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The Briefing

By Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

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Recent Editions

Disney CEO Bob Iger with Taylor Swift and Fortnite's Ice King. Photos via Getty Images and Fortnite.
The Briefing

Disney’s Bob Iger Enlists Taylor Swift and Fortnite to Help in Reelection Campaign

By Martin Peers · Feb 7, 2024 5:00pm PST
Taylor Swift! Fortnite! Disney CEO Bob Iger dropped the names of both entertainment icons as he ramped up his campaign to defeat the two activist shareholders—Nelson Peltz and Blackwells Capital—trying to win seats on Disney’s board. Using the power of incumbency, Iger on Wednesday unveiled a deluge of glitzy new entertainment ventures alongside... Taylor Swift! Fortnite! Disney CEO Bob Iger dropped the names of both entertainment icons as he...
The Golden State Warriors versus Brooklyn Nets yesterday in New York City. Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images.
The Briefing

Media Giants’ Sports Venture Could Trigger Earthquake in Cable and Streaming

By Martin Peers · Feb 6, 2024 5:00pm PST
Whoa! We got very big news in the television world late Tuesday, as Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox announced they were joining forces to create a new streaming joint venture for sports. By including access to programming on traditional cable channels such as Disney’s ESPN, Fox’s sports channels and Warner’s TNT and TBS, the new service... Whoa! We got very big news in the television world late Tuesday, as Disney, Warner Bros....
Snap Inc. stock figures displayed on the New York Stock Exchange floor this afternoon. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images.
The Briefing

Snap’s Layoffs Aim to Reduce Stock Comp Dilution

By Martin Peers · Feb 5, 2024 5:00pm PST · 1 comment
Hold the front page! A tech company is acknowledging that stock compensation is a real expense. On Monday, Snap said it was cutting 10% of its global workforce. As it was the latest in a very long list of tech companies to undertake layoffs in recent weeks, the news might not seem like a big deal. Like other companies, Snap said the layoffs were... Hold the front page! A tech company is acknowledging that stock compensation is a real expense....
Photo via AP
Investors Lose the Plot on Meta Stock
By Martin Peers · Feb 2, 2024 3:13pm PST · 7 comments
Photo via AP
The Briefing

Investors Lose the Plot on Meta Stock

By Martin Peers · Feb 2, 2024 3:13pm PST · 7 comments
Investors appear to have taken leave of their senses—at least with regard to the value of Facebook parent Meta Platforms. The stock rocketed 20% today, a rise fueled by the company’s robust fourth-quarter results, giving Meta a market capitalization of $1.2 trillion. (Bloomberg reported that the market value of today’s gain was the single... Investors appear to have taken leave of their senses—at least with regard to the value of...
Photo via AP
The Briefing

Meta Is Q4 Standout of Tech Trifecta

By Martin Peers · Feb 1, 2024 5:00pm PST · 1 comment
We got a trifecta of big tech earnings results today, with December quarter updates from Apple, Amazon and Meta Platforms. Of that group, Meta was the standout, reporting 25% growth in revenue to just above $40 billion, at the high end of what it had projected. Even better, Meta projected that revenue growth could accelerate further to as high... We got a trifecta of big tech earnings results today, with December quarter updates from Apple,...
The Briefing Newsletter
Get smarter about the most important stories in tech, media and finance by following Silicon Valley’s most-read executive newsletter.
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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Discord's Jason Citron, Snap's Evan Spiegel, TikTok's Shou Chew and X's Linda Yaccarino at today's U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing. Photos via Getty Images.
The Briefing

Social Media Senate Hearing: Point Scoring and Talking Points

By Martin Peers · Jan 31, 2024 5:00pm PST
It’s doubtful much of substance was achieved from today’s Senate hearing into “big tech and the online child sexual exploitation crisis,” starring a lineup of social media CEOs. As is typical, the CEOs recited jargonistic talking points and floundered when a cavalcade of senators demanded yes-or-no answers to a variety of questions. The senators... It’s doubtful much of substance was achieved from today’s Senate hearing into “big tech and the...
Photo via AP
The Briefing

