- SoftBank backed Uber in early 2018, buying shares from existing investors for $48.77 a piece and purchasing new shares at just under $33.
- On Tuesday, Uber fell to a record low, closing at $30.70 a share, and leaving SoftBank deeper in the red.
- Because of a review by the U.S. Treasury Department, SoftBank still doesn’t have its Uber board seats and may never get them.
Uber’s plunging stock price has left its biggest stakeholder in the red.
SoftBank, which poured about $7.6 billion into Uber in early 2018 after the ride-hailing company suffered a series of bruising gaffes, has seen the value of its stake dwindle by the day. Uber shares fell almost 6% on Tuesday, dropping for the eighth time in nine trading sessions as they headed for a record low close.
The stock has lost close to one-third of its value since its May IPO.
Uber is at the centerpiece of SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son’s plan to build up a portfolio of next-generation transportation companies that, in his view, are all moving towards a future of artificial intelligence and autonomy. While gyrations in Uber’s share price are unlikely to alter Son’s thesis, the company’s mounting losses and unclear path towards financial stability are proving unappealing to public market investors.
At under $30.70, where Uber closed on Tuesday, the stock is below the lowest point at which SoftBank invested. The Japanese conglomerate spent about $6.6 billion to buy just over 200 million shares from existing investors, including former CEO Travis Kalanick, at around $32.87 a piece. It provided another $1.05 billion in fresh capital to Uber, buying 21.45 million shares at about $48.77 each.
www.cnbc.com/2019/09/03/softbank-more-than-600-million-underwater-on-uber.html