10 Billion Dollar Companies That Are Secretly Going Bankrupt

heisenberg

Earl Grey

so I guess it's true for any giant. You either fade away slowly or you go out with a big bang.
 

Lord Ba'al

Well Known GateFan
If Amazon is doing so badly then how come Jeff Bezos is so rich? And how can they stay in business if they've never made a profit? Something doesn't quite seem to add up there.
 
No offense OP but this is a shit report. I hate these type of YouTube videos because they are cheaply done with a TMZ type of style for titillation purposes instead of actual journalistic ones. The Uber expose didn't make sense as it claimed one of their biggest expenses as payroll for drivers (drivers are paid out of the fares they generate). And they also claimed that car maintenance and repair was an Uber expense. It's not. Drivers use their own cars and therefore pay for their own maintenance.
 

Lord Ba'al

Well Known GateFan
That appears to be a coherent argument about Uber.
 

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
It's baloney. Amazon for example turned a 2,4 billion dollar net profit last year.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member

so I guess it's true for any giant. You either fade away slowly or you go out with a big bang.

I did some fact checking, and despite sales growth, and Jeff Bezos' personal wealth approaching ONE TRILLION dollars, Amazon is indeed losing money. Also, that same fact finding mission revealed that Uber does indeed own a ginormous fleet of vehicles which are bought first by Uber then leased out by them to new drivers who qualify for them. They also own many commercial vehicles and limousines. Everything else in the video seems spot on as well....
 

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
Actually Amazon made profits in 2015 and 2016:

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1018724/000101872417000011/amzn-20161231x10k.htm

2017 so far is still showing profit but down from 2016:

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4092256-amazon-com-inc-2017-q2-results-earnings-call-slides

It looks like a lot of the lower profit this year ties back to outlays related to the Whole Foods acquisition.

Amazon is in a market growth phase, and I think it can come out of that pretty easily.
 
I did some fact checking, and despite sales growth, and Jeff Bezos' personal wealth approaching ONE TRILLION dollars, Amazon is indeed losing money. Also, that same fact finding mission revealed that Uber does indeed own a ginormous fleet of vehicles which are bought first by Uber then leased out by them to new drivers who qualify for them. They also own many commercial vehicles and limousines. Everything else in the video seems spot on as well....

This is the first I'm hearing of Uber owning a fleet of vehicles. Is that here in America or somewhere else? Everyone I know who drives for Uber has to supply their own car. That's kind of the idea of a "ride share program" compared to a taxi service. If Uber is now supplying cars for employees to drive that would make them a livery service and subject to a whole host of regulations that ride share programs don't have to deal with. And from what I understand Uber drivers are paid a portion of the fares that they drive, but they don't get a paycheck for hours worked or anything like that. But if Uber is now actually hiring people to drive their cars (see my comment on livery service above) then that would make them employees. Why Uber would want to do that is beyond me as it doesn't make sense for their business model which is based on ride share and not regulated livery service. (Then again, I don't really give a shit, so there ya go, lol.)

As for Amazon, they're going through a period of exponential growth and are building numerous brick & mortar "Fulfillment Centers" throughout the country. They're vigorously competing on many fronts in different industries so investment debt isn't surprising at this point. And yes, it would be in the billions of dollars because they're playing on a global scale. But I wouldn't say they're hemorrhaging money just yet. Amazon is a juggernaut right now and I'm not too worried about them. For instance, they aren't Netflix, which is limited to basically one industry. I'd definitely foresee Netflix tanking before Amazon ever does. And I'd be more apt to buy stock in Amazon before I'd buy stock in Netflix, or Uber for that matter.
 
Actually Amazon made profits in 2015 and 2016:

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1018724/000101872417000011/amzn-20161231x10k.htm

2017 so far is still showing profit but down from 2016:

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4092256-amazon-com-inc-2017-q2-results-earnings-call-slides

It looks like a lot of the lower profit this year ties back to outlays related to the Whole Foods acquisition.

