Sure he does.

1) He didn't have to buy a medallion.

2) He doesn't have to carry commercial carrier insurance.

3) He didn't need to get a CDL.

4) He "really doesn't have a boss."

5) He pays no taxes to the city.

Those four things evolved in the livery industry to protect customers from the liabilities of hopping into a stranger's horsecart and going for a ride. In many ways, the taxi industry has calcified into a throwback from another generation but in many other ways, the impediments to progress engendered in taxi services are those things that account for the externalities of the profession.

Uber, for their part, has to pay none of the fees above and gets to split the fares with your friend. It's great! They provide an infrastructure whereby individual practitioners can flaunt the law and earn a stipend on the side. And I do mean stipend:

- 62% of Uber drivers are part-time

- 51% drive 15 hours or fewer per week

- 3/4ths of Uber drivers have been driving for less than a year

Fun fact: Uber drivers make about 25% more than cab drivers, on average. Why is that, economically?

Why is it that Uber is valued at $17 billion while nobody has ever said "hot damn, I wanna get in the cabbie business?" Did they really crack the code? Or are they just circumventing the protections and tariffs that have evolved to protect the consumer and the municipality over the past 100 years of driving for hire?

Good for your buddy... but if he subtracts 66 cents a mile and health insurance, how's he do?