Hyperdrive
How Uber Quietly Raised $2 Billion
- ‘They put out a velvet rope and everyone wants to get in’
- Company hiked its first-ever bond offering as orders flowed in
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Uber Technologies Inc. has found a way to tap debt markets when burning through billions of dollars of cash: Keep financial details closely guarded and hire former Goldman Sachs bankers to oversee the deals.
The ride-hailing company this week sold $2 billion of bonds in what’s known as a private placement. The secretive approach, bypassing Wall Street’s broader bond market, allowed Uber to limit the financial information it disclosed -- and then only to a small and select group of buyers. That kept prying eyes away from the books of a firm that is still losing money as it expands globally.