Exclusive

Page 116
Uber CFO Nelson Chai. Photo by Uber.
Exclusive

Uber’s CFO in Spotlight Ahead of IPO

By Amir Efrati · May 8, 2019 7:00am PDT
In the past couple of months, in the run up to Uber's IPO this week, Uber employees on occasion have asked CFO Nelson Chai during internal meetings whether they should sell their shares once they’re able to, when lock-up restrictions lapse six months after the company goes public. Rather than exhort employees to hold onto their stock,... In the past couple of months, in the run up to Uber's IPO this week, Uber employees on...
Exclusive

Google’s New Plan to Challenge Amazon for Shoppers

By Priya Anand · May 3, 2019 7:00am PDT · 3 comments
Google has struggled for years to build an online shopping business that can seriously compete with Amazon. Now, as Google’s prized advertising business faces a growing threat from Amazon, the search giant is planning new steps to bolster its shopping presence. Google is testing a new feature on its YouTube video service that displays... Google has struggled for years to build an online shopping business that can seriously compete...
Kevin Reilly, chief creative officer for WarnerMedia's new streaming service. Photo by AP
Exclusive

WarnerMedia Taps Lionsgate and Fox Execs for Streaming Service

By Beejoli Shah and Jessica Toonkel · May 2, 2019 1:32pm PDT
AT&T’s WarnerMedia is ramping up hiring and programming efforts for its upcoming streaming service, as it prepares to go head to head with Netflix, Amazon and Disney. To help develop new shows for the service, WarnerMedia has hired Jennifer O’Connell, the former executive vice president of alternative programming at Lionsgate,... AT&T’s WarnerMedia is ramping up hiring and programming efforts for its upcoming...
Uber’s Biggest IPO Winners
By Amir Efrati · Apr 30, 2019 7:01am PDT · 5 comments
Exclusive

Uber’s Biggest IPO Winners

By Amir Efrati · Apr 30, 2019 7:01am PDT · 5 comments
In the decade since its founding, Uber has raised $14 billion in equity funding, one of the biggest sums in private tech history. And Uber's investors are likely to see equally history-making returns from its IPO.Uber is expected to go public next week at a valuation of more than $80 billion. The biggest winners include some investors well... In the decade since its founding, Uber has raised $14 billion in equity funding, one of the...
Inside an iPhone. Photo by Bloomberg
Exclusive

Apple Executive Responsible for 5G Efforts Departs

By Aaron Tilley and Wayne Ma · Apr 29, 2019 12:32pm PDT · 1 comment
A longtime Apple hardware engineering leader who oversaw a key wireless component inside its devices has left the company, The Information has learned. The executive, Rubén Caballero, was until recently in charge of working with suppliers to integrate the modems that connect iPhones wirelessly to the internet. That part of Apple’s... A longtime Apple hardware engineering leader who oversaw a key wireless component inside its...
Xandr chief Brian Lesser. Photo by AT&T. Illustration by Mike Sullivan
Exclusive

Inside AT&T’s Effort to Revolutionize TV Advertising

By Jessica Toonkel · Apr 26, 2019 6:32am PDT · 2 comments
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson hopes to transform the telecom giant into a media powerhouse with the help of a new targeted advertising business. But he’s run into a major snag: Rival TV networks and major cable operators, which he needs to support the new business, don’t want to play along. Some, like Comcast and a separate... AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson hopes to transform the telecom giant into a media powerhouse with...
Exclusive

China Tech Has Hangover From Last Year’s IPO Party

By Yunan Zhang, Juro Osawa and Shai Oster · Apr 25, 2019 11:16am PDT · 1 comment
Last year, Chinese tech giants such as smartphone maker Xiaomi and on-demand services app Meituan Dianping hogged the global IPO spotlight with some of the world’s biggest initial public offerings. But this year, few blockbuster China tech IPOs are in the pipeline, and Silicon Valley is retaking center stage as startup unicorns such as... Last year, Chinese tech giants such as smartphone maker Xiaomi and on-demand services app Meituan...
Apple CEO Tim Cook on stage at Apple's news and video presentation last month. Photo by Bloomberg.
Apple Slashed Amazon Cloud Spending 50 Percent in Bid for Self-Sufficiency
By Amir Efrati and Kevin McLaughlin · Apr 25, 2019 6:31am PDT · 8 comments
Apple CEO Tim Cook on stage at Apple's news and video presentation last month. Photo by Bloomberg.
Exclusive

