Uber hit 10 billion rides even after boycotts, tumultuous leadership
Ten billion.
That's a big number no matter how you break it down. For Uber, it's now the number of trips that have been taken using the service since the app launched in 2010. And since 2014 that growing number also includes Uber Eat food deliveries.
The San Francisco-based company hit the 10 billion trip milestone last month when 173 trips took off in 21 countries and people ordered food in five countries -- some of those orders included noodles, burgers, tacos, sushi, and a McDonald's meal.
Of those simultaneous rides (all of which helped Uber hit the milestone), the shortest was an Uber Eats delivery of just over a half-mile. The longest was a 41-mile ride to the Denver airport. Within the group of rides that helped Uber reach 10 billion trips, five riders were on their first Uber trip ever. Took them a while.
It hasn't been easy to reach this obscenely large trip total. The road to 10 billion had been riddled with scandals. Only a year and a half ago, the #DeleteUber movement was gaining momentum. Uber's founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick was constantly in headlines for not-so great things like toxic workplace culture and sexual harassment.
Even after the new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi took over almost a year ago and attempted to right the ship, just this month an investigation into gender inequities surfaced and the company's Chief People Officer Liane Hornsey resigned.
Although a separate division from ride hailing and deliveries, a self-driving Uber fatal crash in March marred the Uber name and brand.
Despite all this, Uber's core product (connecting drivers with passengers) is going strong. Lyft keeps nipping at Uber's heels, but even after a $15.1 billion valuation and raising $600 million, Uber is worth more at $72 billion. Uber was also profitable this first quarter -- finally. Though it's still on the hunt for a CFO as it strives for that maybe-someday IPO.
Lyft often spins itself as the fastest growing ride-share app, but Uber really dominates no matter how you slice it. Even as Lyft branches out into bikes and scooters, Uber is right there with its Jump acquisition and Lime partnership. Uber has a presence pretty much all over the world, while Lyft is only in Canada outside the U.S.
So many big numbers.
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
