TOKYO: Just hours ahead of Uber Technologies Inc’s market debut, the ride-hailing company’s biggest shareholder, Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank Group Corp, is already reaping rewards, if only on paper.
SoftBank’s operating income more than tripled to 494.9 billion yen (US$4.5bil) in the three months to March 31, helped by a 418 billion yen valuation gain from its stake in the ride-hailing giant, the Tokyo-based company reported yesterday. Uber is going public this week in an offering that may give the company a market value of about US$79bil; the stock begins trading today.