I can't help but wonder if now that Amazon owns Whole Paycheck -- sorry, I mean Whole Foods, if their prices will drop and they will become more reasonable and competitive? I hope so because there's one close enough to my house to be convenient for me. Currently though I'm driving much farther to go to a competitor who has really great produce and reasonable prices.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
This is the first I'm hearing of Uber owning a fleet of vehicles. Is that here in America or somewhere else? Everyone I know who drives for Uber has to supply their own car. That's kind of the idea of a "ride share program" compared to a taxi service. If Uber is now supplying cars for employees to drive that would make them a livery service and subject to a whole host of regulations that ride share programs don't have to deal with. And from what I understand Uber drivers are paid a portion of the fares that they drive, but they don't get a paycheck for hours worked or anything like that. But if Uber is now actually hiring people to drive their cars (see my comment on livery service above) then that would make them employees. Why Uber would want to do that is beyond me as it doesn't make sense for their business model which is based on ride share and not regulated livery service. (Then again, I don't really give a shit, so there ya go, lol.)

It's here in America. They get around the livery service requirement and employee requirement by becoming the leasing company that leases to new drivers who want to lease a new vehicle for driving for Uber as opposed to using their own vehicle. The program is here:

https://www.uber.com/drive/vehicle-solutions/

The drivers using their own vehicles are the majority of Uber drivers, but the lease fleet is huge. It includes trucks, vans and limos too. By buying the vehicles then leasing them, they become a lease company and the Uber driving is not coming into play on that level. The vehicles become personal vehicles, with the lessee paying a lease payment to Uber whilst they get paid to drive.
 
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It's here in America. They get around the livery service requirement and employee requirement by becoming the leasing company that leases to new drivers who want to lease a new vehicle for driving for uber as opposed to using their own vehicle. The program is here:

https://www.uber.com/drive/vehicle-solutions/

The drivers using their own vehicles are the majority of Uber drivers, but the lease fleet is huge. It includes trucks, vans and limos too. By buying the vehicles then leasing them, they become a lease company and the Uber driving is not coming into play on that level. The vehicles become personal vehicles, with the lessee paying a lease payment to Uber whilst they get paid to drive.

Cool, thanks for setting me straight. What I don't understand is how Uber could be underwater with these lease agreements. How do their terms of leasing not include the cost of maintenance and repairs? That shit should all be written into the lease amount. Seriously, I don't understand how they could be so dumb as to get screwed with vehicle inventory and maintenance. That just doesn't make sense that it would be impacting Uber to such an extent that it would hobble the company. Something is not right here. :daniel_new004:

*Personally I would never buy stock in Uber. There's something weird going on with their management in my opinion. Amazon on the other hand I think is a safe bet, although it would have been smart to get in on the ground floor with them years ago.
 

heisenberg

Earl Grey
I can't help but wonder if now that Amazon owns Whole Paycheck -- sorry, I mean Whole Foods, if their prices will drop and they will become more reasonable and competitive? I hope so because there's one close enough to my house to be convenient for me. Currently though I'm driving much farther to go to a competitor who has really great produce and reasonable prices.

In answering your question, yes these youtube reports are sometimes lame, and aren't without their flaws, but it was just to bring up an interesting topic about multibillion dollar companies and how they survive. Target/K-mart/Zellers/Sears/Wallmart are all fading away albeit slowly. I guess that any giant can't last forever. Whole foods won't really be a game changer really. Prices of goods are as cheap as they are. Costs increase because of shipping but the margins that stores make on products are razor thin. That's why they go by selling lots and lots of them rather than smaller quantities.

I did some fact checking, and despite sales growth, and Jeff Bezos' personal wealth approaching ONE TRILLION dollars, Amazon is indeed losing money. Also, that same fact finding mission revealed that Uber does indeed own a ginormous fleet of vehicles which are bought first by Uber then leased out by them to new drivers who qualify for them. They also own many commercial vehicles and limousines. Everything else in the video seems spot on as well....

I hope that soon we will be able to just rent a vehicle rather than having to pay for registering and buying it.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
In answering your question, yes these youtube reports are sometimes lame, and aren't without their flaws, but it was just to bring up an interesting topic about multibillion dollar companies and how they survive. Target/K-mart/Zellers/Sears/Wallmart are all fading away albeit slowly. I guess that any giant can't last forever. Whole foods won't really be a game changer really. Prices of goods are as cheap as they are. Costs increase because of shipping but the margins that stores make on products are razor thin. That's why they go by selling lots and lots of them rather than smaller quantities.



I hope that soon we will be able to just rent a vehicle rather than having to pay for registering and buying it.