Delaware Tells Musk ‘No’; Alphabet and Microsoft’s AI-Driven Earnings

By Martin Peers · Jan 30, 2024 5:00pm PST · 9 comments
Tuesday’s biggest tech news has to be the Delaware Court of Chancery’s stunning decision rescinding Elon Musk’s $56 billion Tesla pay package from 2018. The ruling, a big victory for the Tesla shareholder who sued to block the pay deal, should be a warning to all company boards that are dominated by a high-profile CEO: Make sure you’ve got some... Tuesday’s biggest tech news has to be the Delaware Court of Chancery’s stunning decision...
Photo via Shutterstock
The Market-Based Case for Covering Startups’ Financial Data
By Cory Weinberg · Jan 29, 2024 5:00pm PST · 5 comments
Photo via Shutterstock
The Briefing

The Market-Based Case for Covering Startups’ Financial Data

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 29, 2024 5:00pm PST · 5 comments
One of the foundational academic works business students read and discuss is George Akerlof’s 1970 paper, “The Market for ‘Lemons.’” Akerlof, a Nobel Prize winner, described a problem in the used car market: Buyers have less information about the quality of the car than sellers do. They can’t see the defects in low-quality used cars, or “lemons.... One of the foundational academic works business students read and discuss is George Akerlof’s...
Reed Hastings, co-founder and former CEO of Netflix. Photo by Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images.
The Briefing

How Netflix Missed Out on Succession Drama

By Martin Peers · Jan 26, 2024 3:00pm PST · 2 comments
When it comes to drama, Netflix has turned out to be a disappointment, at least for reporters. In the annals of tech CEO successions, Reed Hastings’ handoff of the reins to the duo of Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters seems to have gone about as smoothly as possible. In the year since Hastings kicked himself upstairs, Netflix stock has soared 67%.... When it comes to drama, Netflix has turned out to be a disappointment, at least for reporters. In...
Apple's Fifth Avenue store entrance in New York City. Photo via Adobe Stock.
The Briefing

Reading Apple’s Fine Print on Europe Changes

By Nick Wingfield · Jan 25, 2024 5:00pm PST
In the classic Akira Kurosawa movie “Rashomon,” four witnesses to a murder describe the event in four conflicting ways. Watching that movie would have been good preparation for the contradictory narratives that greeted Apple’s seemingly momentous news today about changes to its app policies in Europe.   Apple outlined those... In the classic Akira Kurosawa movie “Rashomon,” four witnesses to a murder describe the event in...
The Briefing Newsletter
Get smarter about the most important stories in tech, media and finance by following Silicon Valley’s most-read executive newsletter.
By providing your email, you agree to The Information’s Privacy Policy
The Magnificent Seven Steve McQueen riding shotgun as Yul Brynner takes the reigns in a scene from the 1960 western. Photo by Screen Archives/Getty Images.
The Briefing

Tesla’s Slowdown Disqualifies It From ‘Magnificent Seven’ Group

By Martin Peers · Jan 24, 2024 5:00pm PST · 1 comment
Stock market pundits may want to come up with a new name for the big tech stocks driving the overall market. The “magnificent seven” descriptor—referring to Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Nvidia and Tesla—no longer seems to make much sense. I’d like to suggest that’s because none of the company CEOs look like cowboy... Stock market pundits may want to come up with a new name for the big tech stocks driving the...
A WWE Raw event in London. Photo via Shutterstock.
Why Netflix’s Raw Deal Will Strengthen Its Streaming Lead
By Martin Peers · Jan 23, 2024 5:00pm PST · 2 comments
A WWE Raw event in London. Photo via Shutterstock.
The Briefing

Why Netflix’s Raw Deal Will Strengthen Its Streaming Lead

By Martin Peers · Jan 23, 2024 5:00pm PST · 2 comments
Netflix has put media companies in a chokehold. The streaming giant’s $5 billion deal to assume the rights to World Wrestling Entertainment’s Raw from NBCUniversal’s USA network—and other WWE programming overseas—demonstrates its growing competitive advantage over older TV companies. USA has aired Raw since 1993—with a five-year break in the... Netflix has put media companies in a chokehold. The streaming giant’s $5 billion deal to assume...
Photo via Adobe Stock
The Briefing

Chips Are Hot, and That Won’t Stop

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 22, 2024 5:00pm PST
Whenever I fly to or from San Francisco, I like to snoop on people in first class as I shuffle back to my coach seat. What gadgets are they using? What are they reading? (And, maybe, are there any confidential documents on their laptop screens? Shh.) On Sunday, as I flew back to New York from a West Coast visit, one gentleman was about halfway... Whenever I fly to or from San Francisco, I like to snoop on people in first class as I shuffle...
Photo via Shutterstock
The Briefing

