A Wall Street Genius's Final Investment Playbook-Chapter 322: The 100 Billion Race (18)

“Ubers is a ticking time bomb.”

Some people may tilt their heads in confusion when they hear this. At this point in time, Ubers was the superstar of the tech industry. It was a hyper-growth company that had conquered markets in 70 countries in just seven years since its founding. Even though it was unlisted, Ubers’ corporate valuation had already surpassed $70 billion, making it an icon of innovation that created a new zeitgeist called the “sharing economy.”

The public was thrilled by the convenience Ubers brought. However, ironically, despite this excitement, Ubers’ corporate image itself was not very favorable.

The reason was simple. It was because of Ubers’ notoriously toxic corporate culture. Ubers would stop at nothing to achieve its goals. To them, violating rules in the name of winning was no big deal, and this recklessness and extreme competitiveness were packaged as their signature “hustle culture,” which they touted as a strength.

Of course, in Silicon Valley there really was an aspirational atmosphere surrounding this kind of “hustle culture.” It wasn’t as if this culture was exclusive to Ubers. The problem was that... Ubers had far crossed the line.

Articles exposing Ubers’ true nature had already been pouring out two years earlier, and every one of them was shockingly disturbing.

<“Ubers Knows Where You’re Going”... Ubers Caught Illegally Tracking Users’ Movements through Internal Systems>

<From Beyoncé to Jessica Alba... Ubers Employees Privately Access Location Data of Celebrities>

At the time, Ubers was operating a program called “God View.” Like an all-seeing deity looking down on humanity, this system allowed real-time tracking of every user's location. The problem was that this feature was being exploited for purposes unrelated to customer service.

Driven by curiosity, employees secretly tracked the movements of celebrities, and even monitored the whereabouts of journalists critical of the company or executives from competing firms. And as bad as that was... it turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg. Even more terrifying revelations erupted one after another.

<Ubers Attempts Media Suppression: “Write a Critical Article and We’ll Ruin You Too”>

<50,000 Users’ Personal Data Exposed... Ubers Ignores Legal Requirement to Disclose for Nine Months>

<Thousands of Fake Ride Requests to Competitor Apps... “Sabotage Is a Strategy Too”>

Threatening journalists, covering up hacks, orchestrating sabotage campaigns against competitors—no matter how deep you dug, only horror stories surfaced. And yet, Ubers’ growth showed no signs of slowing. People criticized Ubers verbally, but in reality, no one deleted the app. It was too convenient.

Likewise, investors publicly shook their heads at Ubers’ behavior, but when it came to signing investment contracts, they didn’t hesitate for even a moment. The company’s growth rate was insane.

However, no matter how wild things got, this kind of behavior was never going to be tolerated forever. In 2017, as the revelations piled up, investors finally drew their swords and forcibly ousted the CEO. A few years later, the “Ubers Files” were leaked, triggering yet another massive controversy.

But that was all in the distant future. I needed to bring that future into this very moment.

However, there was one small problem.

“I don’t have any evidence.”

It was only natural. All the information I knew came from future exposés that hadn’t been published yet at this point in time. I knew which newspapers would publish which shocking articles, based on which whistleblower reports. But would they really release those articles early just because I asked them to?

“Of course not.”

Still, just in case, I decided to make a move. I approached Bloomberg, The New York Times, and The Washington Post to feel out whether they were working on Ubers-related investigations. Their response was just as I expected.

“For matters currently under investigation, we cannot disclose anything whatsoever.”

They refused even to confirm whether an investigation on Ubers was underway. And of course, they wouldn’t comment on when any article might be published.

“All investigative reports undergo rigorous review before publication. This is standard policy. We also request that you do not interpret this as confirmation that we are investigating Ubers.”

With such an iron wall in place, there was no chance they would listen to me.

“If I remember correctly, it took at least a month…”

If my memory was right, these articles would be published in as little as one month or as long as six. But I had no intention of waiting that long. What I wanted was for all the exposés to break within this month.

I could go out there myself and gather the evidence. Just like with Theranos, I could hire private investigators to track employees one by one, dig into their backgrounds, establish contact, and persuade them, thereby creating whistleblowers directly. But that would also take a considerable amount of time.

“Pressuring the media would be faster, right?”

