On Friday, Uber plans to list its share on the New York Stock Exchange, marking the unicorn’s first foray into the public market.
The move comes at the end of a long, bumpy road. (Forgive the pun.) But it’s also the start of a new era for the company.
I asked my colleague Mike Isaac, who wrote a book about the ride-hailing company, about what he’ll be watching:
Uber has come a long way since its early days in San Francisco, circa 2009, where it began as a smartphone-based black car service tailored to the Valley elite.
A decade later, Uber has moved far beyond its luxury roots, expanding into low-cost UberX rides, lower cost carpooling, and other far-flung categories like bikes, scooters — even flying cars. The company hopes to raise as much as $9 billion in its IPO, giving it much more runway to burn oodles of cash as it invests in its future.
But once-bullish investors have grown wary of the ride-hailing company’s debut, in part because of trade tensions with China affecting the economy and overall choppiness of the market.
It didn’t help that Lyft, Uber’s closest competitor and look-alike company, debuted on the Nasdaq only a few weeks ago and is already tanking. Both companies require mountains of cash to plunge into continuing subsidy wars; neither show any sign of letting up the practice.
We’ll be watching Friday as to whether there will be a Day 1 “pop,” or a jump in the price of Uber’s shares as they hit the market for the first time. It is something early investors look to as a reward for confidence in the company.
Another thing to watch: Will Travis Kalanick, Uber’s co-founder and former chief executive, be present on the trading floor — especially after tensions with Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s current chief executive?
One thing you won’t see from the trading floor: The numerous, unofficial “Uber OG” parties being planned by early employees for that evening — all replete with Champagne wishes, caviar dreams and restricted shares waiting to be sold for millions.
How will the waves of newfound riches shape California — and especially the Bay Area — in the years to come? To be determined.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.