Apple Slashed Amazon Cloud Spending 50 Percent in Bid for Self-Sufficiency

By Amir Efrati and Kevin McLaughlin · Apr 25, 2019 6:31am PDT · 8 comments
Apple has cut its spending on Amazon Web Services dramatically over the past year, to around $370 million in 2018 from $775 million in 2017, according to a person with direct knowledge of the figures. The reduction is partly due to Apple’s decision to operate more of its own cloud services, in keeping with the company’s broader... Apple has cut its spending on Amazon Web Services dramatically over the past year, to around $370...
Amnon Shashua, co-founder and chief technology officer of Mobileye, speaks at a conference last year. Photo by Bloomberg
Exclusive

Layoffs Hit an Intel Autonomous Vehicle Team, but Investments Continue

By Aaron Tilley · Apr 24, 2019 5:24pm PDT · 1 comment
Intel has laid off several dozen employees in a Silicon Valley research lab focused on autonomous vehicles as it seeks to reduce overlapping efforts inside the company, The Information has learned. Despite the layoffs, which were confirmed by Intel, the company isn’t backing away from its work on autonomous vehicles. It has begun... Intel has laid off several dozen employees in a Silicon Valley research lab focused on autonomous...
An Amazon warehouse. Photo by Bloomberg
Exclusive

Amazon Tests Program to Combat Patent Infringement

By Priya Anand · Apr 24, 2019 11:00am PDT · 1 comment
Amazon is testing a new program that allows merchants on its marketplace who are victimized by cheap, patent-violating knockoffs to get them removed in a few months for just a few thousand dollars or less—much faster and cheaper than a typical legal process.The new program, which Amazon has been testing since at least the fall, connects a... Amazon is testing a new program that allows merchants on its marketplace who are victimized by...
Sonder CEO Francis Davidson. Photo: Sonder
Exclusive

Sonder and Knotel Near Deals as Real Estate Startups Snap Up Funding

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 24, 2019 6:31am PDT · 5 comments
A new breed of real-estate focused startups is attracting a sudden flood of venture money.The group includes Sonder, a travel rental firm which is finalizing a deal to raise more than $200 million from investors such as Fidelity Investments, according to people familiar with the matter. Just days ago Lyric, a short-term rentals manager,... A new breed of real-estate focused startups is attracting a sudden flood of venture money.The...
Zap's radiosurgery device. Photo by Zap
Zap Surgical, Backed by Foxconn, Seeks New Funding
By Wayne Ma · Apr 22, 2019 10:38am PDT
Zap's radiosurgery device. Photo by Zap
Exclusive

Zap Surgical, Backed by Foxconn, Seeks New Funding

By Wayne Ma · Apr 22, 2019 10:38am PDT
Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn Technology, lost both his first wife and brother to cancer. The deaths galvanized him to invest in a radiosurgery startup founded by the American neurosurgeon who helped treat his brother.  Now the startup, Zap Surgical Systems, which recently came out of stealth... Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn Technology, lost both...
Mike Sullivan
Exclusive

Bug Juice, Amazon Envy: Inside Airbnb’s Engineering Challenges

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 19, 2019 6:30am PDT · 3 comments
Airbnb software engineers were struggling a couple of years ago to keep up with the number of technical glitches that were piling up with the site. At one point, employees halted all work on new features for a week to try to fix bugs in the code. To toast the effort, CEO Brian Chesky drank a cup of liquefied bugs—one for every problem... Airbnb software engineers were struggling a couple of years ago to keep up with the number of...
Illustration by J. Claeys
Exclusive

