How Uber has raised $US15b cash in a bid to starve any future rivals

It feels like almost every other week there is a new headline about Uber raising more money. "Uber Closes $US1.6 Billion ($2.1 billion) in Financing."Uber Turns to Saudi Arabia for $US3.5 Billion Cash Infusion." Last week, we got this one: "Uber to Raise Up to $US2 Billion in Leveraged-Loan Market."

If you add up all the money Uber has raised since it started in 2009 the idea was born when its founders became annoyed that they could not get a cab in Paris the ride-hailing app company is on its way to amassing a colossal $US15 billion. That's real cash, not some funny-money, paper-based valuation. (That figure is $US68 billion.)