What to Expect From Tech Earnings Season

By Martin Peers · Jan 19, 2024 3:05pm PST
Earnings season is back! Netflix kicks off the tech sector’s round of December-quarter reports on Tuesday, followed the week after by Alphabet, Microsoft, Apple, Meta Platforms and others. This promises to be an unremarkable quarter, with big companies’ growth rates largely unchanged from the third quarter. That’s not as true for Netflix, which... Earnings season is back! Netflix kicks off the tech sector’s round of December-quarter reports on...
Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images.
The Briefing

Why Tech’s Latest Job Cut Wave Feels Different

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 18, 2024 5:00pm PST · 3 comments
When a year or so ago tech companies including Amazon, Meta Platforms and Google announced broad layoffs—in some cases for the first time in their history—tech workers were on edge.But as 2023 wore on, there was a little sense of relief. It started to feel like the post-pandemic themes of “rightsizing” and “removing layers of management” that... When a year or so ago tech companies including Amazon, Meta Platforms and Google announced broad...
The Briefing Newsletter
Get smarter about the most important stories in tech, media and finance by following Silicon Valley’s most-read executive newsletter.
By providing your email, you agree to The Information’s Privacy Policy
Photo via Adobe Stock.
So Far 2024 Isn’t Apple’s Year—Will That Change?
By Martin Peers · Jan 17, 2024 5:00pm PST · 1 comment
Photo via Adobe Stock.
The Briefing

So Far 2024 Isn’t Apple’s Year—Will That Change?

By Martin Peers · Jan 17, 2024 5:00pm PST · 1 comment
The year is still young, but so far it hasn’t been auspicious for Apple. A federal court today ruled against the iPhone maker on its latest appeal regarding a blood oxygen monitoring feature in the Apple Watch, almost certainly meaning Apple will disable the feature on the device while it pursues further appeals. Meanwhile, on Tuesday the U.S.... The year is still young, but so far it hasn’t been auspicious for Apple. A federal court today...
Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images.
The Briefing

Why Musk Doesn’t Need More Tesla Stock

By Martin Peers · Jan 16, 2024 5:06pm PST · 2 comments
You have to hand it to Elon Musk. While most CEOs would scheme behind closed doors to get awarded billions more in stock from their boards, Musk lays it all out there. In a post extraordinary for its bluntness, Musk on Monday said on X he was “uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI & robotics without having [about] 25% voting... You have to hand it to Elon Musk. While most CEOs would scheme behind closed doors to get awarded...
Bill Ackman. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty Images.
The Briefing

What Netflix’s Stock Recovery—and Ackman’s Mistake—Tells Us

By Martin Peers · Jan 12, 2024 3:00pm PST
If you want to get under Bill Ackman’s skin right now—without mentioning Harvard University or Business Insider—ask him about his Netflix bet of 2022. The hedge fund manager’s decision in late January of that year to jump into Netflix’s stock, just as it was getting pummeled by investors unhappy with its growth slowdown, would prove to be a... If you want to get under Bill Ackman’s skin right now—without mentioning Harvard University or...
Photo via Adobe Stock.
The Briefing

Don’t Count Google Out

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 11, 2024 5:00pm PST
Is 2024 going to be the year investors change their minds about Google?For the last 12 months, most of them have preferred Meta Platforms, Amazon and Microsoft—although Google’s stock growth did outpace the market.Part of what drove that preference was the view among leading Silicon Valley investors, notably Altimeter Capital’s Brad Gerstner, ... Is 2024 going to be the year investors change their minds about Google?For the last 12 months,...
SEC Chair, Gary Gensler. Photo by Drew Angerer via Getty Images.
Bitcoin ETFs Approved After Six-Year Wait
By Martin Peers · Jan 10, 2024 5:00pm PST
SEC Chair, Gary Gensler. Photo by Drew Angerer via Getty Images.
The Briefing

Bitcoin ETFs Approved After Six-Year Wait

By Martin Peers · Jan 10, 2024 5:00pm PST
This time it’s for real! After at least a six-year wait—and a hoax post on X Tuesday—the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday granted approval for companies to issue spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds. The approval will make it easier for individuals and institutional investors to invest in bitcoin without holding it directly on a... This time it’s for real! After at least a six-year wait—and a hoax post on X Tuesday—the...