My first thought when I read the headline was: “That’s a sneaky way to deflect the whole don’t let women drive issue.”
Doesn’t “invest” usually mean the money goes to capital goods, like maybe factories or raw materials or employees or something? What the heck does Uber need with that much money? Even if they were buying a fleet of cars it wouldn’t cost that much. And the same for a fleet of lawyers. I don’t think there is anything else Uber needs to buy.
“Oh, no thank you. We couldn’t possibly use that much money.” —No Business Ever
Bribe fund?
Likely exploring creating a fleet of self-driving cars so they get rid of paying humans as soon as possible?
“I’d like to tell you about my exciting new think tank devoted to pursuing deregulation of self driving cars. Just ten million to fund the first study.”
Ah, Travis Kalanik, champion of libertarian values.
Elevator pitch needs work.
Doesn’t “invest” usually mean the money goes to capital goods, like maybe factories or raw materials or employees or something? What the heck does Uber need with that much money? Even if they were buying a fleet of cars it wouldn’t cost that much. And the same for a fleet of lawyers. I don’t think there is anything else Uber needs to buy.
They have to spend a shitload of money leasing their IP back from their tax haven, so it depends on whether the investment went to the shell corporation in the tax haven or whether the price on the IP will go up. Seems like a waste either way unless something other than Uber service in Saudia was being laundered, er, desired. Because markets.
“Around 80% of Uber passengers in Saudi Arabia are women, Uber said.”
Could that be because women are banned from driving?
That’s a real head-scratcher.
but how does that work? aren’t women prevented from being with another male unless they’re escorted by a husband or family member?
obviously self-driving cars will fix this - self driving cars take women everywhere, women still aren’t allowed to drive. everyone wins! except the women.
87,500 cars at $40,000 per. It’s not an unthinkable number.
I think they’re also banned from riding alone in an Uber, no? I don’t think an unescorted female would be allowed alone in a car with a non-relative male, even if that male is the Uber driver.
If they’re in an Uber it’s because they have a chaperone.
Is this $3.5Bln the “sucker’s round of investment,” that mostly goes to enriching all the early stockholders? I would think now is a very good opportunity to take some cash out.
Possibly. I’m not sure. The point I was making is “where there is oppression, apparently there is a business opportunity (for Uber).” I think it’s disgusting that they would take money, especially billions of dollars, from a place that treats women so.
But is Uber really “benefiting from oppression” at the expense of the oppressed? There’s no benefit to woman when there is this additional taxicab capacity added to the infrastructure?
Maybe I’m trying to make too fine a point, but it does seem women benefit from Uber’s presence. And if the Saudi regime does allow Uber drivers to drive unescorted women (which, again, seems to me unlikely), then it’s almost a social good, greatly aiding Saudi women’s mobility in this tortuous medieval society.
(For the record, I’m not a Uber shill and certainly think that overall they remain a vampire squid sucking the lifeblood out of humanity.)
