SoftBank's Thorny Uber Deal

Hi all, it’s Eric. If the Uber-SoftBank deal gets done, it may be one for the record books. With $10 billion changing hands, it could be the largest private stock sale ever. The people involved might remember it for a different reason, however: as the most contentious deal they've ever done.

Even calling it the "Uber-SoftBank" deal grossly oversimplifies the situation. There are four major players, along with a largely powerless investor base. Those four parties are Uber, SoftBank and its fellow investors, Travis Kalanick and an investor group led by Benchmark. All four players have different objectives and price isn't even the central stumbling block.

Here's my best sense of what they all want.

The co-founder and former chief executive officer wants to keep the door open for some involvement at the company, though it's hard to tell exactly what role he wants. He's fighting against Uber's largest shareholder, Benchmark, in court to maintain control of three board seats. So at the very least, he wants to hold onto his outsized role over Uber's board of directors.