Despite internal struggle, Uber is still a very popular service

It has lost a board member and fired 20 employees because of sexist comments and sexual harassment. And the company has been hit with a slew of lawsuits for allegedly discriminating against people with disabilities, for obtaining and sharing a rape victim's medical records, and of course for the alleged theft of Waymo's self-driving technology. But amid all of the disasters, Uber has hit a major milestone – it reached the five-billion trip mark.

The company announced today that 156 Uber rides that began simultaneously around the world pushed them over the mark in May. That they only hit one billion rides in late 2015 and two billion about a year ago shows that all of their scandals don't appear to be holding back business.

The 156 drivers that got Uber to five billion, one of which was giving his very first Uber ride, will be given $500 by the company as a thank you. Three billion rides over the course of a year is an exceptional amount of growth for Uber. If the company can get it together a little bit, who knows how many rides they'll give in the next year.