Uber

Uber’s co-founders are Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick. In an early retrospective, Kalanick traced the idea to a 2008 discussion between the two in Paris: Camp wanted to use a phone to solve the difficulty of hailing a ride in San Francisco. In 2009, Camp began developing a prototype, and Kalanick later joined in building the company; the service launched in San Francisco on May 31, 2010.⁠[1]

The company’s filings distinguish between its founding and incorporation: the business was founded in 2009 and incorporated in DelawareDelawareDelaware is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic region on the East Coast, with its capital at Dover and Wilmington as its largest city. On December 7, 1787, it became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, entering the Union as the 1st state, and it had a population of 989,948 in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020).Open the full entry as Ubercab, Inc. in July 2010; it was renamed Uber Technologies, Inc. in February 2011. The early brand was UberCab, later Uber.⁠[2]

In July 2012, Uber launched UberX in New York, priced lower than its existing black car service, while keeping the Black and SUV options. Early UberX was invitation-based, with access gradually widened as vehicle supply grew.⁠[3]

On December 9, 2015, the Uber Eats iOS app launched in Toronto. Uber’s engineering team later looked back on the development of the delivery app and the integration of its front end and back end; the standalone app made food delivery a product direction beyond rides.⁠[4]

In August 2016, Uber announced that it would sell its China business to local rival Didi Chuxing. The deal ended the direct competition in which both companies had been pouring resources into the Chinese market.⁠[5]

On May 18, 2017, Uber launched Uber Freight, matching trucking companies with loads to be shipped. Its app offers features such as finding loads, viewing rates, and booking shipments, extending the platform model to freight.⁠[6]

In August 2017, Dara Khosrowshahi became Uber’s chief executive officer and joined its board of directors. In November, he announced new cultural norms emphasizing responsible growth, employee collaboration, and integrity, and revised the previous code of conduct based on input gathered from employees.⁠[7][8]

On November 21, 2017, Uber disclosed a data breach from the previous year involving some information of about 57 million users and the driver’s license numbers of about 600,000 U.S. drivers. The company acknowledged that it had failed to notify affected individuals and regulators in a timely manner and announced investigation, notification, and protection measures.⁠[9]

On March 26, 2018, Grab announced that it would acquire Uber’s ride-hailing and delivery businesses in eight Southeast Asian countries. Under the arrangement, Uber received a 27.5% stake in Grab and Dara Khosrowshahi joined Grab’s board; this was a business-for-equity exchange, not an acquisition of Grab by Uber.⁠[10]

On May 9, 2019, Uber announced the pricing of its initial public offering: 180 million shares of common stock at $45 per share, expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker UBER the next day. The base offering size, calculated from the number of shares and the price, was $8.1 billion, excluding other financing or sales by shareholders.⁠[11]

On May 6, 2020, Uber announced plans to cut about 3,700 customer support and recruiting positions; on May 18, it announced plans to cut about 3,000 more full-time positions and to scale back some non-core investments. The company said it would focus on mobility and delivery and resize to adapt to the business changes brought by the pandemic.⁠[12]

On December 1, 2020, Uber announced that it had completed its all-stock acquisition of Postmates. The announcement said that the consumer-facing Postmates and Uber Eats apps would continue to run separately, while merchant and delivery networks would be integrated to support delivery of meals, groceries, and other goods.⁠[13]

On December 7, 2020, Aurora announced that it would acquire Uber’s self-driving unit, Advanced Technologies Group (ATG), and enter into a strategic partnership with Uber. The announcement also stated that Uber would invest $400 million in Aurora and that Dara Khosrowshahi would join Aurora’s board. This date marks the deal announcement and should not be treated as the closing date.⁠[14]

On February 19, 2021, the UK Supreme Court unanimously dismissed Uber’s appeal, upholding the finding that the drivers in the case were workers under UK employment law. The court considered the platform’s control over prices, contracts, and service arrangements, and confirmed that working time included periods when drivers were logged into the app within their authorized area and ready to accept trips.⁠[15]

Uber subsequently announced a minimum earnings guarantee, holiday pay, and pension arrangements for UK drivers. Worker status and the corresponding protections under UK law have a specific scope and cannot be taken to mean that drivers in all countries have the same legal status.⁠[16][15]

On July 22, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a non-prosecution agreement with Uber regarding the investigation related to the 2016 data breach. The company admitted and accepted responsibility for the conduct of individuals who concealed the incident; the Justice Department also cited factors including the new management’s disclosure of the incident, remediation, and cooperation with the investigation, and noted that the company had previously paid a total of $148 million in settlements to the states and Washington, D.C.⁠[17]

In 2023, Uber’s revenue was $37.281 billion, its income from operations was $1.110 billion, and net income attributable to the company was $1.887 billion. By comparison, its loss from operations in 2022 was $1.832 billion. The 2023 net income included a pre-tax gain of about $1.6 billion from the revaluation of equity investments and cannot be regarded entirely as operating profit generated by the mobility and delivery businesses.⁠[18]

In April 2025, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued Uber, alleging unauthorized charges, a difficult cancellation process, and misleading promises in its Uber One subscription service. Uber denied charging without consent and said its sign-up and cancellation processes were clear and lawful. As of the September 2026 check, the FTC case page still marked the case as pending, with the latest listed amended complaint dated May 4, 2026; these allegations do not mean a court has found a violation of law.⁠[19][20]

On June 24, 2025, Uber and Waymo launched their joint service in Atlanta. Riders requesting eligible Uber vehicle types may be matched with a Waymo autonomous vehicle or may choose a regular vehicle. The partnership had previously launched in Austin and reflects Uber’s business direction of connecting autonomous technology providers through its platform and operating network.⁠[21]

On August 5, 2026, Uber reported results for the second quarter ended June 30: 208 million monthly active platform consumers, about 3.867 billion mobility and delivery trips, gross bookings of $58.022 billion, and revenue of $14.191 billion. Gross bookings represent the volume of transactions on the platform and differ from revenue recognized by the company.⁠[22]

Income from operations for the period was $1.890 billion, and net income attributable to the company was $2.394 billion; the latter included a pre-tax gain of about $1.6 billion from the revaluation of equity investments. The report continued to disclose segment results for Mobility, Delivery, and Freight, and the chief executive officer remained Dara Khosrowshahi.⁠[22]

On September 3, 2026, Uber and Wayve announced supervised autonomous rides open to the public in London, using Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles equipped with the Wayve AI Driver. Initially, the vehicles still carry a trained driver licensed by Transport for London to supervise trips, and riders can choose after matching to accept or switch to a regular vehicle; this differs from driverless services with no in-vehicle safety driver.⁠[23]

Uber’s platform connects consumers with mobility drivers, restaurants and other merchants, and couriers, and in its freight business connects shippers with carriers. The company’s official website is https://www.uber.com (opens in a new window), and investor information is published at https://investor.uber.com (opens in a new window).⁠[2][22]