Wellll......I have to disagree here. The produce at Whole Foods is noticeably of higher quality. Much higher quality. As is the cheese, and the few meats they have. The price was the limiting factor. Whole Foods is Whole Foods because of quality. I do not see how Amazon is going to be able to maintain that quality at a 40% price drop. Not to mention the haughty checkout people who somehow think they get to be snobby because they are a bag boy at WF instead of Smart and Final.
 
Wellll......I have to disagree here. The produce at Whole Foods is noticeably of higher quality. Much higher quality. As is the cheese, and the few meats they have. The price was the limiting factor. Whole Foods is Whole Foods because of quality. I do not see how Amazon is going to be able to maintain that quality at a 40% price drop. Not to mention the haughty checkout people who somehow think they get to be snobby because they are a bag boy at WF instead of Smart and Final.

I think the price drop is feasible based upon what I've seen at competitors. I go to a Fresh Thyme market at least once a week whereas I haven't been to a Whole Foods in about a year despite WF being really close to my house. The produce at Fresh Thyme is great and they run really great sales. It blows WF out of the water. I think the writing is on the wall for WF what with all the new competitors so they have to change and get more reasonable price-wise or they will go under. The organic movement is getting streamlined and more reasonable every day. Whole Foods is no longer a leader and I, for one, won't miss their holier-than-thou attitude.

Check out this link. You'll probably get some version of this by you at some point soon:

https://www.freshthyme.com/about-us/
 

Lord Ba'al

Well Known GateFan
That Fresh Thyme stuff looks interesting. I wouldn't mind going to one next time I'm in USA. Last time I was there I did go to a whole foods to have a look around. Man that shit was overpriced. The only thing I ended up buying was a fresh pizza slice, which strangely for about 3 bucks and a half was not too expensive.
 

heisenberg

Earl Grey
Wellll......I have to disagree here. The produce at Whole Foods is noticeably of higher quality. Much higher quality. As is the cheese, and the few meats they have. The price was the limiting factor. Whole Foods is Whole Foods because of quality. I do not see how Amazon is going to be able to maintain that quality at a 40% price drop. Not to mention the haughty checkout people who somehow think they get to be snobby because they are a bag boy at WF instead of Smart and Final.
More healthy? How so? You mean that Organic bullcrap, Non-GMO scam? You know there has been several studies to show that Organic is just out there to get your money, right? Infact, some just repackage it but it gives people the illusion that you are getting value for your money. These companies don't make a lot of money from an individual product. They buy in bulk and then sell to the public, hoping to get a return on investment. They cut prices to remove old stock so they can recoup some if not all the cost of goods sold(i.e. purchasing price + any other historical costs).
 
That Fresh Thyme stuff looks interesting. I wouldn't mind going to one next time I'm in USA. Last time I was there I did go to a whole foods to have a look around. Man that shit was overpriced. The only thing I ended up buying was a fresh pizza slice, which strangely for about 3 bucks and a half was not too expensive.

It's funny (and sad) that Whole Foods has the nickname "Whole Paycheck". I remember years ago, before WF had started their corporate expansion, a pseudo-hipster friend of mine complained about spending $40 there and walking out with only a few items in one small bag. His delusions of helping the planet by buying organic fare at a trendy place were shattered that day.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
More healthy? How so? You mean that Organic bullcrap, Non-GMO scam? You know there has been several studies to show that Organic is just out there to get your money, right? Infact, some just repackage it but it gives people the illusion that you are getting value for your money. These companies don't make a lot of money from an individual product. They buy in bulk and then sell to the public, hoping to get a return on investment. They cut prices to remove old stock so they can recoup some if not all the cost of goods sold(i.e. purchasing price + any other historical costs).

Wrong, sorry! California has very VERY strict guidelines on what can be labeled organic, and it is not just some marketing gimmick like "New!" or "Improved!". California takes the term "organic" as seriously as it does allowing pharmacies to sell genuine medicines. California is the #1 agricultural producer in the United States, and we basically invented the whole organic non-GMO movement. Organic means no pesticides, additives or chemical fertilizers. It does not necessarily mean non-GMO, however. Whole Foods only sells organic produce, and it is noticeably higher quality. With no labels or anything, you can easily SEE the quality produce. They do not allow bruised fruit, wilted lettuce or brown spotted bananas.

Have you ever shopped at Whole Foods?
 

Lord Ba'al

Well Known GateFan
I don't eat them myself, but people are always telling me the bananas with the brown spots are the tastiest ones.
 
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