Goldman Sachs dumped its entire stake in Uber late last year
Emailed on January 17th 2020 in The Friday Forward
In most IPOs, most major shareholders (ones that bought stock while the company was private) are not allowed to sell their shares right away. In order to keep trading orderly, early investors like venture capitalists, founders, and employees are legally prohibited from selling their stock.
This is called a "lock up period" and it usually last for 90-180 days. Once it ends, these shareholders are free to sell. And that’s exactly what many do.
This week we learned that Goldman Sachs sold its entire stake in Uber in the fourth quarter, according to a person with direct knowledge of the move.
It appears that Goldman, which reported earnings Wednesday, sold at the earliest opportunity.
The sale, which likely resulted in a large gain for the early investor in Uber, helped the bank beat analysts’ expectations for revenue in the period.