Lyft plans to go public on March 18th, which would make it the only ride-hailing company on Wall Street. The company estimates its value on that day to be around $25 billion. It’s main competitor, Uber, is worth about $90 billion.
If things go as planned, Lyft will beat Uber in the race to go public with stock offerings. Lyft also recently bought Motivate, a company responsible for New York’s Citi Bike. The company hopes to expand its scooter and bike sharing program, but right now, winter weather is hampering growth.
Legislation that would require Lyft to classify drivers as company employees could cause investors to perceive risk. Currently, Lyft drivers are self-employed independent contractors. They are paid by the ride, not by the hour. Criticisms that ride-hailing services cause traffic problems and under-compensate workers could cause problems for the company.
Lyft tried to block New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission’s procedure for calculating a minimum wage for drivers in January.
John Zimmer and Logan Green, cofounders of Lyft, own less than 10% of the company. They are currently set to take near majority voting control, which could cause additional scrutiny. The company’s current valuation of $23 billion comes from Oceanic Partners. Lyft has about $2.5 billion in cash.
