Sources: Uber could be valued at $120B in an IPO as soon as early 2019, nearly double its valuation two months ago, according to proposals from banks
Eye-popping offering, which could take place early next year, is nearly double the ride-hailing company's valuation in a fundraising round two months ago
Context & Ripple Effects
Uber's valuation has been climbing on paper since its private rounds: it targeted a raise at $50B or higher in mid-2015 (a $1.5-$2B round), then sought close to $1B more at $60B-$70B that October (at a $60B-$70B valuation). Bankers' new IPO proposals of roughly $120B — nearly double where the company stood just two months ago — would cap that arc with one of the largest public offerings ever.
The timing matters because Lyft has already moved first on the calendar, hiring JP Morgan to lead an early-2019 IPO that could value it above $15B (Lyft's JP Morgan-led offering). Two rival ride-hailing companies hitting public markets in the same window turns each filing into a referendum on the other's numbers.
First-order effects
- Uber's bankers are anchoring an offering as soon as early 2019 at up to $120B, which sets the price expectations for every employee stock grant and secondary sale made against the old private-round marks.
- Lyft's early-2019 IPO, led by JP Morgan at a potential $15B-plus, now competes directly with Uber for the same pool of institutional capital in the same quarter.
Second-order effects
- A $120B Uber print would give Lyft's underwriters a multiple to argue from — or against — forcing Lyft's bankers to justify why the smaller player deserves any fraction of Uber's proposed valuation.
- Late-stage investors who marked Uber near its last private round face a windfall-or-writedown decision if public buyers refuse the banks' number, pressuring how other unicorns mark their own holdings.
Third-order effects
- The gap between the $120B pitch and what the market ultimately pays becomes the test case for the private valuation–liquidity gap: when Uber actually set its range at $44-$50 per share, topping out near $84B (an up-to-$10.35B raise at ~$84B), it confirmed that banker proposals run well ahead of public clearing prices.
- If the pattern holds, mega-IPOs get marketed off aspirational banker ranges and reprice downward at pricing — shifting negotiating leverage toward public investors and making last private-round marks look systematically optimistic.
The trend: Ride-hailing's private-market valuations are colliding with public-market discipline, as Uber's path from a $50B raise to a $120B proposal to an ~$84B pricing shows the liquidity event shrinking the number rather than confirming it.