Michael Hiltzik: Uber's IPO filing shows it's looking for the greater fools
The long-anticipated initial public offering filing Thursday by uber-unicorn Uber, the big ride-sharing company, evokes two principles.
One is Wall Street's "greater fool" principle, which holds that any investment's value can be justified if one thinks that a greater fool can be gulled into buying it at that price or higher. The other derives more from gaming: It says that if you look around the table and can't spot the sucker, it's you.
That's not investment advice about the Uber IPO. Greater fools always are thick on the ground in the investment world, and sometimes even suckers can walk away in the black. But the Uber disclosure statement does suggest that the excitement about this stock offering has almost nothing to do with its business prospects.
Uber's approaching IPO aims
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