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Travis Kalanick Is Exiting His Uber Holdings Uber Quickly

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Re: Travis Kalanick Is Exiting His Uber Holdings Uber Quickly

#101

Post by kjs3 »

Retric wrote: post #54
est31 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Co-founders are supposed to have confidence in the business they built - if they don't, why should other investors? But what's in it for the co-founder? Usually it's that they have lots of power over the company, e.g. being a CEO, and have more freedom than someone who still has to prove that they deserve that power. Jeff Bezos for example "only" owns 100 billion USD but controls a 800 billion USD company, with the…

There are realms of wealth. Even 100m is not enough to comfortably afford a private jet. Several ultra wealthy like Bill Gates diversified a billion dollars from their company which seems to be about the limit where more money mostly becomes an abstraction. One example is people who actually own mansions generally live in a relatively small space inside. You can only really use one room at a time and walking around t…

That's not completely true. Ignoring the tax and operational hedges I can employ if I legitimately use my plane for business purposes, if I fly more than 200 hours a year it's not that (relatively) expensive to own a personal jet. Admittedly, I'm not talking about a Gulfstream G5 or Lear 75, but something like a Citation III or Lear 31/35 cost US$500K-US$1m to acquire (refurbished) and cost less than $10/mi to fly (so less than US$1m for around 200/hrs/yr all in). That's not a big chunk of $100m, especially if you can justify it for business reasons. At the local GA airport where my niece is getting her pilots license, there are lot's of businessfolk and small businesses that justify owning an 8-12 place jet, and they have significantly less than $100m in liquid assets.

Re: Travis Kalanick Is Exiting His Uber Holdings Uber Quickly

#102

Post by Akababa »

fastball wrote: post #12
gwd wrote: post #6

From TFA: > The 43-year-old’s remaining stake in the ride-hailing company now constitutes about a fifth of his $3 billion fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, down from about 75% before the lockup. To be fair, if I had 75% of my net worth in a single asset, I'd also try to diversify. My wife and I both have lots of stock in the companies we work for, due to RSUs and employee stock purchase programs…

Although you make a good point about general portfolio diversification, the difference between a "normal" employee and a co-founder is fairly large in this instance. Co-founders are supposed to have confidence in the business they built - if they don't, why should other investors?

That's true, but I don't think that makes it any less rational for them to diversify. 20% of your net worth is still a lot of risk to trade off just for a bit of investor confidence.

Re: Travis Kalanick Is Exiting His Uber Holdings Uber Quickly

#103

Post by febeling »

tjchear wrote: post #64
Retric wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are realms of wealth. Even 100m is not enough to comfortably afford a private jet. Several ultra wealthy like Bill Gates diversified a billion dollars from their company which seems to be about the limit where more money mostly becomes an abstraction. One example is people who actually own mansions generally live in a relatively small space inside. You can only really use one room at a time and walking around t…

This comment reminds me of another comment [0] on Reddit that talks about the different levels of wealth. An eye-opener for the rest of us for sure. [0]. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/2s9u0s/what_do_i...

This is an amazing discussion of wealth in the linked reddit comment.

Shows how easy it is to underestimate how different lives we all live, depending on our experiences and outlook - even in the same country. Money is probably just one big parameter, but there are surely many others.

Re: Travis Kalanick Is Exiting His Uber Holdings Uber Quickly

#104

Post by kjs3 »

williamdclt wrote: post #55
fastball wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Although you make a good point about general portfolio diversification, the difference between a "normal" employee and a co-founder is fairly large in this instance. Co-founders are supposed to have confidence in the business they built - if they don't, why should other investors?

I don't agree with this logic: you can be confident but prudent. Self-confidence leads to bias, I wouldn't consider it a bad sign that the co-founder stays prudent. However, going from 75% to 20% means that something changed, and that's not a good sign

What do you think changed for the worse beyond he's no longer part of the company, no longer party to the 'inner circle' decision making, and no longer has a vested interest in maintaining the perception everything is perfect?

