♪[music] >> 10 years ago, travis and launched uber cab, an elite black car service in san francisco. uber had a years, short name and had completed one billion i don't know rides. two years after that, the number grew to five billion in 70 countries. it became one of the fastest-growing start-ups ever. services ballooned to cover modes ofl transportation, carpool, helicopter, even water taxis. that growth came with many challenges. regulators and taxi drivers

fiercely protested uber's expansion, this on top of multiple investigations for deceiving authorities, bribery, and reports of sexual harassment. pushed out the once untouchable c.e.o. and founder. in 2017, dara khosrowshahi was brought in to fix it. he's brought in new management, to rebuild trust and reputation. still, it hasn't been an entirely smooth ride. sparkedashy i.p.o. excitement but ultimately, investors were not impressed. themhe job is to prove wrong. yoing me today, at uber headquarters in downtown san francisco, uber c.e.o. dara khosrowshahi. been a long two years. two years ago, it was announced that you would be replacing the former c.e.o. and even you've admitted you were the unlikely dark horse, even accidental choice. so two years later, did they choice, and did

you make the right choice? >> ha ha! choicei made the right c.and i hope they made the right choice. can never prepare yourself for a job like this. and uber is a once in a generation company. but it's been a great two years for us. theave resolved all of governance conflicts that the company had. there were many legal issues company was involved with as well. softbank as a partner and you want softbank to be behind you. a great investor base. we've taken the company public revenue, gross bookings have grown since i joined. we now have a path to profitability, i believe. so while we've had bumps on the every venture has bumps on the road, i like where we are and i especially like the position that we're in now for the next years. >> there have been bumps on the road. story, all the negative

uber, lyft, ride-sharing companies have been transformational. for you is, can uber be as transformation over as it has been over the last decade? >> i think so. uber has done is brought transportation and this point to what we believe is a small segment of the population. over four million driver partners all over the world, which is a huge number, unparalleled. but we want uber to be available everybody. we're going into the next step of introducing other choices withn uber. we're testing buses in cairo of, to even bring the price uber down to the next level, $1, et cetera. >> can uber be so transformational and stop losing money? the prices sound very attractive, but can you create a good business where the rides

are $1, $1.50? >> yes. ride-share your business, it covered our 100 million. about so the ride share business itself is earning quite profitable and we believe that profit not only are going to grow top line but we believe you're going to grow bottom line well. then there are other businesses. eats, autonomous, trait, et cetera. these are extraordinary opportunities that we're funding. but i do believe that we're going to prove to our investors we can take, on a serial bases, big parts of our turn them profitable, use those parts of our business to fund investments in other areas. executione are issues. you just had your biggest $5.2erly loss ever, billion. the stock has been trading below its i.p.o. prices. hiring freezes. you hired at least some of of yourat least some top hires have left. how confident are you that uber can be profitable?

>> very confident. i think the losses that we reported, it was a $5 billion loss from an accounting perspective. if you live in the accounting world, that's a big loss. i live in the real world. in the real world, we're lower q1 and we're on a good path in terms of our losses as well. absolutely right. none of this is going to be easy. all of this is going to take from all ofecution our teams, marketing, technology, et cetera. demanding going to be our employees to be doing even to executeess and incredibly effectively in order for us to grow the top line and well.ttom line as >> so is pricing the main leaver that you pull to profitability are there other drivers? >> scale. got getting big when you've over a billion rides per quarter. use technology to be much more efficient. totead of now your having

e-mail a call center agent or call a call center agent if you ite issues, you can just do on an app. these are technology innovations aat allow customers to have better experience and at the same time, they bring down costs. so the combinations of growing still over 30%, technology, innovation to delight the customer and take time, and at the same then good old-fashioned efficiency, making sure that our grow ase costs don't fast as our revenue. all of those together give you a profitability.to >> so uber's market cap is now $50-some billion. your compensation is in part tide to that. there? still get >> i believe we can. short-term, there's nothing that the stock price. there's an old saying that short-term, the stockton market a vote -- the stock market is a voting machine. long-term, it's a weighing machine. am very confident that this team can execute and create a

