[By Ed Lin]
Uber Technologies stock has slumped since its May initial public offering, but the ride-hailing company’s chair recently bought up shares on the open market, the first company insider to do so.
Uber stock (ticker: UBER) was priced at $45 for its IPO, but it has crumbled 40% as of Friday’s close at $26.79. Third-quarter earnings topped expectations, but Uber stock has been softened as of late by insiders and early investors selling stock. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi recently came under fire for some public remarks. One major overhang is legislation in California that would challenge Uber’s business model if signed into law.
Against this backdrop, Uber director Ronald Sugar paid $952,000 on Nov. 8 for 35,000 shares, according to a form he filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Sugar made the purchase through a family trust that he controls. The trust now owns 157,489 Uber shares, and Sugar owns another 46,154 shares in a personal account; some of the shares were received in the form of restricted stock units, and remain subject to certain vesting conditions.
Sugar, a former Northrop Grumman (NOC) CEO, has been Uber’s “chairperson” since July 2018. He is also a director at Apple (AAPL).
Uber didn’t respond to a request to make Sugar available for comment on his purchase of Uber stock.
