The Information

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, shown in 2017. Photo: Bloomberg

Silicon Valley Braces for Belt-Tightening

By Cory Weinberg · Dec 2, 2019 7:02am PST · 2 comments

At Airbnb’s board meeting two weeks ago, one topic took center stage: how to contain accelerating costs. It is a question that until relatively recently received scant attention inside Silicon Valley’s big-name startups. But a string of rejections by the public markets of some of the tech industry’s superstars has prompted... At Airbnb’s board meeting two weeks ago, one topic took center stage: how to contain...

ByteDance CEO Zhang Yiming. Photo by Bloomberg

TikTok Owner ByteDance in Talks to Borrow $2 Billion From Banks

By Juro Osawa and Yunan Zhang · Nov 27, 2019 8:31am PST

ByteDance, the Chinese company behind the wildly popular TikTok video app, is looking to borrow around $2 billion from banks, according to people familiar with the matter. The money would add to ByteDance’s war chest as TikTok challenges Facebook and Snapchat in the U.S. and other parts of the world. The latest fundraising comes as... ByteDance, the Chinese company behind the wildly popular TikTok video app, is looking to borrow...

Airbnb COO Belinda Johnson, who said on Friday she would leave. Photo by Bloomberg

Airbnb Lost $100 Million in Q2

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 22, 2019 3:12pm PST

Airbnb lost about $100 million before interest and taxes in the second quarter this year, a big swing from the profit of $10 million it made in the year-earlier period, according to financial information viewed by The Information. The loss, driven by higher marketing and administrative expenses, is the latest sign that Airbnb is investing... Airbnb lost about $100 million before interest and taxes in the second quarter this year, a big...

Fred Wilson, co-founder and partner at Union Square Ventures, in May. Photo by Bloomberg

Union Square Ventures Maintains Investing Edge, Returns Data Show

By Zoë Bernard · Nov 22, 2019 7:01am PST · 1 comment

Fred Wilson, co-founder and partner at Union Square Ventures, in May. Photo by Bloomberg

Union Square Ventures Maintains Investing Edge, Returns Data Show

By Zoë Bernard · Nov 22, 2019 7:01am PST · 1 comment

Union Square Ventures earned its reputation as a top venture fund by making early bets on Twitter, Zynga and Tumblr. And in recent years, the firm has maintained its performance, remaining one of the top performing venture firms in the industry, internal data show.Three USV funds raised in 2012, 2014 and 2016 showed net internal rates of return... Union Square Ventures earned its reputation as a top venture fund by making early bets on...

Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins. Photo by Bloomberg

Cisco Shuffles Cloud, Networking Groups as Rivals Loom

By Kevin McLaughlin · Nov 20, 2019 12:35pm PST

Cisco Systems is shaking up the leadership of its networking and cloud computing businesses as it seeks to better compete against rivals chipping away at its dominance, The Information has learned. The tech giant is combining its enterprise and data center networking units—which make equipment that helps companies shuttle data over... Cisco Systems is shaking up the leadership of its networking and cloud computing businesses as it...

Susanne Daniels. Photo by Bloomberg.

Airbnb Searching for TV Exec to Run Video Effort

By Jessica Toonkel, Beejoli Shah and Cory Weinberg · Nov 19, 2019 2:47pm PST

Airbnb is looking to hire an experienced entertainment executive to oversee its video programming efforts as it seeks to diversify into making TV shows, according to two people familiar with the situation. The talent search signals that the travel company is committed to expanding into entertainment.Airbnb has approached a wide range of people... Airbnb is looking to hire an experienced entertainment executive to oversee its video programming...

Fidelity’s Andy Boyd.

Fidelity Executive Who Backed Uber, WeWork, to Depart

By Kevin Dugan · Nov 18, 2019 2:31pm PST

Andy Boyd, a top executive at Fidelity who oversaw billions of dollars in investments into some of the largest companies in Silicon Valley, is leaving the mutual fund company at the end of the year. Boyd, a 15-year veteran of Fidelity who has been head of the global equity capital markets group since 2013, made his name at the mutual... Andy Boyd, a top executive at Fidelity who oversaw billions of dollars in investments into some...

