10 May is Uber’s IPO on Wall Street. Its highly anticipated stock market debut was expected to define the era of the unicorns (tech start-ups valued at US$1bn or more). Getting its business model for the ride-hailing market to scale requires long-term subsidies to both drivers and riders. To do this Uber had to raise US$25bn in equity and debt over the past decade, including US$8.1bn in new capital from its IPO. Shares slide to close 7.6% down on their first day of trading, as investors appear sceptical. By the end of the session shares are at US$41.51 below the company’s listing price of US$45. On 9 May Uber sold 180 million shares at US$45 each, raising US$8.1bn of cash and valuing it at US$82bn. 10 May sees a 7.4% fall in the shares of its rival Lyft, which went public two months earlier and reached US$22.4bn in value.
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