It wasn’t going to be that hard. I was a recognizable name in this industry. And the media is always weak to celebrities. In other words, I had a card I could play precisely because I was famous.

I immediately gave Nicole the order.

“Prepare the broadcast.”

***

Once again, I stood under the familiar lights of the studio. As always, Masayoshi Son was seated across from me. Up until now, we had always debated macro topics like “Where should the $100 billion be invested—tech or healthcare?”

But today, I intended to steer the conversation in a slightly different direction.

“Let’s start by bringing up Ubers.”

I slowly opened my mouth.

“Right now, the tech industry is actually drowning in money. And the more money floods in, the more people grow numb to risk. In other words, it creates the perfect environment for moral hazard to take root. The most representative example of this is Ubers.”

At that moment—

At the mention of “Ubers,” Masayoshi openly frowned.

“You’re diverting the discussion again. Why bring up Ubers all of a sudden?”

“Because it’s the clearest example of the current state of the tech industry. A culture that believes ‘laws and ethics can be brushed aside in the name of growth’—is that not the very definition of moral hazard? And yet you’re openly saying you’re willing to finance that culture.”

“I have never invested in Ubers. This has nothing to do with the Visionary Fund.”

That was true. Masayoshi had not invested in Ubers. So strictly speaking, it was unreasonable to hold him accountable for Ubers.

But so what?

“Then are you saying you will never invest in them in the future?”

Masayoshi was unable to answer. And of course, he couldn’t. Ubers is still the most attractive growth stock in the tech industry. Naturally, he must have been planning to include it in his portfolio.

“If you’re saying you will never invest in Ubers for the rest of your life, then of course this has nothing to do with you. But if even a single dollar out of the $100 billion you’re raising ends up going into Ubers, then you are not merely tolerating their culture—you are actively empowering it.”

“What kind of absurd logic is that!”

Masayoshi finally lost his composure and raised his voice in counterattack.

“You speak of moral hazard, but is that a problem exclusive to tech? Do you think healthcare is any different? Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten the Theranos catastrophe!”

It was an attack I had fully anticipated. I calmly nodded instead.

“How could I forget? In fact, thank you for bringing up the perfect example. I believe Theranos is the single most definitive case that proves my point.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“The only reason Theranos behaved that way was because they tried to run a healthcare company as if it were a tech company. The problem was that they followed the logic of the tech world to the letter.”

Why did Holmes double down on lies that were obviously going to be exposed? Because that kind of approach actually works in the tech world.

“There is a peculiar formula for success in tech. You burn capital to attract users. As your user base grows, the ‘network effect’ draws in even more users, creating a positive feedback loop. Ubers is the quintessential example of this. More passengers lead to more drivers. More drivers lead to shorter wait times, which leads again to more passengers.”

Masayoshi opened his mouth to respond, but I raised my hand to stop him and continued. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

“But what Holmes failed to realize is that this formula does not work in healthcare. No matter how much money you pour in, you can’t conjure a nonexistent technology out of thin air. So she turned to deception, and inevitably, she was destroyed. This formula only works in the tech sector.”

“In healthcare, mechanisms are in place to make ‘growth for growth’s sake’ impossible—things like clinical trials, FDA approvals, and medical validation. These are systems of checks and balances. But tech is different. As long as you show growth, everything is forgiven. You can break laws, crush competitors, leak personal data—yet it is still excused in the name of scale. That is why moral hazard is far more dangerous in this field.”

I turned my gaze toward the camera.

“But the times have changed. In the past, the logic of ‘growth justifies everything’ may have worked. But the public no longer tolerates such abuses. We can see that simply by looking at what’s happening with Ubers right now.”

Currently, Ubers was facing a massive boycott. Social media was flooded with the hashtag #DeleteUbers, and people were leaving the platform in droves.

The spark that ignited this backlash was the Trenton administration’s “Muslim Entry Ban.” Just one week after taking office, he signed an executive order banning citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for 90 days, prompting Muslim taxi drivers in New York to take action.

—Let us show them what the world looks like without us.

The taxi drivers launched a one-hour strike, refusing all pickups at JFK Airport in protest of the discriminatory policy. The airport was instantly paralyzed, thousands of passengers were stranded— But the public sympathized with the drivers and supported their protest.