very heavy company that can never be denied? >> how long does it take? the next couple quarters are going to show a road map to investors but it will take years. is on a short term gain. but i believe we can demonstrate progress. about our revenue growth accelerating in the second half of the year. ours, youmpanies like don't see revenue growth accelerate. but i talked about it accelerating in the second half year, beyond 30%, and we've always been consistent in the bottom line will continue to develop in a positive manner. ofwe're in the midst escalating trade tensions. how exposed is uber if the company falters? >> our company is much more tied into the consumer. the consumer right now in the u.s. is very strong. we're very global company. of our transactions actually are outside of the u.s., so we really look at the extent that global growth slows down, that could be a negative for us, global growth slows

down, we're gonna have more driver partners also wanting to the platform, because we expose very, very opportunities. so i do think that the growth of the company is such that we're relatively resistant any macro slowdown. >> what's plan b? if we're in a full blown trade war. we've heard about investing in vietnam or brazil. company.an asset we don't have to go out and buy cars, et cetera. we'll obviously be wary and make that our driver partners can source vehicles in an economic way. of them source vehicles through second hand. they'll source used vehicles, so to speak. i don't think this trade war -- we certainly haven't felt it, in very small parts of the business, where we're someting bikes, there's additional expense there but we're very confident of our growth over the next few trade war or no trade

war. >> you've asked the public to amazonbout uber like the of transportation. but amazon was an online bookstore for a very long time started doing all this other stuff. what if now isn't the right time to do this other stuff and that now is the right time to focus on the core? >> well, we've been in the ride a long timeness for as well. that business is absolutely developing and its profitability developing. we're the top player in every single market which we compete generally we're either holding share or taking share, so we have a core business that providers the framework for us to build multibillion dollar opportunities. think it would be criminal if we don't take advantage of that. you are seeing more and more and companies that are building ecosystems, super apps, in thepeak, especially east, for example, in china. >> right. au've got grab trying to do super app. ten cent. that is -- >> yes.

super apps are winning. we can be the super app of allows us ton that acquire customers at much cheaper rates than our competitors. i allows us to keep customers, because we have a deeper relationship with them. long-term, if you can acquire customers and keep them longer, that's a winning formula. >> uber eats is 20%, 30% of the business now? >> yes, and growing quickly. bookings grew over 90% on a year-end basis. largest global player out there. the category- and of food we believe can be as large or even larger than the categories. we love that business and we continue to invest in it. >> there are so many competitors that do exactly what you do in this market and other markets. you're just sub subsidizing themeals and you don't win market share and this is just a giant, hungry money pit? peopley on, i think

could have accused the rides business as the same. with others, with lyft. it is moving towards a path of profitability. as you build these businesses, the potential is so big, there goes intozation that the marketplace in order to create efficiency. couriers,o sign up restaurants. and there's investment that's required early on. is there competition? absolutely. there's always going to be competition in big categories. we have the advantage, because hundreds of millions of consumers on the ride side that introduce toially our brand. and let them know that there's to uber than just riding. there's eating and other areas that you can enjoy. businesses it seems like we hear less about, like scooters, for example. the likelihood you do pull out of some of these businesses? >> every business is going to execute and carry its weight, so to speak. inre a big believer

micromobility. we believe in electric bikes, scooters. and increasingly, i think the mayors of the large cities all around the world are going to want to be interested in ways of don't people around that pollute, that don't create traffic and we believe micromobility can be part of the solution. >> would you curtail international expansion in the short-term? >> every part of our business has to fight for money. and if they're not deserving gety, they're not going to it. so believe me, slernlly, there's -- internally, there's lots of competition. if one part of our business carrying its own weight, we will pull back. we pulled back out of china and turned what was a $2 billion investment in cash into what can a $10 billion business in china as well. tend, we're looking to build a business. we want to build a business the alignment with our

society, et cetera. but if something is not working, we belief we've demonstrated the financial discipline to make the right call at the right time. every management has their faults. i've got my faults but the fact a great company and now they've handed it to me. and i've got to take that great evenny and make it greater. ♪

