As Uber's workplace scandal widens, a growing number of insiders are seeking to sell their shares. But buyers are hard to find.
"The demand side has dried up relative to the sell side," said Larry Albukerk, managing director of EB Exchange, a San Francisco broker that has arranged private sales of tech-company shares since 1999. "We're getting calls all the time from people who want to sell" at least part of their Uber stake, said Albukerk.
Uber employees have long faced tighter restrictions on share sales compared to workers at other tech start-ups. Arranging private share sales for Uber insiders has been notoriously difficult, said Albukerk, because CEO Travis Kalanick has kept a tight grip on transactions.
Another secondary market broker, who asked not to be named so as not to endanger his relationship with clients, said Uber has a "lockdown" on private sales.
Should the board decide to loosen restrictions and let employees sell some shares, the market imbalance creates another potential challenge. While Uber was valued at about $68 billion in its last financing round, investors would likely have to take a sharp discount at this point to find willing buyers.
Uber is in the throes of its biggest crisis since Kalanick co-founded the ride-hailing company in 2009. An internal probe led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder that stemmed from complaints of sexual harassment has led to the departure of more than 20 employees.
On Monday, Emil Michael, Uber's No. 2 executive, told fellow employees in an email that he's leaving. Uber's board of directors is widely expected to begin a sweeping effort this week to overhaul the company's culture.
Kalanick has widespread control over the company. That includes imposing a strict right-of-first-refusal policy that allows the company to repurchase insider shares at the price set in its latest funding round rather than allowing the stock to be sold at a higher price to wealthy individuals via exchanges. Those types of rules are common at start-ups, but Uber enforces them more strictly than its peers, Albukerk said.
Secondary markets have grown much larger in recent years as more managers of hedge funds and mutual funds seek to buy shares of fast-growing startups before they go public. Insiders at Facebook, Twitter and Zynga, for example, all sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of shares years before those company's respective IPOs.
Loosening restrictions at Uber could boost employee morale and make the company more attractive to prospective talent. Doing so now, however, could cause a rush to sell by early employees and investors, who so far have been unable to realize any gains.
An Uber representative didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
http://cnb.cx/2rUH8rk
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A Jamaican national has reported that she was raped by a taxi driver in Point Fortin on Sunday.
The rapist took the woman to an isolated area and assaulted her, then left her at the roadside and sped off.
The incident occurred at around 1.30 p.m.
The 26 year old victim told police she boarded a black vehicle near Sieunarine's Bar at Guapo/ Cap de Ville Road.
The driver wore a purple shirt and a pair of black pants, she told police.
She said that instead of taking her to Fanny Village, the man drove towards Erin.
He sexually assaulted, then left her in the bushes.
The victim sought help from residents, who contacted Point Fortin police.
WPC Jeffrey and others responded and took the victim to the Point Fortin Area Hospital for treatment.
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ISRAEL
Taxi drivers disrupted services at Ben Gurion Airport on Monday in protest of a two-tier pricing policy to give preference to drivers offering a 12 percent discount on official fares. By nighttime an agreement was said to have been reached.
The protest came after talks with airport management broke down, Hebrew media sources reported.
The drivers opposed a plan which came into effect Monday to allow cabbies giving a 12 percent discount to pick up fares at the arrivals hall, relegating those who charge the costlier transport ministry list price to the departure hall level on level 3, where it is harder to pick up fares.
In addition, those offering the discount price are now exempt from an airport surcharge and a registration fee, which together are worth NIS 10.80 ($3).
The two-tier system was proposed by airport chiefs after the collapse earlier this year of a separate effort to lower taxi prices by ending a 40-year monopoly which gave just one company — Hadar-Lod — the right to operate cabs from the arrivals area.
Until that point, all other cabs — some 70 % — were allowed to bring travelers to the departure hall, but had to leave empty as they were forbidden from picking up customers from arrivals. The result was that drivers inflated their prices to cover the loss.
Hadar-Lod paid royalties to the airport as well as a surcharge for each journey — costs that were passed onto the customers.
A journey from the airport to Jerusalem currently costs a family with two children NIS 248 ($68) according to the transport ministry’s list price.
In an effort to reform the system, the Israel Airports Authority issued a tender and signed a contract with Hadar-Lod and the ride-sharing app Gett to reduce fares by 31%. Soon after the agreement, however, and following opposition from its drivers, Hadar-Lod pulled out, saying it could not meet the contract price.
Channel 10 news reported late Monday that the IAA and Hadar-Lod had reached a compromise, by which the regular fare would continue to be charged on level 1’s arrivals hall, while the reduced price would enter into effect on level 2.
Some 4.5 million passengers are expected to pass through Ben Gurion Airport over the summer.