Monashees CEO Eric Acher. Photo by Bloomberg

VC Firm’s New $280M Fund Shows Growing Investor Interest in Latin America

By Juro Osawa · Nov 18, 2019 10:01am PST · 2 comments

Monashees CEO Eric Acher. Photo by Bloomberg

VC Firm’s New $280M Fund Shows Growing Investor Interest in Latin America

By Juro Osawa · Nov 18, 2019 10:01am PST · 2 comments

Monashees, Brazil’s biggest venture capital firm, has raised a new $280 million fund from ultra-wealthy individuals in Latin America as well as U.S. and Asian institutional investors, according to people familiar with the matter. It is one of the biggest VC funds ever to be raised in Latin America, where local startups are attracting some... Monashees, Brazil’s biggest venture capital firm, has raised a new $280 million fund from...

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. Photos by Bloomberg

Amazon Quietly Scrapped Checking Account Plans

By Priya Anand and Kevin Dugan · Nov 15, 2019 12:37pm PST

This week, Google confirmed that it will soon offer checking accounts to its users. But one of the company’s biggest rivals—Amazon—doesn’t appear to be joining it with a similar product anytime soon. After exploring a partnership with banks early last year to offer an Amazon-branded checking account, Amazon quietly... This week, Google confirmed that it will soon offer checking accounts to its users. But one of...

Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Technologies' consumer business, in September. Photo by Bloomberg

Huawei’s Google Problem Runs Deep

By Juro Osawa and Nick Bastone · Nov 14, 2019 7:02am PST · 2 comments

The world’s second largest smartphone maker is going to have a harder time divorcing Google than it thought. Huawei, the Chinese tech giant, has been scrambling for months to figure out how to sell its phones in international markets since U.S. sanctions blocked it from using Google’s mobile services. Huawei executives... The world’s second largest smartphone maker is going to have a harder time divorcing Google...

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son. Photo: AP

Masayoshi Son, WeWork Execs to Meet as Decisions Loom

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 13, 2019 2:04pm PST

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son plans to visit WeWork’s San Francisco office Thursday as the company’s senior leadership discusses decisions including potential layoffs of thousands of employees. The leadership team also is expected to consider a financial plan to present to the company’s board of directors in the coming weeks,... SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son plans to visit WeWork’s San Francisco office Thursday as the...

The Athletic's Alex Mather with The Information's Jessica Lessin at an event last year. Photo by Erin Beach

The Athletic, Axios Raising Money as Rivals Consolidate

By Jessica Toonkel and Tom Dotan · Nov 11, 2019 1:04pm PST · 2 comments

The Athletic's Alex Mather with The Information's Jessica Lessin at an event last year. Photo by Erin Beach

The Athletic, Axios Raising Money as Rivals Consolidate

By Jessica Toonkel and Tom Dotan · Nov 11, 2019 1:04pm PST · 2 comments

Two of the younger digital media startups, The Athletic and Axios, are raising money to fuel diversification of their businesses, even as older media firms are consolidating.The Athletic, a subscription sports news site, is raising around $50 million at a valuation north of $500 million, said people familiar with the situation. The company has... Two of the younger digital media startups, The Athletic and Axios, are raising money to fuel...

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Photo by Bloomberg

Apple Eyes 2022 Release for AR Headset, 2023 for Glasses

By Wayne Ma, Alex Heath and Nick Wingfield · Nov 11, 2019 5:01am PST · 3 comments

Apple is aiming to release an augmented-reality headset in 2022 and a sleeker pair of AR glasses by 2023, The Information has learned. Apple executives discussed the timelines, which haven’t been previously reported, in an internal presentation to employees at the company’s Cupertino, California, campus in October, according to... Apple is aiming to release an augmented-reality headset in 2022 and a sleeker pair of AR glasses...

Rubrik CEO Bipul Sinha and Cohesity CEO Mohit Aron. Photos by Bloomberg (Sinha), Cohesity (Aron)

Inside Enterprise Tech’s Newest Feud: Rubrik vs. Cohesity

By Kevin McLaughlin · Nov 8, 2019 7:01am PST · 1 comment

A decade ago, Mohit Aron and Bipul Sinha were on the same team—Aron as the co-founder of Nutanix, then an innovative new data-center software startup, and Sinha as an early investor and board member in the company. Now the two are enmeshed in one of the tech industry’s most bitter rivalries. In early 2013, Aron left Nutanix to... A decade ago, Mohit Aron and Bipul Sinha were on the same team—Aron as the co-founder of...

