Uber facts for kids
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Headquarters in Mission Bay, San Francisco
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Formerly
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Ubercab (2009–2011) |
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| Founded | March 2009 |
| Founders |
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| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, U.S. |
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Area served
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70 countries and 10,500 cities worldwide |
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Key people
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| Services |
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| Revenue |  US$37.281 billion (2023) |
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Operating income
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US$1.110 billion (2023) |
| US$1.887 billion (2023) |
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| Total assets | US$38.699 billion (2023) |
| Total equity | US$12.028 billion (2023) |
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Number of employees
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30,400 (2023) |
| Subsidiaries |
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Uber Technologies, Inc., usually called Uber, is a big American company. It helps people get rides, delivers food and packages, and even moves cargo. Uber's main office is in San Francisco, California. It works in about 70 countries and 10,500 cities around the world.
Uber is the biggest company for ride-sharing globally. It has over 150 million people who use its services every month. It also has 6 million drivers and delivery people. On average, Uber helps with 28 million trips each day. Since it started in 2010, it has completed 47 billion trips.
Uber drivers are often called "gig workers" or "independent contractors." This means they are not regular employees. This way of working has led to some discussions and legal cases. People want to make sure drivers get fair treatment and benefits. Some studies also suggest that Uber might add to traffic in cities. It can also change how people use public transportation.
Contents
How Uber Started and Grew
In 2009, a person named Garrett Camp thought of the idea for Uber. He wanted to make it easier and cheaper to get a ride. Camp and Travis Kalanick had spent a lot of money on a private driver. Camp also found it hard to find a taxi in Paris one snowy night.
Camp and his friends built the first version of the mobile app. Kalanick helped them a lot with ideas. In February 2010, Ryan Graves became the first Uber employee. He was named the CEO in May 2010. Later, in December 2010, Kalanick took over as CEO.
Launching the Uber App
Uber's services and mobile app first launched in San Francisco in 2011. At first, you could only use the app to call a fancy black car. The price was about 1.5 times more than a regular taxi. In 2011, the company changed its name from UberCab to Uber. This happened after taxi companies in San Francisco complained.
Uber hired smart people, including a nuclear physicist. They worked on making arrival times for Uber cars more accurate. In April 2012, Uber started a new service in Chicago. This allowed users to ask for a regular taxi or an Uber driver through the app.
Introducing UberX
In July 2012, Uber launched UberX. This was a cheaper option. It let drivers use their own regular cars, not just luxury ones. Drivers had to pass a background check and meet certain standards. By December 2013, UberX was working in 65 cities.
In December 2013, USA Today newspaper called Uber its "tech company of the year." In August 2014, Uber started a car-sharing service in the San Francisco Bay Area. They also launched Uber Eats, which delivers food.
Uber's Global Expansion
In August 2016, Uber sold its business in China to a company called DiDi. In return, Uber got a part of DiDi's company. DiDi also agreed to invest money in Uber. Uber had started working in China in 2014.
In February 2018, Uber combined its services in some countries like Russia with Yandex.Taxi. In March 2018, Uber merged its services in Southeast Asia with a company called Grab. Uber got a part of Grab's company in return.
In August 2017, Dara Khosrowshahi became the new CEO of Uber. He used to be the CEO of Expedia Group.
Becoming a Public Company
On May 10, 2019, Uber became a public company. This means its shares can be bought and sold on the stock market.
In October 2019, Uber bought most of Cornershop. This company delivers groceries, mostly in Latin America. In June 2021, Uber bought the rest of Cornershop.
In January 2020, Uber bought Careem for a lot of money. They also sold their Uber Eats business in India to a company called Zomato.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020, Uber announced it would reduce its staff. In September 2020, Uber promised to become carbon neutral by 2040. This means they want to balance the carbon they put into the air. They also want most rides to be in electric vehicles by 2030 in many countries.
In December 2020, Uber bought Postmates, another food delivery company. Also in December 2020, Uber sold its Elevate division. This part of the company was working on short flights using special aircraft.
In January 2021, Uber sold its self-driving car division to Aurora Innovation. Uber also invested money into Aurora. In March 2021, the company moved to a new main office in Mission Bay, San Francisco.
On January 20, 2022, Uber bought an Australian car-sharing company called Car Next Door.
Uber's Financial Performance
| Year | Revenue | Net income |
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| 2023 | 37.3 | 1.887 |
| 2022 | 31.8 | −9.1 |
| 2021 | 17.4 | −0.4 |
| 2020 | 11.1 | −6.7 |
| 2019 | 14.1 | −8.5 |
| 2018 | 11.3 | 1 |
| 2017 | 7.9 | −4 |
| 2016 | 5 | −3.6 |
| 2015 | 1.7 | −1.6 |
| 2014 | 0.4 | −0.7 |
Uber lost a lot of money each year from 2014 until 2022. The only year they made a profit was 2018. This was when they left some markets in Russia, China, and Southeast Asia. They got parts of rival businesses in return.
By the end of 2022, Uber had assets worth $32.11 billion. Assets are things the company owns. They also had $24.03 billion in liabilities, which are things the company owes. In 2023, Uber made a profit from its operations. This was the first time since 2014.
Images for kids
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An Uber driver in Bogotá, Colombia with the Uber app on a dashboard-mounted smartphone
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Uber Boat by Thames Clippers on River Thames, London
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See also
In Spanish: Uber para niños
