Finally scrappy guileless startup Google can stick it to the bloated megacorp Uber /s
It is 2megacorps fighting each other.
The 60 billion valuation means that there was an investor who was willing to put their money where their mouth is and trade X billion dollars for Y number of shares under certain terms.
But the specifics of that term sheet matter a lot.
For example, if that investor has "ratchets" or preferred shares in their term sheet, it means that they get their money before anyone else does.
Kind of like if a bank gave you a loan, but put a 100% interest rate on it.
Sounds like that might result in some inflation. I guess I could look at eventual IPO events, but that's judging the herd by the leaders.
Edit: Thanks for the clarification below. I'm dragging this page off topic now, so noting it here.
High valuation is equivalent to saying high price. The higher the valuation, the more you pay, for less of the company.
BUT, in order to get investors to pay this high price, sometimes you have to give them really good terms.
Terms like "if the company sells for less than you paid, then you get all of your money back, thus you aren't risking anything".
Early investors pay a lower price, but generally risk more. If the company ever has a down round, at any point in the history of the company, the early investors get screwed/might walk away with literally 0$, even though they "owned" x% of the company. While the later investors walk away with all their money intact.