explaining to me the original vision behind the company. >> it was for me, my co-founder and our 100 friends to be able to push a button and an s-class mercedes rolls up that was it. but everybody wanted it. all of our friends wanted it and their friends wanted it. we just opened it up. >> reporter: uber doesn't employee their drivers. instead it serves as a technology middleman connecting them to passengers. its valuation has surpassed companies like delta and hertz but the press coverage hasn't always been so friendly. >> it was terrifying. >> reporter: just last month, a sun yore uber executive said at a private dinner uber should pay $1 million to hire opposition researchers to dig up dirt on journalists writing negative pieces. silicon valley blogger sara lacy, one of the apparent targets of the scheme. >> i've covered powerful tech companies for a long time and powerful moguls to a long time. i've never heard a plan like that detailed before.