Re: Travis Kalanick Is Exiting His Uber Holdings Uber Quickly

#105

Post by est31 »

tjchear wrote: post #64
Retric wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are realms of wealth. Even 100m is not enough to comfortably afford a private jet. Several ultra wealthy like Bill Gates diversified a billion dollars from their company which seems to be about the limit where more money mostly becomes an abstraction. One example is people who actually own mansions generally live in a relatively small space inside. You can only really use one room at a time and walking around t…

This comment reminds me of another comment [0] on Reddit that talks about the different levels of wealth. An eye-opener for the rest of us for sure. [0]. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/2s9u0s/what_do_i...

Hmmm that's a very interesting reddit comment. Thanks for sharing! I guess my comment was a bit too imprecise. Of course you can always afford additional luxuries, and money still remains a big factor in relative pecking order questions (which become more important the more super-rich friends you have!). But power over personal staff, even if it travels with you in your private jet and occupies half of the hotel when you arrive is not the same as power over tens to hundreds of thousands of employees. Also, that private staff is a net loss while the company is making you money.

Re: Travis Kalanick Is Exiting His Uber Holdings Uber Quickly

#106

Post by onlyrealcuzzo »

pc86 wrote: post #53
at-fates-hands wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would also add the state of the market right now is favorable for sellers. Might as well strike when the market is hot and people will gobble his stocks up without any issues. Considering an impending recession, it just makes sense he would dump these now.

I've been hearing about this impending recession for the better part of a decade now, is this just something people repeat so that when there is an inevitable downturn they can say "look I was right!"?

For the better part of a decade or for the last 3 years?

The country is incredibly divided. About half the country thinks the country is going to shit anytime their party isn't leading. The country usually does go to shit when leadership is divided. And the economy has almost always gone to shit when the yield curve inverts. Combine that with the fact that inequality is at an all time high and a lot of people WANT to see asset prices go to shit, a lot of people want to see this administration go to shit, and you've got a recipe for people predicting and cheerleading recession.

I'm young, so I can hardly speak of 2007 at all, but I think this is a unique circumstance in the amount of people that seem to WANT a recession. Would love to hear from someone older and wiser if this aspect is normal.

Re: Travis Kalanick Is Exiting His Uber Holdings Uber Quickly

#107

Post by gwd »

cVwEq wrote: post #98
gwd wrote: post #6

From TFA: > The 43-year-old’s remaining stake in the ride-hailing company now constitutes about a fifth of his $3 billion fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, down from about 75% before the lockup. To be fair, if I had 75% of my net worth in a single asset, I'd also try to diversify. My wife and I both have lots of stock in the companies we work for, due to RSUs and employee stock purchase programs…

As an aside to the parent poster, an often-stated guideline for the maximum amount you should own in the companies you work for is 10% of your portfolio value [1][2]. Modern portfolio theory (Markowitz, et. al.) calculations for a bundle of assets probably would bear out that 20% in a single stock is not on the efficient frontier [3]. [1] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/dont-invest-in-your-compan... [2] https://www…

Thanks for that! Just to be clear, what I meant was, "I wouldn't consider 20% as a target to be indicating he thought the stock was going to crash / was a bad value." I had thought of adding that even 10% or 5% would be reasonable, but I didn't really have any good grounds for saying so other than my totally untrained, amateur intuition. So thanks for the supplement. :-)

Re: Travis Kalanick Is Exiting His Uber Holdings Uber Quickly

#108

Post by gargarplex »

duxup wrote: post #79
throwaway2048 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or they buy to convince you to buy.

I suppose someone has tired that but I don't think that generally is done or would be effective.

I spent 3 years of my life researching insider transactions in the US and eventually raised a small $1.5MM fund based on my research. I disagree with your statement.

Re: Travis Kalanick Is Exiting His Uber Holdings Uber Quickly

#109

Post by michalu »

mrosett wrote: post #52
at-fates-hands wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would also add the state of the market right now is favorable for sellers. Might as well strike when the market is hot and people will gobble his stocks up without any issues. Considering an impending recession, it just makes sense he would dump these now.

There's not a whole lot of evidence for an impending recession.

Perhaps, but it's never a bad idea to sell high.
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