The Briefing by Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

Five times/week

The Briefing

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

Get smarter about the day’s news 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

Recent Editions

Tiger Global's leaders Chase Coleman, left, and Scott Shleifer. Photos by Bloomberg

Tiger Global Reduces Value of Private Tech Bets by Billions, Documents Show

By Erin Woo · Nov 9, 2022 5:00am PST · 4 comments

Hedge fund Tiger Global Management invested at least $19 billion in private tech companies in the past 19 months, an astonishing pace in a period in which startups’ valuations were at or near a peak. As tech stocks crumbled this year, cutting the value of Tiger’s public stock holdings by half, the firm also marked down the value of... Hedge fund Tiger Global Management invested at least $19 billion in private tech companies in the...

Sam Bankman-Fried. Photo by Bloomberg.

Sam Bankman-Fried’s Late-Night Move and How the FTX House Crumbled

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 8, 2022 5:02pm PST · 4 comments

Late last night, Sam Bankman-Fried sent a message he never thought he would send. He reached out to rival Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, CEO of crypto trading platform Binance and asked him if he would buy—and save—FTX, a person close to the deal told me. By early in the morning Pacific time, he had his answer. He would be selling his startup,... Late last night, Sam Bankman-Fried sent a message he never thought he would send. He reached out...

Photo by Bloomberg.

FTX Venture Investors Fear Total Wipeout in Binance Rescue Deal

By Kate Clark, Aidan Ryan and Akash Pasricha · Nov 8, 2022 2:47pm PST · 23 comments

Binance’s planned bailout of rival crypto firm FTX has blindsided the exchange’s venture investors, who are now worried about their investments getting wiped out completely in the deal. Four of FTX’s backers told The Information that the fate of their equity stakes remained unknown, and that they were still trying to figure out... Binance’s planned bailout of rival crypto firm FTX has blindsided the exchange’s...

Photo: Bloomberg

The Days of NFT Royalties May Be Numbered; Bankman-Fried’s Twitter Influence; Who’s Using Mastodon?

By Mahira Dayal · Nov 8, 2022 2:10pm PST · 1 comment

Photo: Bloomberg

Creator Economy

The Days of NFT Royalties May Be Numbered; Bankman-Fried’s Twitter Influence; Who’s Using Mastodon?

By Mahira Dayal · Nov 8, 2022 2:10pm PST · 1 comment

Traders: 1. Creators who earned money by turning their art into non-fungible tokens: 0. Previously, those creators received a cut every time their NFT was sold—often between 5% and 10% of the sale price. But more recently some marketplaces have removed the requirement to pay royalties on NFTs. Traders love getting more for less, and no... Traders: 1. Creators who earned money by turning their art into non-fungible tokens: 0. ...

Art by Shane Burke

To Fix Social Media, Give Us a Reason to Behave

By Ali Partovi · Nov 8, 2022 9:00am PST · 17 comments

Elon Musk buying Twitter has reignited the free speech debate. Should social networks restrict what we say? Or should they allow everything and descend into anarchy? This is a false dichotomy. There’s a third option: Give us incentives to regulate ourselves. Let’s face it—we’re part of the problem. Fixing social media is... Elon Musk buying Twitter has reignited the free speech debate. Should social networks restrict...

Nine Public Tech Companies Worth Less Than What VCs Originally Invested

By Akash Pasricha · Nov 8, 2022 6:00am PST · 5 comments

At least nine tech companies that went public in the past three years—including Compass, Lyft, Oscar Health and The RealReal—are now worth less than the total amount of money they raised before going public. Let that sink in. The best example of that may be insurance tech firm Root. Venture capitalists including Tiger Global... At least nine tech companies that went public in the past three years—including Compass,...

Photo by Bloomberg.

Meta Could Be Taking a Page From Microsoft’s Age-Old Playbook

By Martin Peers · Nov 7, 2022 5:00pm PST

Investors like pink slips. Meta Platforms’ stock price bounced 6.5% today on news of impending mass layoffs at the social media giant. The rally likely reflects how cheap Meta stock has gotten—the low it hit last Thursday of $88.91 was 74% below where it started the year. Investors may also think layoffs mean Meta is listening to their concerns... Investors like pink slips. Meta Platforms’ stock price bounced 6.5% today on news of impending...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, left, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Photos by Bloomberg

Free Rent: OpenAI Deal Shows One Way Microsoft Seeds Its Cloud

By Kevin McLaughlin and Aaron Holmes · Nov 7, 2022 3:25pm PST · 2 comments

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, left, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Photos by Bloomberg

Free Rent: OpenAI Deal Shows One Way Microsoft Seeds Its Cloud

By Kevin McLaughlin and Aaron Holmes · Nov 7, 2022 3:25pm PST · 2 comments

When Microsoft in 2019 said it had invested $1 billion in OpenAI, the high-profile artificial intelligence startup agreed to develop its products exclusively using Microsoft’s Azure cloud servers. It appeared to be a big customer win for Microsoft Azure in its battle against rivals such as Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services. Since then,... When Microsoft in 2019 said it had invested $1 billion in OpenAI, the high-profile artificial...

