Uber, the ride-sharing startup turned tech conglomerate, reported massive financial losses Wednesday, at the same time it announced its chief of finance is leaving.
The company says its first-quarter revenue is $3.4 billion, which is up 18 percent from the previous quarter, according to The Wall Street Journal. Its total losses, though, excluding certain expenses, was $708 million. The most recently reported deep dip in losses was not as immense as the previous quarter, which was $991 million.
Even though Uber has raised roughly $15 billion, its losses leave it with the approximately the same amount of funds as last year, reports WSJ.
Since Uber is a private company and has yet to launch an initial public offering (IPO) it isn’t forced to divulge such data. But in doing so, the company may be signaling it is ready to go public and offer investments to the larger population.
Uber doesn’t interpret its numbers as concerning. In fact, the ride-sharing service told The Daily Caller News Foundation that while its quarterly revenue growth is in line with last year, it is completing more than 3 times the number of trips, gross bookings are up 9 percent, and net revenue in general is up.
“These results demonstrate that our business remains healthy and resilient as we focus on improving our culture, management and relationship with drivers,” an Uber spokesperson told TheDCNF. “The narrowing of our losses in the first quarter puts us on a good trajectory towards profitability.” (RELATED: Uber Often Burned Through ‘$1 Million A Week’ To Get SF Riders To Not Use Lyft, Says Report)
The financial results come at a somewhat inauspicious point, since the company reported that Gautam Gupta, the 37-year-old chief financial officer, will be leaving in July to work for another startup also based in San Francisco.
“Gautam is a world-class financial talent,” CEO Travis Kalanick said in a statement. “Over the last four years, he has been indispensible (sic) in helping build Uber from an idea into the business it is today. We couldn’t have done it without him, and I will miss his energy, focus and infectious enthusiasm. All of us at Uber wish him well in this next challenge.” (RELATED: There’s A Quantifiable Reason Why Uber’s CEO Quit Trump’s Econ Team)
The high-level departure is just one of many for Uber. Its top public relations executive announced in April she was resigning also amid a precarious point in time when the company was dealing with a litany of scandals that transpired in previous weeks and months. Some of those debacles included allegations of sexual harassment, rampant lewd behavior, systemic sexism, and a cutthroat work culture.
The president of the company also quit around the same time, attributing his resignation to inconsistent views with fellow leaders.
Uber says it is already actively searching for Gupta’s replacement, even alluding that it would prefer someone with experience taking a company public.
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