“The single most important fact in this paper is that Benchmark put $12 million into Uber and got $5.8 billion back.”
Since the Supreme Court’s 1993 Brooke Group ruling, no one has won a predatory pricing case because nobody can prove the predator recoups its losses. Wansley and Weinstein point out that the VCs recoup even when the company never does. Uber subsidized rides for years, Benchmark turned $12 million into $5.8 billion, and the losses went to whoever bought at the IPO. The scheme only needs a buyer for the shares, never a profit.