Uber is valued at $120billion by banks bidding to take it public next year in what could be the biggest ever IPO
- Uber received IPO proposals from Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan last month
- They valued the company at $120billion, $60billion more than their last estimate
- If the company lists stock next year at that price, it will achieve the biggest ever IPO if it sells more than 20 percent of shares
- Alibaba currently holds the title with its $25billion, 2014 initial public offering
Uber has been valued at $120billion by banks which are bidding to take it public next year.
The company accepted proposals from Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan last month which puts it on track to achieve the biggest ever IPO when it eventually goes public late next year.
The Wall Street Journal reported details of the proposals on Tuesday morning. Neither bank nor Uber has commented since.
It means that the company will only have to float 20 percent of its stock to beat the current record for the largest IPO which is held by Alibaba.
It marks an astonishing turnaround for the company which named a new CEO last August after a series of embarrassing public scandals and lawsuits.
Uber has been valued at $120billion by banks which are bidding to take it public next year
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Uber has fought over the last year to regain stakeholder faith after a series of public scandals and corporate restructuring.
Its largest stakeholder is SoftBank Group Corp which purchased shares from other investors in January this year at a discounted price after the departure of then CEO Travis Kalanick.
Softbank is enthusiastic about the planned IPO.
Its most recent valuation, before the IPO proposals, put its worth at between $68 billion and $72billion.
Kalanick still owns seven percent of the company compared to Softbank's 15.
Other investors include venture capitalist firms and notable individuals including Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Jay Z.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi (left) was brought in to replace embattled founder Travis Kalanick (right) last August
Uber is one of a batch of privately held companies in Silicon Valley known as unicorns.
They share one common characteristic - they are all valued at over $1billion but none is publicly traded.
Others include Airbnb, Elon Musk's SpaceX, WeWork, Pinterest and Lyft, which is racing to go public before its competitor.
On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Lyft had selected underwriters JP Morgan Chase to take it public in the first half of 2019.
It was valued at $15billion earlier this year.
Amazon went public in 1997 at an underwritten price of $384million. By the end of trading on its first day, it was valued at $438million.
Alibaba went public in 2014 at $21billion. A soon-following option to buy additional shares boosted its worth $25billion.
Other notable US IPOs in the last decade have included Facebook, Visa and General Motors.
UBER'S 18 MONTHS OF TURBULENCE AND TURNAROUND
Former CEO Travis Kalanick was filmed arguing and yelling 'bulls***' at an Uber driver in February 2017. Later, the company was plagued with claims of racism, sexism and homophonia. It also battled lawsuits from competitors alleging identity theft
January 19, 2017: Uber is sued by the Federal Trade Commission for exaggerating drivers' wages in reports
February 19 2017: Susan Fowler, a former engineer for the company, pens a scathing blog post alleging widespread sexual harassment
February 20: Uber says it will investigate Fowler's claims
February 21: Former attorney general Eric Holder is tasked with leading probe
February 23: Uber is sued by Waymo over self-driving cars technology
February 27: Another former employee comes forward with similar accusations, adding claims of homophobia and racism to her list of grievances in a blog post for Medium
February 28: Kalanick issues a groveling apology after a video surfaces of him having a fight with an Uber driver on Super Bowl Sunday
March 3: New York Times reports that the company used its Greyball tool to deceive authorities trying to shut it down
March 27: Kalanick's former girlfriend describes how he and his friends drafted in models for parties and visited escort bars in South Korea
March 28: Uber publishes diversity numbers for the first time and reveals disparities
April 27: Arianna Huffington joins Uber's Board of Directors and vows to leave 'no stone unturned' in investigation
May 26: Kalanick's mother Bonnie dies in a boating accident near her home in Pine Flat Lake, California
June 1: Uber posts $708million loss as it announces that its head of finance, Gautam Gupta, has left the company
June 6: Twenty employees are fired in response to Holder's investigation
June 11: Rumors emerge Kalanick is being urged by the board of directors to take a leave of absence
June 12: Uber's SVP of Business, Emil Michael, steps down
June 13: Kalanick announces he is taking time off
June 20: Kalanick formally resigns
August 30: Dara Khosrowshahi is named as CEO
September 12: Chief legal officer Sally Yoo resigns
October 24: Two former female employees sue Uber for gender discrimination
February 9, 2018: Uber settles Waymo lawsuit with a 0.34 percent equity stake worth more than $234million
March 18, 2018: Elaine Herzberg is hit and killed by Uber self-driving car
March 29: Uber settles out of court with Herzberg's family
May 8: Uber's grocery delivery partnership with Walmart fails, it closes
July 16: FTC says it will give drivers settlement checks totaling $19, 798,233 to 88,799 drivers after Uber agrees a $20million settlement for exaggerating wages
July 31: Uber shutters its self-driving trucks division
August 2018: Uber releases its Q2 earnings which reveal increased revenue and increased losses
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