At least the CEO had the decency to not confirm it to his face.

I'll give the Uber Black driver a little more credit though... he's more sophisticated than the average UberX driver because he has to be. Uber Black cars have to be run by professional taxi services so this guy is likely the owner/operator of his own business.

Being a part of Uber was initially good for business but now he's realizing that they have different goals. He at least needs to make enough to cover all of his costs (which include wages for himself and other drivers), if not break a profit to potentially grow his business.

Uber doesn't need to make a profit (yet). It can continue to cut costs and lose millions as long as they continue to gain marketshare. The pay off on that marketshare is eventually transitioning to cars that don't need drivers. Anybody that drives for Uber is essentially accelerating the demise of their own businesses.