'An app my cat could have written': Larry Ellison says Uber's business model is 'almost worthless'

Graham Rapier

Sep 20, 2019, 18:44 IST

'An app my cat could have written': Larry Ellison says Uber's business model is 'almost worthless'

Harry How/Getty Images
Larry Ellison joined Tesla's board in December 2018 as part of the company's settlement with US regulators.

Larry Ellison is far less bullish than Wall Street when it comes to Uber.
The Oracle founder trashed Uber's business model at a private San Francisco event this week.
"They have nothing," he said of the ride-hailing giant. "No technology. And no loyalty."
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Billionaire entrepreneur and Oracle cofounder and Larry Ellison didn't mince words when it came to Uber and its cohort of ultra-valuable tech companies, according to a new report in Barron's.

The financial magazine reported Friday that the 75-year-old hosted a small cohort of other entrepreneurs at his home in a posh neighborhood of San Francisco, where he spent an hour answering questions about everything from the gig-economy, to WeWork, and Tesla.

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Uber, despite a $57.5 billion market capitalization following its May IPO, is "almost worthless," Ellison reportedly said, adding that the company doesn't own cars, control its drivers, and has an "app my cat could have written."

Ellison also said that Uber's defensive moat isn't big enough to keep out new competitors, should those competitors decide to launch a ride-hailing service. Uber, to its credit, has told investors it plans to offer fewer ride discounts to help juice its business, and will instead focus on competing against Lyft with a better product.

Ellison mentioned Tesla specifically, which plans to launch a million-car-strong robo-taxi service next year, saying the company could lower taxi fares prices by two-thirds with self-driving cars.

"They have nothing," he said of Uber, which has seen its stock price fall by nearly 20% since it first began trading. "No technology. And no loyalty."