--- description: Uber is burning through lots of money as it expands to more cities around the word. title: Uber Is Spending Cash Like Crazy As it Takes Over the World image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea6aebd58dc32d43/69888007e20a872f36a8fd00/160302_em_uber.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Uber](/tag/uber/) ## Uber Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Uber Is Spending Cash Like Crazy As it Takes Over the World by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 3, 2016 3:47 PM CUT  An Uber driver drops off a passenger at LAX, October 20, 2015. An Uber driver drops off a passenger at LAX, October 20, 2015.Robert Gauthier—LA Times via Getty Images by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 3, 2016 3:47 PM CUT Uber is burning through lots of money as it expands to more cities around the word. The ride-hailing service’s international business lost $237 million in 2014, Reuters [reports](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-tech-international-idUSKCN0W422T "undefined"), citing a regulatory filing made with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce in February. That’s a big increase over the $32 million Uber bled across the world in 2013\. Uber grew its footprint from fewer than 100 cities at the start of 2014 to more than 400 today. That growth has been especially challenging abroad. In Europe the company faces [ongoing protests](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/26/french-taxi-drivers-block-paris-roads-in-uber-protest "undefined") in France and was forced to [retreat](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-germany-cities-idUSKCN0SO2R620151030 "undefined") from three German cities last year. In China, the company trails the domestic competitor Didi Kuaidi and is losing a billion dollars a year trying to compete, according to Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. It’s unclear how Uber’s U.S. business is performing, but financial documents [leaked](http://gawker.com/here-are-the-internal-documents-that-prove-uber-is-a-mo-1704234157 "undefined") last year show that the company lost more than $100 million during the second quarter of 2014\. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4246361/uber-spending/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4246361/uber-spending/"},"headline":"Uber Is Spending Cash Like Crazy As it Takes Over the World","datePublished":"2016-03-03T15:47:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:49:35.485Z","description":"The company is battling regulators in Europe and formidable competitors in China","url":"https://time.com/4246361/uber-spending/","keywords":["Uber","Tech","apps","China","International","ride sharing"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea6aebd58dc32d43/69888007e20a872f36a8fd00/160302_em_uber.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Victor Luckerson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea6aebd58dc32d43/69888007e20a872f36a8fd00/160302_em_uber.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"160302_EM_Uber","caption":"An Uber driver drops off a passenger at LAX, October 20, 2015.","creditText":"Robert Gauthier—LA Times via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/uber/","name":"Uber"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4246361/uber-spending/","name":"Uber Is Spending Cash Like Crazy As it Takes Over the World"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Tech Time: Why Everyone's Fighting About Uber","description":"TIME Tech Editor Alex Fitzpatrick weighs in on the great Uber fight.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/4grKANnC/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-08-11T12:12:21.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/4grKANnC.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4246361/uber-spending/","duration":"PT2M33S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4246361/uber-spending/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```