The litany of corporate scandals at Uber has raised questions about the way the company is run, led to a lawsuit by a main investor, and prompted fund managers to cut their estimates for the price of shares.
And yet one core group hasn’t been put off: the customers.
The ride-hailing company’s gross bookings in its second quarter this year increased 17 percent from the previous quarter to $8.7 billion. The amount of money it earned after paying its drivers jumped to $1.75 billion from $1.5 billion. Its losses narrowed. Trip requests increased 150 percent from a year earlier.
The website Axios, which earlier had reported the Uber results, noted that these figures may indicate why, even with its troubles, the vacant chief executive role at Uber remains attractive to blue-chip candidates. But the report added that the company still had a chief executive for most of the second quarter.
Uber has been valued at about $68.5 billion, which makes it the most highly valued private start-up in the world.
But many investors will be watching for more clarity on Uber’s worth.
The company’s board voted to move forward with preliminary proposals by SoftBank, the Japanese conglomerate, and by Dragoneer Investment Group to buy shares in the company. The board is also considering an offer from a consortium led by Shervin Pishevar, an early Uber investor, to buy shares.
Yet as The New York Times points out, several of those groups intend to buy some of those shares at a discounted valuation. Just how much of a discount is likely to be a hot topic.
Investors Like Idea of Immelt Leading Uber
As Uber’s board deliberates over who should lead the company, investors surveyed by Morning Consult for DealBook think favorably about the reported front-runner, Jeffrey R. Immelt.
Here’s what the poll of 502 investors (who had at least $50,000 invested in the market, with half of them having investments of more than $250,000) found:
• Mr. Immelt, the former chief executive of General Electric, was viewed favorably by 47 percent of respondents. Compare that rating with how they thought others did in leading their companies: 79 percent for Steve Jobs, 69 percent for Mark Zuckerberg and 36 percent for the most recent Uber chief executive, Travis Kalanick.
• Thirty-five percent of respondents said Uber should pick Mr. Immelt as its next chief executive. About 53 percent said they were undecided.
• Thirty-three percent said Mr. Immelt would do a better job than Mr. Kalanick did as Uber’s chief executive. Just 9 percent of respondents said they thought that Mr. Kalanick would be the superior leader.
• One in four respondents said that Uber should bring back Mr. Kalanick as chief executive, while one in three said that Mr. Kalanick should not return.
Martoma’s Insider Trading Conviction Upheld
Mathew Martoma, once a portfolio manager for Steven A. Cohen, was convicted in 2014 of what prosecutors called the most lucrative insider trading scheme of all time.
He has since argued that the jury in his trial may not have been properly instructed and that the evidence presented wasn’t enough to support a conviction.
But his efforts to appeal that conviction were dealt a setback on Wednesday by a three-judge appeals court panel that decided “the district court’s jury instruction was not obviously erroneous.”
The decision comes as some relief for the United States Attorney’s office in Manhattan. Under Preet Bharara, the office embarked on a sweeping investigation of insider trading that led to a wave of convictions. But many were undone by a Supreme Court decision, United States v. Newman, that effectively raised the bar for evidence needed to convict someone for insider trading.
Mr. Martoma had been relying on the Newman case to buttress his appeal. But the panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit looked to a newer decision by the Supreme Court, Salman v. United States, that effectively lowered the bar for evidence once more.
But one of the three Second Circuit judges dissented, which may set the stage for Mr. Martoma’s lawyers to ask for the entire appellate court to consider the appeal.
Amazon and Whole Foods Clear Last Hurdles
Amazon and Whole Foods are nearly ready to combine.
Federal antitrust regulators approved Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods Market, and Whole Foods shareholders approved the $13.4 billion deal.
The Federal Trade Commission concluded that the agreement, which will give Amazon more than 460 stores and bolster its efforts in the grocery business, would not harm competition.
The deal was not expected to be blocked because there was little overlap in Amazon and Whole Foods businesses. Amazon’s grocery delivery business still accounts for only a small share of total grocery spending in the United States. And while Whole Foods is a prominent presence, its share in the grocery market remains relatively small.
Samsung’s Heir: Mastermind or Naïf?
Prosecutors have cast Lee Jae-yong, the heir to the Samsung empire, as a mastermind bent on breaking the law to protect his family’s wealth and power. They have accused him of paying $38 million in bribes to maintain control of Samsung without paying taxes.
Mr. Lee paints himself as a detached leader with little knowledge of the inner workings of his companies. He was too busy building global alliances to be involved in the day-to-day operations, Samsung says.
A judge is expected to decide on Friday which of these accounts may be true.
The judgment comes after the South Korean public has soured on Samsung. Though the conglomerate is known around the world for its electronics, it is viewed by many at home as holding back the country and financing political corruption.
Whatever the judge decides, it isn’t likely to look good for the de facto leader of Samsung. “In the trial, you come away with the impression that he is incompetent or at least he didn’t know his own company,” Geoffrey Cain, the author of a coming book about Samsung, told The Times.
Revolving Door
• François Fillon, the center-right French politician, will join Tikehau Capital, a European investment firm, as a partner next month, according to The Financial Times.
• Credit Suisse has hired two technology specialists, Kirk Kaludis and Owen Bittinger, from Barclays, Reuters reported. Mr. Kaludis will become co-head of Americas technology-investment banking at the Swiss firm, while Mr. Bittinger will become a managing director.