Uber raised something like $50 billion in debt and equity before it went public, but after 15 years of losing money, it has finally started making profits… just in time for Waymo to arrive and eat its lunch. Of course, Uber could themselves get into the self-driving game, but their entire profit story to investors relies on pushing costs away from them onto drivers; it vanishes entirely if they have to maintain their own fleet.

Uber is profitable on a cash basis, but if you’re a public investor, you got fleeced by the early-stage venture money and debtholders. I don’t think it will ever pay back what it raised.