Day: August 16, 2023

Lyft CEO David Risher has bought more than a million dollars’ worth of the company’s stock, underscoring his confidence in his plans to turn around the rideshare company.

Risher purchased 100,000 shares of Lyft stock worth nearly $1.15 million, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.

The chief executive, who took over this year to help the company drive down costs, lower rider fares and ultimately boost its market share, told FOX Business that it’s the best investments he could have made.

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“I expect this to be very successful,” Risher said. “I am putting my money where my mouth is because I want people to understand, I have real skin in the game. I want to see this company succeed.”

Risher said he knows full well the challenge that lies ahead as the rideshare company, which operates solely in North America, tries to claw back market share from rival Uber.

He remains confident about the company’s future, given how strong he says his team is as well as the results from its latest earnings report.

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Among the drivers that use both apps, the preference for Lyft has shot up 25% since the last fiscal quarter in 2022, according to the company’s earnings report. There’s a correlation in preference to more drivers using the platform.

However, both active riders and drivers each reached multiyear highs, which are very significant growth indicator.

“That means that all of our customers are liking it, which is a really good predictor of the future,” he said.

Those results happened faster than he could have hoped, Risher said. Despite that, the former Amazon executive noted that the team you have is critical.

“I’m only as good as my team. And I came in with high hopes,” Risher said. 

When he took over the reins in April to turn around the company’s mounting losses, Risher immediately made cuts to the company’s workforce to help bring fares more in-line with its competitor.

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The company also shifted some people into new jobs, but the changes are paying off, he said.

“If you only had one of those factors, strong business or a good team, it wouldn’t be enough, Risher said. “If you have both of those things, then that’s why I say it’s the best investment I can make.”

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During the second quarter, Lyft revenue notched just north of $1 billion, up 3% year over year. Meanwhile, the revenue it brought in for each of its nearly 21.5 million active riders in the three-month period came in at $47.51, a decline of roughly 4.8% from the same quarter last year.

By comparison, Uber revenue hit $9.2 billion, up 14% year over year. About 6 million drivers and couriers earned a record $15.1 billion during the quarter.

FOX Business’ Aislinn Murphy contributed to this report.

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A bipartisan group of former senior U.S. national security officials urged Congress on Wednesday to dedicate resources to President Joe Biden’s recent order restricting some outbound U.S. investment to China, calling it a top priority.

Twenty-one veteran officials – including former deputy national security advisor during the Trump administration Matt Pottinger, and Colin Kahl, who stepped down in July as undersecretary of defense for policy – sent a letter to congressional leaders, calling the order “a positive step in the overdue process of limiting adversaries’ access to American capital.”

“The United States must ensure that [China] and other foreign adversaries aren’t able to use our financial dynamism and openness against us in ways that continue to threaten our national security and prosperity,” they wrote in the letter seen by Reuters, sent to Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

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The further development of outbound investment transparency and review should be “among your top foreign policy priorities”, they wrote, calling it essential that Congress commit resources to implementation.

Biden’s order, issued last week but expected to be implemented next year, is aimed at preventing American capital and expertise from helping China develop technologies that could support its military modernization and undermine U.S. national security.

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It authorizes the U.S. Treasury secretary to prohibit or restrict U.S. investments in Chinese entities in three sectors: semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies and certain artificial intelligence systems.

Peter Harrell, a former Biden National Security Council official, and former commanders of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Harry Harris and Philip Davidson, were among the other officials who endorsed the letter.

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China has said it is “gravely concerned” by the order, though some U.S. lawmakers have criticized it as having too many loopholes.

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