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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

SoftBank has finally secured a large stake in Uber [theverge.com] that devalues the company and reduces former CEO Travis Kalanick's influence on the company:

Japanese tech giant SoftBank Group has bought a 20 percent stake in Uber, completing a months-long process [recode.net], according to the Wall Street Journal [wsj.com]. The move drops Uber's value by about 30 percent from around $70 billion to $48 billion — a reflection of the trouble that the ride-hailing company has experienced across 2017 [theverge.com].

More important than the valuation change, though, could be the impact SoftBank's new stake will have on the influence former CEO Travis Kalanick still has on the company. Kalanick resigned from his post [theverge.com] earlier this year after a number of scandals [theverge.com], but still maintains a seat on the company's board of directors, where he is surrounded by allies [recode.net] and controls 16 percent of the voting power [recode.net].

The SoftBank deal triggers new governance terms at Uber that were approved by the company's board in October [wsj.com], though. The size of the board will expand from [recode.net] 11 to 17, which dilutes the power Kalanick wields. Two of those seats will go to SoftBank.

Also at Recode [recode.net], CNBC [cnbc.com], and Quartz [qz.com].

Previously: SoftBank to Invest Billions in Uber [soylentnews.org]
SoftBank Knew of Data Breach at Uber [soylentnews.org]
SoftBank Devalues Uber by 30% With Latest Offer [soylentnews.org]

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