The Information

FTX co-founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. Photo: Bloomberg

Crypto Exchange FTX, U.S. Affiliate Seek to Raise $1.5 Billion

By Kate Clark, Berber Jin and Hannah Miller · Dec 3, 2021 8:09pm PST

FTX co-founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has told investors he is seeking a new round of funding for the global crypto exchange and he is also asking investors to buy shares in its U.S. affiliate, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. The new fundraising aims to value FTX at $32 billion and FTX’s U.S. affiliate... FTX co-founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has told investors he is seeking a new round of funding...

Howie Liu, co-founder and CEO of AirTable. Photo by Bloomberg

Airtable Valuation to Double to $11.7 Billion in New Funding

By Berber Jin · Dec 3, 2021 12:41pm PST

Airtable, a developer of cloud-based collaboration software, is finalizing a new round of funding that would value the San Francisco startup at $11.7 billion including the new capital, said two people familiar with the discussions. XN LP, a multibillion-dollar investment firm that backs both public and private companies, is set to lead the... Airtable, a developer of cloud-based collaboration software, is finalizing a new round of funding...

Amazon trailers at the entrance to an Amazon warehouse in Kolbaskowo, Poland, in 2018. Photo by Bloomberg

Amazon Expands Trucking Program to Europe

By Paris Martineau and Mark Di Stefano · Dec 2, 2021 6:01am PST

Bogged down by ballooning shipping costs at home and abroad, Amazon is looking to rapidly increase the number of small trucking companies that haul its goods around Europe. The internet retailer is expanding a little-known program called Amazon Freight Partner to Germany, Spain, Poland, France and Italy, and aims to train hundreds of would-be... Bogged down by ballooning shipping costs at home and abroad, Amazon is looking to rapidly...

An Instacart worker loads groceries into her car for home delivery. Photo by AP

Instacart Plans 15-Minute Delivery Trial as Rival Startups Grow

By Berber Jin · Dec 1, 2021 1:31pm PST · 3 comments

An Instacart worker loads groceries into her car for home delivery. Photo by AP

Instacart Plans 15-Minute Delivery Trial as Rival Startups Grow

By Berber Jin · Dec 1, 2021 1:31pm PST · 3 comments

For Instacart, the leading U.S. grocery delivery company, being fast may not be fast enough. The $39 billion-valuation startup is planning to launch a pilot program to provide delivery of groceries or convenience items in 15 minutes or less to U.S. customers, said two people with direct knowledge of the plan. As a part of the proposed program,... For Instacart, the leading U.S. grocery delivery company, being fast may not be fast enough. The...

Salesforce's co-CEOs, Bret Taylor and Marc Benioff. Photos by Bloomberg

Salesforce’s Taylor Will Report to Benioff, Despite Co-CEO Title

By Kevin McLaughlin · Dec 1, 2021 10:47am PST

Bret Taylor is co-CEO of Salesforce in name only, it turns out. The Information has learned that in his new role Taylor will continue to report to Marc Benioff, who is ostensibly his equal as co-CEO. The reporting arrangement, outlined in a Slack message Benioff sent to employees on Wednesday, contrasts with the structure put into place for... Bret Taylor is co-CEO of Salesforce in name only, it turns out. The Information has learned that...

SoFi CEO Anthony Noto. Photo by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan

‘Winner-Take-Most’: Anthony Noto’s Ambitions for SoFi Take Shape

By Aidan Ryan · Dec 1, 2021 6:01am PST · 1 comment

Anthony Noto has long had a knack for grabbing attention. When he was a top executive at Twitter, Noto struck a deal with the NFL to air Thursday night games, thrusting the social media service into the streaming market, to the surprise of even many Twitter employees, according to people who worked there at the time. More recently, SoFi... Anthony Noto has long had a knack for grabbing attention. When he was a top executive at Twitter,...

Fireblocks CEO Michael Shaulov. Sequoia Capital is investing in the crypto custodian, one of a trio of recent crypto deals by the VC firm. Photo: Saffello.

Sequoia Capital’s Crypto Frenzy Intensifies With Three New Deals

By Kate Clark · Nov 30, 2021 6:01am PST

Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and crypto trading firm FTX are co-leading an investment of more than $100 million in LayerZero Labs, a 10-month-old crypto firm that has yet to launch its product publicly, at a $1 billion valuation, according to two people familiar with the deal. LayerZero’s rapid rise to unicorn status, unusual for a... Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and crypto trading firm FTX are co-leading an investment of...

BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti. Photo by Bloomberg.

BuzzFeed’s Commerce Slowdown Undercuts Its Investor Pitch Ahead of Stock Listing

By Sahil Patel and Jessica Toonkel · Nov 29, 2021 6:00am PST

BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti. Photo by Bloomberg.

BuzzFeed’s Commerce Slowdown Undercuts Its Investor Pitch Ahead of Stock Listing

By Sahil Patel and Jessica Toonkel · Nov 29, 2021 6:00am PST

When BuzzFeed unveiled its planned deal to go public last June, its pitch to investors centered around the high growth potential of its commerce business. BuzzFeed, like many other media companies, makes money by inserting links to merchant websites in its articles. It’s a way for media companies to participate in the rapidly growing... When BuzzFeed unveiled its planned deal to go public last June, its pitch to investors centered...

YouTube chief Susan Wojcicki unveiling YouTube TV in 2017. Photo by Bloomberg.

YouTube TV in Talks to Add More Free Channels in Search for TV Ad Dollars

By Sahil Patel · Nov 23, 2021 6:00am PST

You won’t spot the series “Chicken Girls” from Brat TV on your regular cable service. But if all goes well, YouTube’s version of cable TV—its $65 a month YouTube TV service—will carry the comedy about teen girls in high school. Brat TV is one of several midsize digital media firms, including Vox Media and... You won’t spot the series “Chicken Girls” from Brat TV on your regular cable...

Dan Morehead, founder and chief executive officer of Pantera Capital, in Beverly Hills, Calif., in October. Photo by Bloomberg

More Institutional Investors Embrace Crypto VCs as Pantera Capital Raises $600 Million

By Kate Clark · Nov 23, 2021 6:00am PST

Pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and other institutional sources of capital used to shy away from cryptocurrencies over concerns about their use in illicit activity. Those reservations increasingly seem to be dissipating. The latest example comes from Pantera Capital, one of the first investment firms to focus exclusively on... Pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and other institutional sources of capital used...

FTC Chair Lina Khan. Photo by Bloomberg.

FTC Privacy Probe of Amazon Ring Puts Khan’s Agenda in the Spotlight

By Josh Sisco · Nov 22, 2021 9:01am PST

Federal Trade Commission staffers earlier this year recommended filing a lawsuit against Amazon over alleged privacy and data security breaches within Amazon’s Ring home security business, according to two people with knowledge of the investigation. But after Amazon lawyers began negotiating a settlement with the FTC, the agency’s... Federal Trade Commission staffers earlier this year recommended filing a lawsuit against Amazon...

A Rivian truck being tested by Amazon. Photo YouTube via Amazon.

Amazon’s Testing of Rivian Vans Reveals Questions About Battery Power and Cameras

By Mark Di Stefano · Nov 19, 2021 10:11am PST · 2 comments

A Rivian truck being tested by Amazon. Photo YouTube via Amazon.

Amazon’s Testing of Rivian Vans Reveals Questions About Battery Power and Cameras

By Mark Di Stefano · Nov 19, 2021 10:11am PST · 2 comments

The Amazon executive overseeing development of Rivian electric delivery vans says the company is on schedule to put 10,000 of the vans on the road next year, following months of testing in 15 cities. But according to one of the drivers involved with testing the vans, their range is more limited than what Rivian disclosed ahead of its blockbuster... The Amazon executive overseeing development of Rivian electric delivery vans says the company is...

From left: Walt Disney Co.'s Bob Chapek, Kareem Daniel and Peter Rice. Photos by Disney; art by Mike Sullivan

How Disney’s Streaming Pipeline Got Clogged

By Jessica Toonkel · Nov 19, 2021 6:00am PST

Earlier this fall, Peter Rice, a top Walt Disney Co. executive responsible for creating television shows for the entertainment giant, gave his lieutenants a pressing message: They needed to start pumping out more new shows for Disney+, the company’s high-profile streaming service, according to people familiar with the discussions. Last... Earlier this fall, Peter Rice, a top Walt Disney Co. executive responsible for creating...