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A New York taxi caught fire in the middle of Fifth Avenue on Monday as the city endured its first major heatwave of the summer.
The car was parked outside 435 Fifth Avenue, a shopping hub between east 38th and 39th street, when it erupted into flames at 1.30pm when temperatures soared to 94F.
The driver was not inside at the time and no one else was hurt but pedestrians were filmed fleeing from its perimeter in fear it would explode.
A taxi caught fire on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on Monday afternoon as temperatures hit 92F
A Fire Department of New York spokesman told DailyMail.com that the cause of the blaze had not yet been determined but it is not being considered suspicious.
It provided dramatic scenery on the sweltering Manhattan afternoon.
Many by-passers filmed the fire and shared their footage and photographs on social media.
It took an hour and 20 minutes for the fire department to put out the flames.
Black smoke plumed from the vehicle, wafting up to the windows of sky scrapers which surrounded it.
The NYPD refused to speculate on the cause of the fire but NBC cites police sources saying it was likely down to the car overheating.
The flames raged as pedestrians and other drivers tried to maneuver their way around the vehicle
Officer workers filmed as thick black smoke plumed from the vehicle at street level
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A taxi firm in Hull has designed and launched an Uber-style app which they believe could transform the service in Hull.
Anlaby-based 966 Taxis launched the app on Monday evening, which will allow customers to track exactly where the taxi they have booked is.
A taxi firm in Hull has designed and launched an Uber-style app which they believe could transform the service in Hull.
Anlaby-based 966 Taxis launched the app on Monday evening, which will allow customers to track exactly where the taxi they have booked is.
Co-owner Mark Ward believes it will help solve the problem of not having enough taxis at the right time in Hull, without the need for an increase in numbers.
He said: "We have invested in the most advanced taxi system in Hull and believe it will make a huge difference to the way the city uses taxis from now on.
"We have had a full in-office dispatch system built along with apps for iPhone and Android for a flawless, on demand service. We believe we have answered the public demand for Uber by giving them a more advanced and local version of Uber."
With City of Culture, there have been a number of large events creating a high demand for taxis.
Many attending the recent Paul Heaton concert at the KCOM Craven Stadium criticised the taxi service in the city.
But Mr Ward is confident the new taxi app will address many of the problems.
He said: "We have read for far too long about the shortage of taxis in Hull, and we firmly believe if all drivers were to use a fair system like ours there would not be any demand for more taxi drivers on the road than we currently have.
"The local drivers could provide a flawless service and earn a good standard of living while doing so. The city of Hull is crying out for Uber and we believe that the public will love using our taxi service.
"All the taxi drivers in Hull will want to work the busy rush hours as we have no interest in charging those drivers a weekly fee. We will charge totally on pay-as-you-go based on a percentage of earnings."
Customers who download the app can book the taxi, which is dispatched instantly through an automated process.
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ABERDEEN
Council chiefs have defended a controversial taxi policy on the eve of a crunch vote at Aberdeen’s licensing committee.
Councillors meet today to decide whether to push ahead with implementing the drive, first agreed in 1994, to make all Granite City cabs wheelchair accessible.
But the ruling has long provoked anger, with taxi drivers arguing they have to shell out thousands on the new vehicles – despite many disabled customers being unable to use them.
New legal advice from the UK government has also revealed that there is “no mandatory requirement” for the rule from a legal standpoint.
The opposition SNP group have indicated they will try to throw out the rule today.
But council officers have recommended the authority push ahead, with fears raised that disabled groups and drivers who have bought new cars could pursue legal action if there is a u-turn now.
A council spokeswoman said:”Currently 54% of Aberdeen’s taxi fleet are accessible vehicles.
“In 2012 Aberdeen City Council’s Licencing Committee set out a policy of a gradual progression towards a 100% accessible vehicle taxi fleet and settled on a date of June 2017 by which the exemption would no longer apply and all vehicles required to be wheelchair accessible.
This date was amended to June 2018 by Full Council in May 2016. Operators have been given considerable advance notice.
“It is the view of officers that the policy remains the best method of ensuring the council complies with its obligations. It is important to note that the policy refers to the taxi fleet only, and not to private hire vehicles.
“The intention behind the policy however is that any person should be able to access any vehicle in a taxi queue or hailed on the street.”
Stephen Flynn, SNP leader, said: “As someone with mobility issues, I know that a lot of people struggle to access these supposedly accessible vehicles.
“Equality means we need to meet the needs of everyone and we will seek to get the council to look again at this policy.”
Tommy Campbell, north-east regional representative for the Unite union which represents many drivers, called the councillors to develop a “common sense approach” to the ruling.
He said: “The councillors should apply a healthy dose of common sense, I would call on them to finally abandon this policy for good.”
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