The beleaguered ridesharing company Uber took a much-needed victory lap Thursday, announcing it has completed 5 billion trips worldwide.
The San Francisco, Calif.-based firm says it reached the milestone Saturday, May 20. 156 simultaneous trips at exactly 7:29:06 a.m. GMT put Uber over the mark.
The 156 trips happened in over 24 countries on six continents. Uber reported that six of them were users’ first trips with the app. The shortest trip was just under three blocks, and longest spanned over half the country’s width (the 27 kilometer ride took place in Singapore, which is just 50 kilometers wide.)
Uber said it is thanking the 156 drivers on the trips by giving them each $500.
The ridesharing company launched in 2010 and reached its first billion rides in 2015. The company doubled that number just six months later.
But Uber’s announcement comes at a time of crisis for the company. Kalanick resigned June 21 under investor pressure over his leadership while the company faces allegations of a sexist work environment, intellectual property theft and regulatory evasion. Even after Kalanick’s departure, those issues will cast a shadow over the firm. Meanwhile, a host of other top-level positions are also currently unfilled.
