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Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi has received options to buy stock worth about $136mn after hitting a performance target to secure a $120bn valuation for the ride-hailing company.
The award, set before Uber’s 2019 stock market flotation, had looked unlikely to be met for most of its life as a public company as it struggled with persistent losses that ran into the tens of billions of dollars.
But Uber’s results have recently improved under Khosrowshahi. The company said in a recent filing that the chief executive’s performance target had been met after its equity value averaged at least $120bn on a fully diluted basis over 90 trading days to February 6.
Khosrowshahi was hired in 2017 from Expedia, where he was once the best-paid chief executive in the S&P 500. To compensate him for $160mn in options he gave up on leaving Expedia, Uber agreed that he would receive options over 1.75mn shares if the $120bn target was met and he stayed in post for five years. Read more about Khosrowshahi’s compensation package.
And here’s what I’m keeping tabs on today:
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Economic data: France reports fourth-quarter gross domestic product figures and consumer inflation data for February, while Germany has unemployment and retail sales numbers for January and the consumer price index for February.
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Results: Adecco, Air France-KLM, Anheuser-Busch InBev, CVS Group, Getlink, Haleon, Hammerson, IAG, London Stock Exchange Group, Man Group, Ocado, Schroders, Serco and Weir Group report.
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UK politics: A by-election to determine the successor to the late Sir Tony Lloyd takes place in the constituency of Rochdale. Keir Starmer: The Biography by Tom Baldwin is due to be published by William Collins.
Join us in Hong Kong on March 11 for a breakfast event (8.15am-9.45am) with Miles Johnson, Financial Times investigative reporter and host of hit podcast Hot Money: New Narcos, and the FT’s Asia editor Robin Harding. Places are limited — email rsvp.asia@ft.com to reserve a space.
Five more top stories
1. Jeremy Hunt has drawn up emergency plans to scrap or scale back Britain’s “non-dom” tax rules in the event that he needs to raise billions of pounds to fund mass-market pre-election tax cuts. The chancellor has a “secret project list” of potential revenue-raising measures for the exchequer, Treasury insiders said, as he looks for ways to fund national insurance or income tax cuts in next week’s Budget.
2. The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear Donald Trump’s appeal for immunity from criminal prosecution for acts committed in office. Yesterday’s order will further delay a trial in a criminal case filed by the Department of Justice accusing Trump of seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election. A ruling by the country’s highest court could have major consequences for the upcoming election and the presidency more broadly.
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New York fraud case: A judge has denied Trump’s request in a separate case to temporarily stop the New York attorney-general from collecting on a $450mn judgment as he appeals against a civil fraud ruling.
3. The UK government will today unveil generative artificial intelligence tools that ministers are piloting to analyse responses to government consultations and write draft answers to parliamentary questions. The move is part of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s drive to boost Whitehall productivity through technology. Read more about how civil servants plan to use the AI tools.
4. The UK’s top financial regulator has refused to commit to writing new rules wanted by the chancellor that would force pension funds to disclose how much they invest in the UK, people familiar with the matter said. Jeremy Hunt wants to announce the transparency measure in his Budget as part of a drive to encourage pension funds to invest more into the British economy. Here’s why the Financial Conduct Authority is resisting the effort.
5. Eisler Capital plans to raise $1bn-$1.5bn of capital from investors and hire up to 25 portfolio managers this year as the fast-growing UK hedge fund muscles into one of the hottest parts of the industry. Eisler’s rapid expansion underscores the war for talent among so-called multi-manager hedge funds, as large institutional investors such as pension funds seek consistent returns and more extensive risk management.
The Big Read
The cash-strapped UK is facing some hard choices. While the overall tax burden is at a postwar high, opinion polls suggest that households want public services fixed before taxes are cut. Yet in the run-up to the Budget, the political focus in Westminster is on whether Jeremy Hunt can use what may be the last fiscal event before the general election to offer a headline-grabbing tax cut. Voters will at some point have to decide what kind of pain they would prefer to endure: more years of declining public services or higher taxes that might begin the job of repairing them.
We’re also reading . . .
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Chart of the day
With Turkey’s equities market in the grip of “tech mania” and runaway inflation again sending local savers piling into shares, Turkish stocks have notched up a world-leading rally this year. The broad Borsa Istanbul all-share index has risen about 20 per cent in US dollar terms since the start of 2024, led by a 61 per cent jump in the technology sector.
Take a break from the news
For chefs, a Michelin star “provides some sense of relief that every relationship pushed aside, hour of sleep lost and weary trip to A&E was worth it”, writes Lauren Joseph. But it’s not all rosy. The chef from London’s Dorian tells of life in the kitchen since the restaurant won its first Michelin star.
Additional contributions from Benjamin Wilhelm
