surprised SB didn't invest in Uber early on...
Re: Uber confirms SoftBank has agreed to invest
#14“SoftBank has been working with Morrison Foerster, known as MoFo.”
No one wants the FOMO.
Re: Uber confirms SoftBank has agreed to invest
#15“SoftBank has been working with Morrison Foerster, known as MoFo.”
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=mofo
> A person who thinks they are the shit, dressed down with sagging pants, a high need for a belt, too much gold to make the national reserve jealous, and an attitude that stems from not having parents who knew how to refrain from the use of crack cocaine.
Don't sue me for libel, I'm quoting "deez nutz"!
Re: Uber confirms SoftBank has agreed to invest
#16Recall, Apple is also principle investor in Softbank Vision Fund. As Google recently made its own $1B deal with Lyft. Feels like lines already drawn in the sand, are turning into trenches.
Google’s Waymo passes milestone in driverless car race
https://www.ft.com/content/dc281ed2-c425-11e7-b2bb-322b2cb39...
Re: Uber confirms SoftBank has agreed to invest
#17Couple of queries if anyone happens to know: - Would existing employees with stock options be allowed to sell or the ones with RSU's are also eligible? - Would ex employees be eligible too?
employees with options can sell, employees with RSUs cannot
Re: Uber confirms SoftBank has agreed to invest
#18Recall, Apple is also principle investor in Softbank Vision Fund. As Google recently made its own $1B deal with Lyft. Feels like lines already drawn in the sand, are turning into trenches. Google’s Waymo passes milestone in driverless car race https://www.ft.com/content/dc281ed2-c425-11e7-b2bb-322b2cb39...
I somewhat disagree with your take on the "lines already drawn in the sand". The world is bigger than google and apple, lyft and uber. The ridesharing space in particular is fraught with seemingly strange investment partners. Here is a bloomberg article a week ago with more info:
https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articles/2016-08-16/ride-ha....
Re: Uber confirms SoftBank has agreed to invest
#19So how is Uber's runway looking now? This article [1] from August suggests they had just over three years of runway at the end of June ($6.6b burning at about $2b/yr). So this extends the runway by only six months? Are they going to survive long enough to see autonomous drivers? How will this deal affect future funding?
[1] https://venturebeat.com/2017/08/23/uber-is-still-burning-cas...
Re: Uber confirms SoftBank has agreed to invest
#20Recall, Apple is also principle investor in Softbank Vision Fund. As Google recently made its own $1B deal with Lyft. Feels like lines already drawn in the sand, are turning into trenches. Google’s Waymo passes milestone in driverless car race https://www.ft.com/content/dc281ed2-c425-11e7-b2bb-322b2cb39...
Apple's contribution to the Vision Fund is only 1% of the total Vision Fund's raise [1].
[1] https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/04/apple-joins-softbanks-visi...