Uber valued at about $51 billion after latest funding round: Report

Uber Technologies Inc has closed a new round of funding that values the online taxi-hailing company at nearly $51 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Uber raised close to $1 billion in the round, bringing its total funding to more than $5 billion, WSJ reported on Friday, citing one of the people. Investors in the latest round include Microsoft and the Indian media conglomerate Bennett Coleman & Co’s Times Internet, the report said. However, Bloomberg, citing a person with knowledge of the matter, reported that Microsoft was considering the investment and hasn’t made a final decision. “We filed to authorise this new funding more than two months ago,” Kristin Carvell, a spokeswoman for Uber said in an email. “We aren’t commenting on additional speculation,” she said. Uber said in March that Times Internet would invest “well under” one billion rupees ($16 million) as part of a “strategic partnership”. Times Internet is the digital arm of Bennett Coleman & Co, which also runs India’s largest English language daily, “Times of India”. Uber said on Thursday it would invest $1 billion in India over the next nine months, as it looks to expand its services in its biggest market outside the United States. Uber, which already has investors such as Google and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, operates in 57 countries. Times Internet couldn’t be reached for comment outside regular business hours. Microsoft declined to comment. Reuters