Uber will go public in 2019, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said Thursday.
Khosrowshahi, who in August took over leadership of the scandal-plagued ride-hailing company after Travis Kalanick resigned in June, said soon after he took over that the IPO would happen during the following 18 to 36 months. Kalanick remains on the company's board.
At the New York Times "Dealbook" conference in New York City, Khosrowshahi specified that the IPO would come in 2019.
"We have all of the disadvantages of being a public company, as far as the spotlight on us, without any of the advantages," Khosrowshahi said. "Travis (Kalanick) and the whole board now agree we should just go public. The numbers support it."
Uber is negotiating with SoftBank for a multibillion-dollar investment that would give the Japanese tech company a 14 percent to 20 percent stake in Uber, which is valued at nearly $70 billion.
Khosrowshahi said SoftBank didn't have "any particular interest" in an IPO.
"They are the ultimate long-term investor," he said.
Uber's board ousted Kalanick after Uber was engulfed by a series of controversies allegedly stemming from a reckless, misogynist company culture that led to sexual harassment, bullying and secret technology for evading authorities' oversight.
Former Uber engineer Susan Fowler, whose allegations about sexual harassment at the company helped bring down Kalanick, has a book deal for a memoir, publisher Viking announced Thursday.