And at that exact moment, Ubers posted the following message on social media:

“The surge pricing at JFK Airport has been turned off. Please take note when using the service.”

It was the worst timing imaginable. Just as taxi drivers were uniting in protest, Ubers appeared to pounce on the opportunity to capture passengers, even offering discounted fares.

Masayoshi immediately moved to defend the company.

“That is a misunderstanding. Ubers’ fare system is designed to automatically increase rates when demand spikes. If they had left it as-is, that would have been the real profiteering from protesters’ actions. The removal of surge pricing was a move to prevent that.”

That was actually true. Had Ubers done nothing, it really would have been a case of exploiting the situation to reap massive profits. So Ubers removed the surge pricing and issued a notice that service delays might occur as a result. In that specific context alone, Ubers’ actions were legitimate.

However... People didn’t believe them.

‘They’ve committed too many sins already.’

Furthermore, it didn’t help that the very person who had ignited this human rights controversy was Trenton, and that Ubers’ CEO was a member of Trenton’s Technology Advisory Council at the time. It was inevitable that people suspected collusion.

‘Well, that kind of conspiracy theory isn’t bad for my purposes...’

But I had no intention of pursuing that angle. Doing so would take half a year before public sentiment would catch fire. What I needed was fuel that would ignite immediately.

“Some people are even suggesting that the CEO of Ubers coordinated with the White House in advance, but that’s baseless speculation. The technology advisory council hasn’t even convened yet.”

Masayoshi hurried to clarify, but I slowly shook my head.

“No, I don’t believe in the conspiracy that the CEO colluded with the White House. What I am suggesting is something entirely different. I am proposing the possibility that... Ubers posted that notice as a retaliatory message to taxi drivers.”

“Retaliatory...? Aren’t you going too far?”

“For an ordinary company, it would be unthinkable. But for Ubers, it’s entirely plausible. Just two years ago, they were caught orchestrating a coordinated retaliation campaign against journalists simply for writing critical articles about them.”

In fact, Ubers had secretly gathered media outlets behind closed doors and encouraged them to publish hit pieces on a specific journalist who had criticized the company. With a history like that, no matter how much they claimed innocence now, the public’s doubts would not disappear.

“Would a company that aggressively retaliates against journalists really sit idle while taxi drivers openly wage war against them? This is a life-or-death battlefield for Ubers.”

And that was also true. The conflict between Ubers and the taxi industry had escalated far beyond normal market competition, turning into an emotional and even violent confrontation.

I hardened my expression and lowered my voice.

“I’ve heard that in some cities, the taxi industry is run by the mafia. There are reports of mafia groups smashing the cars of Ubers drivers and assaulting them... So isn’t it possible that Ubers seized this opportunity to strike back?”

“What nonsense...!”

“This ‘nonsense’ is happening in real life. I’ve even heard that in Brazil and Mexico, Ubers drivers were killed simply for being Ubers drivers.”

At that moment, the air in the studio froze. Masayoshi’s face twisted.

“Do you have a source?”

“I don’t recall exactly, but I didn’t make it up.”

“You don’t recall? This is extremely irresponsible...! You’re talking about people losing their lives, and you can’t even cite your source? Do you realize the weight and repercussions of your statement right now?”

I quietly lowered my head and acknowledged it.

“You’re right. That was my mistake. I was careless in citing unconfirmed information.”

Of course, it wasn’t a mistake at all. Those reports were indeed scheduled to surface—just a few weeks later. But what would happen if I said it publicly now?

My prediction was spot on. The next morning, every major news outlet sprang into action.

<Ha Si-heon’s Claims Proven True... Ubers Driver Murders Confirmed in Brazil and Mexico>

<Six Killed in Mexico City, Four in São Paulo Last Year... Evidence Points to Organized Threats>

This is the power of a public figure. A celebrity is always the center of attention, no matter what they do. Especially when they drop provocative or controversial statements—the media will pounce without fail.

Honestly, most of those reporters probably moved not because they believed me, but because they wanted to attack me and tear me down. But their intentions were irrelevant. What mattered was the result: that they would investigate the issue I raised, fact-check it, and publish it for the world to see.

But.

This was only the beginning. I still had much more to say.