Lyft Moves to Restrict Employee Access to Customer Data

By Matt Drange · Apr 16, 2019 6:32am PDT · 1 comment
When employees at Lyft log into their computer to look up information about a Lyft customer or driver nowadays, a warning message flashes on their screen with a reminder that their actions are logged and could be audited. Introducing the warning is just one of a series of changes Lyft has made over the past year to better protect customer... When employees at Lyft log into their computer to look up information about a Lyft customer or...
A PAX Labs vaporizer. Photo by Bloomberg
Exclusive

PAX Labs in Talks to Raise Around $400 Million

By Zoë Bernard · Apr 15, 2019 1:33pm PDT
PAX Labs, the maker of a popular line of devices for vaping cannabis, is close to raising over $400 million in a financing round that values the company at around $1.3 billion, according to two people familiar with the deal. Initially, the San Francisco-based company had sought to raise $150 million in capital, according to a presentation for... PAX Labs, the maker of a popular line of devices for vaping cannabis, is close to raising over...
ConsenSys CEO Joseph Lubin in 2017. Photo: AP
ConsenSys Seeks $200 Million From Investors After Bumpy Year
By Jon Victor · Apr 15, 2019 11:59am PDT
ConsenSys CEO Joseph Lubin in 2017. Photo: AP
Exclusive

ConsenSys Seeks $200 Million From Investors After Bumpy Year

By Jon Victor · Apr 15, 2019 11:59am PDT
The cryptocurrency company ConsenSys is trying to raise $200 million from outside investors, according to several people with knowledge of the plans, as the startup looks to chart a new course just months after a widely publicized restructuring that included layoffs of around 13% of its staff.The pitch might be an uphill battle for the company,... The cryptocurrency company ConsenSys is trying to raise $200 million from outside investors,...
Amazon's Beth Galetti, center. Photo by Amazon
Exclusive

Amazon’s Talent Scout Has Tech’s Toughest HR Job

By Priya Anand · Apr 10, 2019 6:30am PDT · 1 comment
Last month, Amazon’s top human resources executive, Beth Galetti, told a group of employees at a company all-hands meeting how seriously she takes Amazon’s leadership principles, a collection of 14 company proverbs with titles like “bias for action” and “have backbone; disagree and commit.” Ms. Galetti told... Last month, Amazon’s top human resources executive, Beth Galetti, told a group of employees...
Customers in Beijing used JDPay electronic payment apps on their smartphones last year to pay at a 7FRESH grocery store operated by JD.com. Photo: AP
Exclusive

Deep Cuts Planned at China’s JD.com

By Juro Osawa and Yunan Zhang · Apr 9, 2019 8:32am PDT · 2 comments
Chinese online retail giant JD.com is working on a substantial round of layoffs that could slash the workforce of some teams by half, according to people briefed on the matter. In total, JD.com could cut up to 8% of its 150,000-plus workforce, or more than 12,000 jobs, according to investors in the Nasdaq-listed company. While it isn’t... Chinese online retail giant JD.com is working on a substantial round of layoffs that could slash...
Exclusive

How Iger Broke Disney’s Netflix Addiction

By Tom Dotan and Jessica Toonkel · Apr 9, 2019 6:32am PDT · 5 comments
In the spring of 2015, Tom Staggs, who had just become Disney’s chief operating officer, held a strategy discussion with his top TV executives about the future of television. Mr. Staggs issued warnings about Disney’s licensing of TV shows to Netflix, worrying that the entertainment giant was selling Netflix “the bullets”... In the spring of 2015, Tom Staggs, who had just become Disney’s chief operating officer,...
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Photo by Bloomberg
Ten Questions Uber’s IPO Investors Should Ask
By Amir Efrati · Apr 8, 2019 6:32am PDT · 7 comments
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Photo by Bloomberg
Exclusive

Ten Questions Uber’s IPO Investors Should Ask

By Amir Efrati · Apr 8, 2019 6:32am PDT · 7 comments
Uber, which is expected to follow its smaller U.S. rival Lyft to the public market in the next month or so, could get a valuation of $110 billion based on where Lyft is now trading. But valuing Uber will be tougher than figuring out Lyft. Uber is a bigger, more global company with a fast-growing hot-food delivery business and a costly... Uber, which is expected to follow its smaller U.S. rival Lyft to the public market in the next...