>> when we last visited, there was a driver protest outside. democratic presidential was oute pete buttigieg there. he said, gig is another word for jobs. worker andyou're a you ought to be protected as a worker. there is support for legislation companies likee uber that rely on contract drivers and delivery people, to make them full-time. why shouldn't they be full-time? >> because they don't want to be full-time. do.ome >> listen, some do. more than half our drivers in driver., for example, less than 10 hours with us a

week. and will be, right now -- right now california has a historic opportunity. we're at the table. we are having these discussions. we want to get to a solution. minimum aning $21 hour when you're driving on a platform. we're offering benefits and offering a voice as far as what -- how you're going to be treated going forward. $21 an hour, compared to $12 an minimum wage. this is real money. these are real rights. thatou get the flexibility every single uber driver, courier wants, because they can when theythe market want to or out. this is a historic opportunity thei think, revolutionize gig economy. and i don't think gig is a type of work. tosay there's only one way work and everyone needs to be full-time, et cetera, i don't think that's correct, because it flexibility. and flexibility is absolutely something that all of our drivers prize. >> and can you give them

flexibility and give drivers and riders safety at the same time? the legislatures, you ofw, works in the interest making something happen, absolutely. and you know that we're making significant investments in safety as far as the safety center, tracking your ride, et cetera. and we believe that we are the leader in safety as far as in thertation goes world. and we'll continue to invest very aggressively there. more're going to talk about the future. but before we go there, i want to talk more about the past. took over had some toxic cultural issues. police payoff to officers, violent sexual assaults, even murder on the platform. drivers.i and a management team that turned a blind eye to much of it growth at all costs. so-called brilliant jerks, if you will. some people who say that leadership was bolder, brasher, bigger thinking, maybe better.

how do you respond to that? >> i think time will tell. i think that you need different management for different times in the development of a company. management -- every management has their faults. i've got my faults. has theirgement team faults. but the fact is, they built a great company. it to me.e handed i've got to take that great company and make it even greater. think i'm up to the job. while they made their mistakes, a great is, they built band that has weakness and has incredible strengths. my job to take it to the next level. >> the guy that ran the trucking business that uber bought was charged with dealing technology google, dealing trade scetsz. what do you -- secrets. what do you make of those charges? wasn't here when we brought anthony on board. we what i do know is that went to incredible depths to informationat any

that anthony might have acquired from google, and it sure looked overhe did, didn't make it to our company. that was our responsibility and i think we are incredibly diligent in making sure that we thatnot guilty of anything could be nefarious, one way or the other. we think when you build, you've way.o build the right anthony is an incredibly talented person. it didn't work out. rightdo think we did the thing within these walls. >> now, the person who was here acquisitionded that which might cost uber $100 board. is still on the travis. i asked you this on i.p.o. day. i feel like i have to ask it again. you question travis's position on the board? >> i think that, you know, i am going to live in the here and now. travis has an incredible amount of historical knowledge about the company. he's incredibly bright. our other board members. and i use him at the board. a very strong advisor.

and his background in the company is incredibly useful and think he's supportive. ultimately now, we're a public the shareholders are going to get to pick their own board and that governance process will take care of itself forward. >> so you talk to him often? >> i talk to him usually during aard meetings and once in while, offline, absolutely. >> but he's on the board for now? >> he is. for now andboard he's going to be on the board tomorrow. ♪ >> fast-forward, 10, 15 years from now. autonomous is going to be a huge around.how people get it will be cheaper, safer. we want to invest now to make that happen.

