DoorDash’s $17 Billion Instacart Order Now ‘Being Prepared,’ Estimated Arrival 2028

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — DoorDash confirmed Thursday that its $17 billion order for Instacart has been received and is “being prepared,” with an estimated arrival window of sometime between the end of 2027 and the first half of 2028.

The delivery company placed the order early Thursday morning. Within minutes, shareholders received a push notification reading “Your Instacart is on its way,” followed eleven minutes later by a second one: “Your Dasher is waiting on the Federal Trade Commission.”

That Dasher, Reginald Handoff, 41, of Daly City, said he accepted the job because the app listed it as 2.1 miles. “It didn’t mention the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act,” said Handoff, who has spent most of the day in a government waiting room holding an insulated bag on his lap. “I’ve got a granola bar and a phone charger. I’ll be fine until the second quarter.”

The order’s tracking page lists every stop the purchase must make before delivery, including Instacart shareholders, U.S. antitrust regulators, Canada, and Israel. In the delivery instructions field, DoorDash has typed “Leave at door. Do not ring. Regulators are sleeping.”

Instacart investors will receive $65 a share, a 26% premium that a company spokesperson described as “basically the tip.” A regulatory filing shows that Instacart would owe $650 million if it cancels the order, while DoorDash would owe $1.25 billion, which analysts noted is still less than the service fee.

New York City’s consumer protection department called the merger part of a “troubling trend” of corporate consolidation, then asked whether the combined app would at least stop charging a separate fee for the bag.

Hours after this story was filed, Handoff had been moved to a second waiting room, and his estimated arrival had been updated to “Soon.”