Shira Ovide, Columnist

Uber Has a Big Opportunity from the SoftBank Stock Sale

The valuation hit is a small price to pay if the Japanese company can bring some sense to the business.
Photographer: Chris J Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
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Uber Technologies Inc. is taking a psychological blow now that a roster of company stockholders agreed to sell their shares at a steep discount. But the stock sale is the right thing to do both for the Uber stockholders and potentially for Uber itself if it takes advantage of the opportunity.

Let's not gloss over the bad news, though. Yes, some of Uber's earliest employees and first investors will make a bundle by selling shares to SoftBank and other firms that are buying the slug of Uber shares. The stock sale won't work out so well for the company's more recent investors.