>> let's talk about the future then. to those who say that uber is a sharing and food delivery company, what is uber's next big idea? that the ideas that we have right now in this ideas.g are plenty big we've got ride sharing, food

delivery, micromobility, autonomous. we've got freight, rev leuzing revolutionizing how truckers move around and how all overship product the word. elevate as well. enormous number of big ideas. execution time. >> where do you think most of is technological innovation happening? >> it is happening all over. we're a combination of the physical.d the and the two coming together in unique ways. we have very interesting, for example, machine learning algorithms that are looking at demand, live supply and demand in a city, what riders are looking for, and where they're located. and then giving our drivers go inines as to where to order to meet that demand. this matching of supply and a dynamic way and pricing that we have is something that is unique. to innovate there.

and then we innovate in very, very different spots such as to how we can bring together different modes of transportation and tie them driving, walking, helicopter, for example, now, to j.f.k. >> you're in charge of not just visualizing the future of transportation but trying to get there. and create that future. when you look into the future, oft is the future transportation look like? >> we think we can bring it together. have thatwe can singular app where every morning when you wake up, any way that get from point a to point b, we can give you the information that is relevant to with live pricing, inventory, et cetera. we now have mass transit in the app. we're going to tell you, mass transit you can take, subway, an uber, pool. if it's a long enough trip, you can take an elevate as well. uniquely positioned as a company to have all that information together and we can thing fore transportation, the same thing for local commerce.

and with eats restaurants, only the beginning, and we can do the same thing with logistics. to other company in the world is positioned to solve local transportation, local commerce and i think we're in a spearhead position to do so. >> where is uber in five years, years? >> so much innovation, so much change going on, that i'd have a predicting for you what's going to happen in the next year. but i do think, what you will increasing going to multi-modal modes of transportation. we are going to open up our marketplace to third-party transportation providers, because we're not going to do it ourselves. i think we're going to be much deeper partners with the cities in which we operate. bring demand to public transit as well. we're gonna have a much better enterprise solution as well, both in terms of businesses and health. and what you will see with eats moving beyond the category of just restaurants, although that's a very, very big other categories

of commerce as well. it's gonna be a pretty exciting year not just for the next or five years but for the next 10 years here, and it's really up to the teams here. job to bring together the talent, who can help me envision that 10-year future. the future of profitability, does profitability depend on self-driving car technology, the advent of self-driving car those two, or are things separate? >> i think we can get to beforebility self-driving, for example, trip.becomes the majority of if you look forward and if you want to bring safety on the because these it, number of people who die in accidents, there's just no reason to have that many people hurt. most accidents are caused by human error. and we can avoid that. that with computers and technology and at the same time, we can take the cost per significantly.y fast-forward 10, 15 years from now. hugeomous is going to be a part of how people get around.

it reason cheaper, safer. makent to invest now to that happen. >> can you get to profitability without self-driving technology? now, no.rs from any transportation company that doesn't have self-driving as strategy -- and that's why we have this. technologyd out our specifically to serve our network. that's a huge advantage that we have. company 15 years from now that's in the transportation space that doesn't have strong whetherving strategy, they build it themselves or whether they work with someone, isn't going to be around for long. i'm asking you to think big picture now. but in the history of silicon valley, in the uber pantheon, how are we going to look back on today, your two-year uberversary. >> every great company has to go through tough times. you look at facebook, amazon, after theirars i.p.o. all of them went through periods where companies are tested. the moment where the

is tested.er and i'm very confident that we're gonna come out of this stronger than we ever have been before. >> dara khosrowshahi, thank you so much for joining us here on bloomberg studio 1.0. >> thank you very much. appreciate it. >> ha ha! ♪

at comcast, we didn't build the nation's largest gig-speed network just to make businesses run faster. we built it to help them go beyond. because beyond risk... welcome to the neighborhood, guys. there is reward. ♪ ♪ beyond work and life... who else could he be? there is the moment. beyond technology... there is human ingenuity. ♪ ♪ every day, comcast business is helping businesses go beyond the expected, to do the extraordinary. take your business beyond.

scarlet: i am scarlet fu. this is etf iq. ♪ no more big mo maryann bartels is head of bank of america merrill lynch global research. why the etf that aims to protect investors from unpredictable events is outperforming the market even without a black swan. profits from a warming world. we profile etf's that address climate change.