Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi

**David Rosenthal** (0:01)
So, I came up here, we scheduled this time to record. What are we talking about today?

**Ben Gilbert** (0:08)
We haven't talked about Uber in a while.

**Dara Khosrowshahi** (0:10)
That's right.

**David Rosenthal** (0:10)
A lot has happened since we did the IPO episode.

**Ben Gilbert** (0:14)
It's been, what, four years? That is crazy. All right. Yeah, let's do it. I ordered some food. I hope that's okay. Oh, yeah.
Maybe we can eat while we eat. Oh, it's here.

**Dara Khosrowshahi** (0:29)
Is someone in the order of what we eat?

**Ben Gilbert** (0:31)
Oh, yeah. That's me. All right.

**Dara Khosrowshahi** (0:32)
Cool. It's got some wine in here.

**Ben Gilbert** (0:35)
Oh, great. It's perfect.

**Dara Khosrowshahi** (0:36)
So can I join you guys?

**Ben Gilbert** (0:39)
Actually, yeah, that'd be great. Come on in.

**Dara Khosrowshahi** (0:41)
Come on in.

**Ben Gilbert** (0:59)
Welcome to this episode of Acquired, the podcast about great technology companies and the stories and playbooks behind them. I'm Ben Gilbert.

**David Rosenthal** (1:07)
I'm David Rosenthal.

**Ben Gilbert** (1:08)
And we are your hosts. Today's episode is an interview with Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, where he joins us from the Acquired home studio in Seattle. And it's been a while since we checked in on Uber. They've gone through quite the transformation since our 2019 episode on IPO day. In the past 12 months, they've done over $30 billion in revenue up from just $10 billion two years ago.

**David Rosenthal** (1:32)
And that's not GMV, that's revenue.

**Ben Gilbert** (1:34)
That is revenue. And they have two businesses, as many of you know, that complement each other nicely in eats and mobility. And they've divested anything, hardware, international, or that's too far in the future or speculative. They're even doing something we couldn't imagine at IPO time, which is profitability. Now, it's very modest at this point, but we wouldn't have dreamed Uber could even get to break even back when they burned, David, what was it? $3 billion the year before the IPO?

**David Rosenthal** (2:01)
Yeah, I think it was the most capital burned before an IPO by any company in history up to that point.

**Ben Gilbert** (2:09)
Well, today's discussion, of course, is partly about Uber, as we're alluding to here. But as David and I evolve the interview format, we're putting more of a focus on Dara as a person and sharing some of his craziest stories from throughout his whole career. So this is a candid conversation that dives into moments like buying Expedia right when 9-11 happened, how he first met Barry Diller at Allen & Company, and what the financial mechanics are actually like of replacing Uber's entire shareholder base or close to it anyway, almost in its entirety since joining the company.

**David Rosenthal** (2:42)
Yeah, not to mention the Uber CEO recruitment process, which I don't think Dara has talked about anywhere else before.

**Ben Gilbert** (2:47)
No, I don't think so either. Well, if you are not already in the Slack, you totally should join. So many smart folks commenting on episodes and bringing new information after we record that we didn't find in the research, because many of you work in the fields that we're actually covering on episodes. So you can join at Acquired.fm slash Slack. Listen to our other episodes on our second show, ACQ2, like a great episode we just did with Jake Saper from Emergence on AI motes in B2B SaaS. And without further ado, this show is not investment advice. David and I may have investments in the companies we discuss, and this show is for informational and entertainment purposes only. On to our conversation with Dara.
Cheers! Dara, welcome to Acquired.

**Dara Khosrowshahi** (3:34)
Thank you very much. Happy to be here.

**Ben Gilbert** (3:36)
Appreciate you swinging by the home studio on your way home from Expedia board meeting, is that right?

**Dara Khosrowshahi** (3:42)
Yes.

**Ben Gilbert** (3:43)
How'd that go?

**Dara Khosrowshahi** (3:45)
I can't tell you.

**Ben Gilbert** (3:45)
Yeah, that's the right answer.

**Dara Khosrowshahi** (3:47)
I thought it was a good board meeting.

**Ben Gilbert** (3:48)
Actually Expedia is a good place to start. For folks who don't know about your pre-Uber background, you were the CEO of Expedia from 2004 to 2017, is that right?

**Dara Khosrowshahi** (4:00)
Yeah, 13 years.

**Ben Gilbert** (4:01)
13 years.

**Dara Khosrowshahi** (4:02)
It was a long time.

**Ben Gilbert** (4:05)
When you became the CEO, your previous role was you were at IAC with Barry Diller, and you guys had bought a controlling interest in Expedia. You took it private. It was at Microsoft with Rich Barton. He spun it out. It went public. You made a bid to take it private. I think over two tranches, there was a controlling interest and then a full buyout.