Roma Downey and Mark Burnett. Photo by AP

Burnett, Downey Looking to Raise $100 Million for Religious Streaming Service

By Jessica Toonkel · Nov 4, 2019 10:38am PST

Mark Burnett, the TV producer behind “The Apprentice” and “Survivor,” and his actress wife Roma Downey are trying to raise $100 million to launch a subscription-based streaming service for Christian viewers, according to people familiar with the situation. The fundraising effort comes as the number of streaming... Mark Burnett, the TV producer behind “The Apprentice” and “Survivor,” and...

One of Fitbit's smart watches. Photo by Bloomberg

Facebook Held Talks to Buy Fitbit Before Google Struck Deal

By Alex Heath · Nov 1, 2019 9:26am PDT · 2 comments

One of Fitbit's smart watches. Photo by Bloomberg

Facebook Held Talks to Buy Fitbit Before Google Struck Deal

By Alex Heath · Nov 1, 2019 9:26am PDT · 2 comments

Before Google reached a $2.1 billion deal to buy Fitbit, announced on Friday, Facebook held talks to acquire the smartwatch maker, according to two people familiar with the situation. But Facebook was interested in buying Fitbit at roughly half what Google proved willing to pay, one of the people with direct knowledge of the talks said.... Before Google reached a $2.1 billion deal to buy Fitbit, announced on Friday, Facebook held talks...

A protest by Google employees last year over the company's handling of harassment charges against former executives. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google Discourages Culture Fit in Hiring With ‘Googleyness’ Update

By Nick Bastone · Oct 31, 2019 11:23am PDT · 1 comment

When Google interviews job candidates, it has long considered a handful of attributes, including the applicants’ leadership, knowledge about the roles they are applying for and “general cognitive ability.” But in a move little noticed outside the company, Google has clarified the definition of the most sacred of those... When Google interviews job candidates, it has long considered a handful of attributes, including...

Photo: Katerra

SoftBank’s Latest Real Estate Headache: Setbacks at Katerra

By Cory Weinberg · Oct 31, 2019 7:01am PDT

Cameron Lamming, an executive at property developer RAR Hospitality, knew he was taking a risk when he hired Katerra, a construction startup without much of a track record, to design and build a new hotel in San Diego. But Katerra had recently raised nearly $1 billion from SoftBank’s Vision Fund, and the startup estimated it could build... Cameron Lamming, an executive at property developer RAR Hospitality, knew he was taking a risk...

Vudu's app on an iPhone. Photo by Bloomberg

Walmart Eyes Vudu Sale

By Jessica Toonkel, Priya Anand and Tom Dotan · Oct 30, 2019 11:18am PDT · 2 comments

Walmart is considering selling its 15-year old Vudu on-demand video service, say people familiar with the situation, a sign of how the digital video business has evolved from on-demand rentals and purchases to streaming.Word of Walmart’s desire to sell Vudu comes days before Disney and Apple each launch video streaming services meant to... Walmart is considering selling its 15-year old Vudu on-demand video service, say people familiar...

YY CEO Li Xueling, holding the hammer, at the New York Stock Exchange last year when YY's subsidiary Huya went public. Photo by Bloomberg

As TikTok’s Growth Slows, a Chinese Rival Gains Ground

By Yunan Zhang · Oct 30, 2019 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

YY CEO Li Xueling, holding the hammer, at the New York Stock Exchange last year when YY's subsidiary Huya went public. Photo by Bloomberg

As TikTok’s Growth Slows, a Chinese Rival Gains Ground

By Yunan Zhang · Oct 30, 2019 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

ByteDance, the Chinese developer of TikTok, the worldwide hit downloaded more than a billion times, was the first Chinese company to challenge Facebook and Snap on the global stage. But now, ByteDance is facing a Chinese challenger of its own, a short-form video-sharing app called Likee.Launched two years ago and now owned by Nasdaq-listed YY... ByteDance, the Chinese developer of TikTok, the worldwide hit downloaded more than a billion...