Uber CEO Targets Profitability by 2022

Uber will be profitable in three years as its ride-hailing business matures and the company reaps the rewards from investments in areas such as autonomous vehicles, said CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, according to Bloomberg.

Bending the company’s financial trajectory out of the red would be a dramatic shift for the global ride-hailing service that loses billions of dollars a year. Speaking to Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Khosrowshahi said that even as the company would continue to be aggressive about expansion, it’s finding ways to be more efficient.

While Khosrowshahi didn’t give a specific time frame, he said "we’ll be profitable before 2022." The core ride-sharing business can be profitable “within three years," he said, while also cautioning that "we will continue to make very aggressive investments." During the third quarter, the company lost $1.46 billion, up from $1.06 billion during the previous three-month period.

Almost six months into his tenure leading Uber, Khosrowshahi is attempting to reverse what has been an unprecedented time of turmoil. The company is facing various government investigations, allegations of sexual harassment and increasing competition from rivals around the world. Khosrowshahi said his goal for 2018 is to "get back to normalcy" after the challenges left by former CEO.

Khosrowshahi said the company was investing heavily in autonomous driving technology and that it would begin adding the cars in some cities within 18 months. The vehicles will at first only carry passengers on select routes, then it will expand over time as the software and mapping systems improve. The company is also developing vehicles that will fly people to certain destinations within cities that Khosrowshahi predicted will be available for customers within 10 years.

Khosrowshahi said he’s been working to change Uber’s boorish corporate culture. He commended former Uber engineer Susan Fowler, who wrote a blog post about the company’s sexist culture that led to an investigation at the company and a broader debate about the treatment of women in Silicon Valley and business. He called the fallout "difficult," but "one of the best things that happened at Uber" because of the changes it brought about.