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 |
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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$43.98 billion (2024) |
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Operating income
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US$2.799 billion (2024) |
| US$9.856 billion (2024) |
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| Total assets | US$51.24 billion (2024) |
| Total equity | US$21.56 billion (2024) |
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Number of employees
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31,100 (2024) |
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Uber Technologies, Inc. is a big American company that helps people get around and delivers things. It offers services like ride-hailing, where you can get a car ride, and food delivery. Uber also delivers packages and helps with freight transport (moving goods).
The company is based in San Francisco, California. It works in about 70 countries and 15,000 cities all over the world. Uber is the largest company for ride-sharing. It has over 180 million people using its services each month. Also, it has 6 million drivers and delivery people. On average, Uber helps with 36 million trips and deliveries every day. Since it started in 2010, it has completed 64 billion trips and deliveries.
Contents
How Uber Started and Grew
In 2009, a person named Garrett Camp had an idea for Uber. He wanted to make it easier and cheaper to find a ride. Camp and his friend Travis Kalanick had spent a lot of money on a private driver. Camp also found it hard to get a taxi in Paris one snowy night. These experiences made him think of a new way to get rides.
Camp and his friends, Oscar Salazar and Conrad Whelan, built the first version of the mobile app. Kalanick helped them a lot with advice.
In February 2010, Ryan Graves became the first employee at Uber. He was named the boss (CEO) in May 2010. Later, in December 2010, Kalanick took over as CEO. Graves then became the chief operating officer.
Uber's services and mobile app officially started in San Francisco in 2011. At first, you could only use the app to call a fancy black car. These rides cost 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. Kalanick thought Uber was elegant because of its nice black cars.
In April 2012, Uber started a service in Chicago. This allowed people to ask for a regular taxi or an Uber driver using the app.
Expanding Ride Options
In April 2013, Uber added a new service called UberX. This allowed regular drivers with their own cars to join the platform. These drivers had to pass background checks and meet certain standards. Before this, only commercially licensed luxury cars were used. By December 2013, Uber was working in 65 cities.
In December 2013, USA Today newspaper called Uber its "tech company of the year."
In August 2014, Uber launched a shared transport service. This allowed people to share rides to save money. Also, Uber Eats, a food delivery service, was launched.
Big Changes and New Ideas
In August 2016, Uber sold its business in China to a company called DiDi. In return, Uber got a part of DiDi's company. Uber had started in China in 2014.
Uber also bought a company called Ottomotto in 2016. This company worked on self-driving trucks. Later, Uber made a deal to use technology from another company, Waymo, for its freight transport (moving goods) operations.
In December 2016, Uber bought Geometric Intelligence. The people from this company started "Uber AI." This group studied artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Uber AI created new AI tools and methods. However, Uber AI was closed down in May 2020.
In August 2017, Dara Khosrowshahi became the new CEO of Uber. He used to be the CEO of Expedia Group.
In 2018, Uber joined its services in some countries like Russia with another company called Yandex Taxi. Also, in March 2018, Uber combined its services in Southeast Asia with Grab. Uber got a part of Grab's company in return.
Between May and November 2018, Uber offered Uber Rent. This service allowed some users in San Francisco to rent cars from other people.
In November 2018, Uber became a gold member of the Linux Foundation. This shows its support for open-source software.
In 2018, Uber partnered with Autzu. This partnership lets Uber drivers rent electric Tesla cars by the hour.
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, mainly in Latin America. In June 2021, Uber bought the rest of Cornershop.
Between October 2019 and May 2020, Uber offered Uber Works. This app helped people find temporary jobs with businesses.
In January 2020, Uber bought Careem for a lot of money. It also sold its Uber Eats business in India to a company called Zomato.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020, Uber had to reduce its number of workers.
In September 2020, Uber promised to become carbon neutral by 2040. This means it will try to have no net impact on the environment. It also said that by 2030, most rides in many countries must be in electric vehicles.
In December 2020, Uber bought Postmates, another food delivery service.
Also in December 2020, Uber sold its Elevate division. This group was working on short flights using special aircraft.
In January 2021, Uber sold its self-driving car division, Uber Advanced Technologies Group (ATG), to Aurora Innovation.
In March 2021, the company moved to a new main office in Mission Bay, San Francisco. The new office has several buildings connected by bridges.
In October 2021, Uber bought Drizly, a service that delivered alcohol. Drizly was closed down in early 2024.
On January 20, 2022, Uber bought an Australian car-sharing company called Car Next Door.
Security and Future Plans
On September 15, 2022, Uber found out about a security problem. A hacker got into its computer network. Uber said that no important private information was stolen.
In 2025, Baidu and Uber announced they would work together. They plan to bring Baidu's self-driving cars to Uber outside the U.S. and mainland China. Uber also said it wants to use many Lucid vehicles with special self-driving technology.
Uber's Business and Money
How Uber Makes Money
Uber makes money from its different services like rides, food delivery, and freight. Here's a simple look at its money over the years:
| Year | Money Made (Revenue) | Money Left (Net Income) |
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| 2024 | 43.9 | 9.8 |
| 2023 | 37.3 | 1.8 |
| 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 |
From 2014 to 2022, Uber often lost money each year. The only exception was 2018. In that year, Uber left some markets like Russia and China. It got parts of other companies in return. By the end of 2022, Uber had assets (things it owns) worth $32.11 billion. It had liabilities (money it owes) of $24.03 billion. In 2023, Uber started making a profit from its operations.
Where Uber Makes Money
Uber makes money from different parts of the world. Here's how its sales were divided in 2024:
| Region | Sales (in billions of dollars) | Share |
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| United States and Canada | 23.6 | 53.7% |
| Europe, the Middle East and Africa | 12.5 | 28.5% |
| Asia–Pacific | 5.0 | 11.5% |
| Latin America | 2.8 | 6.4% |
What Services Bring in Money
Uber's different services bring in different amounts of money. Here's how its sales were divided by service in 2024:
| Business segment | Sales (in billions of dollars) | Share |
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| Mobility (Rides) | 25.1 | 57.0% |
| Delivery (Food, Packages) | 13.8 | 31.3% |
| Freight (Moving Goods) | 5.1 | 11.7% |
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
