Uber IPO will make Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos richer by another $400 million with a bigger beneficiary that can gain up to almost $9 billion.
According to The Information, sources said that Bezos, the world’s richest, has personally invested $3 million into Uber. The stake now will be worth $400 million as the ride-hailing app begins trading on Friday.
Bezos’ net worth is $157 billion. He has personal and venture capital investments (VC) in Uber via Benchmark. The VC is known for its various investments such as Snapchat, Twitter and Dropbox.
Uber aims to hit more than $80 billion valuations during the IPO. Benchmark is expected to make around $7.9 billion for its $30 million worth of investment into Uber.
Other beneficiaries of Uber IPO
Ousted Founder and CEO Travis Kalanick, who has an 8.6% stake of the company, will make roughly $9 billion from the Uber IPO. This would make Kalanick the biggest beneficiary.
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Co-founder Garrett Camp owns 6% stake of the company. On the other hand, Arianna Huffington, who joined the board of Uber after Kalanick left three years ago, has 22000 shares.
Uber IPO’s strategic pricing
Uber appears to have learned a lesson from the not-so-exciting IPO performance of its rival Lyft as it takes a more conservative stance.
To prevent a trading plunge in the future, Uber IPO was priced at $45 per share. This is at the low end of the $82.4 billion targeted valuations.
The target range of the IPO valuation was $44-$50 which is way too far from the original $120 billion when the ride-hailing app was planning to go public.
Retail investors can now buy shares of Uber as the ride-hailing app starts trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday. It has the symbol “UBER.”