Sherry Cola, Mark Zuckerberg and Miley Cyrus. Photos by Shutterstock

Facebook Hands Out Cash To Creators To Boost Clubhouse Rival

By Sarah Krouse and Kaya Yurieff · Nov 18, 2021 2:16pm PST

Facebook is offering to pay musicians and other celebrities tens of thousands of dollars to host sessions on its new live audio feature, as the social network beefs up its efforts to woo creators and the young people who follow them. Production companies working for Facebook, owned by Meta Platforms, have contacted music artists and social media... Facebook is offering to pay musicians and other celebrities tens of thousands of dollars to host...

Former Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy, now Amazon's CEO. Photo by Bloomberg

Andy Jassy’s Big Idea for AWS Expansion Marred by Glitches, High Prices

By Kevin McLaughlin · Nov 18, 2021 6:00am PST

Amazon Web Services became a juggernaut by helping companies move their data and applications to the cloud—meaning data centers run by Amazon. But AWS has increasingly gone after another big business: providing software and hardware to power private data centers operated by customers that aren’t ready or may never be ready to move... Amazon Web Services became a juggernaut by helping companies move their data and applications to...

KKR co-founder and co-executive chair Henry Kravis. Photo: Bloomberg.

KKR Plans to Lead Investment in Crypto Firm Anchorage

By Berber Jin, Kate Clark and Hannah Miller · Nov 17, 2021 6:18pm PST · 1 comment

KKR co-founder and co-executive chair Henry Kravis. Photo: Bloomberg.

KKR Plans to Lead Investment in Crypto Firm Anchorage

By Berber Jin, Kate Clark and Hannah Miller · Nov 17, 2021 6:18pm PST · 1 comment

Private equity giant KKR plans to lead a new investment in crypto startup Anchorage, which offers crypto custody, trading and financing services for financial institutions, said two people familiar with the matter. The Series D funding values the San Francisco-based company at about $3 billion including the investment, one person said. ... Private equity giant KKR plans to lead a new investment in crypto startup Anchorage, which offers...

OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer. Photos by Bored Ape Yacht Club; OpenSea

NFT Marketplace OpenSea Offered $10 Billion Valuation

By Kate Clark and Berber Jin · Nov 17, 2021 3:44pm PST · 2 comments

OpenSea, the most popular marketplace for non-fungible tokens, is fielding new investment offers that could increase its valuation roughly six times to $10 billion or higher, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. The New York–based company did not initiate the new fundraising process, which comes just four months... OpenSea, the most popular marketplace for non-fungible tokens, is fielding new investment offers...

Instacart CEO Fidji Simo. Photo by AP

Instacart Pushes Off Public Offering to Focus on Grocery Services Growth

By Berber Jin · Nov 16, 2021 6:01am PST

Instacart has pushed off plans for a public listing until next year or later as Fidji Simo, a former Facebook executive who took the reins three months ago, focuses on strengthening its services for grocery retailers beyond delivery, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The decision marks a shift from earlier this year, when... Instacart has pushed off plans for a public listing until next year or later as Fidji Simo, a...

ByteDance headquarters in Beijing. Photo by AP

TikTok Owner ByteDance’s Gross Revenue on Track to Jump 60% This Year

By Juro Osawa · Nov 15, 2021 11:16am PST

ByteDance's gross revenue is on track to rise about 60% to 400 billion yuan (about $63 billion) this year, cementing the TikTok owner’s position as one of the world’s five biggest online ad sellers, according to two people with knowledge of internal projections. The pace of growth is slower than it was last year, when gross... ByteDance's gross revenue is on track to rise about 60% to 400 billion yuan (about $63...

Zoom CEO Eric Yuan. Photo by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan

Zoom CEO Opposed Selling Advertising—Until He Didn’t

By Kevin McLaughlin · Nov 15, 2021 6:00am PST · 2 comments

Zoom CEO Eric Yuan. Photo by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan

Zoom CEO Opposed Selling Advertising—Until He Didn’t

By Kevin McLaughlin · Nov 15, 2021 6:00am PST · 2 comments

Of all the ways Zoom Video Communications could squeeze more revenue out of its wildly popular videoconferencing service, the company’s founder and CEO Eric Yuan made it clear there was one thing he didn’t want to do: sell advertising. Yuan voiced his opposition to Zoom ads in meetings with employees who suggested the idea shortly... Of all the ways Zoom Video Communications could squeeze more revenue out of its wildly popular...