Graphic: Shane Burke

Creator Economy

At Musk's Twitter, What’s Old Is New Again; Spotify Jabs Apple Over Audiobooks

By Kaya Yurieff · Nov 7, 2022 3:19pm PST

Surprise! Elon Musk was busy tweeting over the weekend, including his priorities for Twitter, from fixing search (pronto) to making Twitter “by the far the most accurate source of information about the world.” He also asked a user how YouTube’s monetization works and where Twitter can improve. One person noted that YouTube gives creators... Surprise! Elon Musk was busy tweeting over the weekend, including his priorities for Twitter,...

As Shopify Battles E-Commerce Slowdown, Lending Emerges as a Bright Spot

By Ann Gehan · Nov 7, 2022 6:00am PST

Shopify’s sales growth has evaporated over the past year as the boom in online spending sparked by the pandemic has dissipated. But the e-commerce software giant has focused on squeezing more money out of its existing merchants from the sale of other services. One notable way it’s doing that is by fronting money to cash-strapped... Shopify’s sales growth has evaporated over the past year as the boom in online spending...

Will lithium from Australia's Greenbushes, the world's largest lithium mine, qualify for U.S. tax credits even though it's 51% owned by China's Tianqi Lithium and just 49% by U.S.-based Albemarle? Photo: Carla Gottgens/Bloomberg

The Electric: Biden Seems Likely to Try to Thwart Chinese Battery Factories in the U.S.

By Steve LeVine · Nov 6, 2022 2:00pm PST

The U.S. badly wants an electric vehicle battery industry, and it hopes that the tens of billions of dollars contained in the Inflation Reduction Act get it there. This week we look at the difficult policy choices ahead for the Biden Administration: China holds much of the world's battery-making know-how, but many U.S. officials are hostile to... The U.S. badly wants an electric vehicle battery industry, and it hopes that the tens of billions...

Kuaishou ads in Beijing, 2021. Photo by Bloomberg

Beijing Increases Control Over ByteDance Rival Kuaishou Through Equity Stake

By Juro Osawa · Nov 6, 2022 12:51am PDT · 3 comments

Kuaishou ads in Beijing, 2021. Photo by Bloomberg

Beijing Increases Control Over ByteDance Rival Kuaishou Through Equity Stake

By Juro Osawa · Nov 6, 2022 12:51am PDT · 3 comments

A Chinese state-owned broadcaster recently took an equity stake in the domestic business of Kuaishou, one of the country’s most popular video apps, and also appeared to gain a seat on the board of that business, according to corporate records. Beijing’s actions involving Kuaishou, which haven’t been previously reported,... A Chinese state-owned broadcaster recently took an equity stake in the domestic business of...

Alexis Ohanian in Heaven, Elon Musk in Hell

Alexis Ohanian in Heaven, Elon Musk in Hell

By Jon Steinberg · Nov 5, 2022 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Hi, welcome to your Weekend!Last week, we generously offered our readers a 100% Elon Musk-free newsletter. I got a few thank you notes for that. Now I’m sorry to inform you the moratorium’s over. Yesterday was the Massacre on Market Street. The day when Elon Musk unceremoniously axed thousands of Twitter employees, all while the world... Hi, welcome to your Weekend!Last week, we generously offered our readers a 100% Elon Musk-free...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Screentime: The Millennial Tech Founder Who Wonders If She’s Too Old for TikTok

By Annie Goldsmith · Nov 5, 2022 7:00am PDT

Kathryn Minshew, founder of online jobs marketplace The Muse, has basically been on a nationwide tour for the past month. Traveling from her home in New York’s East Village, she’s turned up in Aspen, Colo.; the Catskills, N.Y.; Dana Point, Calif.; and Boston. Though some of the travel was just for fun (seeing her niece in Boston, for one), much... Kathryn Minshew, founder of online jobs marketplace The Muse, has basically been on a nationwide...

From left:Jason Calacanis, David Sacks, Stephen King. Photo of Elon Musk from Getty. Art by Mike Sullivan

Inside Elon Musk’s Wild First Week at Twitter

By Erin Woo, Kaya Yurieff and Becky Peterson · Nov 5, 2022 6:00am PDT · 11 comments

On Thursday afternoon last week at Twitter’s San Francisco offices, employees in costumes milled about at the company’s Halloween party as a magician performed tricks. Some attendees speculated that the emcee for the event, dressed in a scarecrow costume, was Elon Musk, who was then hours away from becoming Twitter’s new owner... On Thursday afternoon last week at Twitter’s San Francisco offices, employees in costumes...

Twitter offices in San Francisco. Photo by Bloomberg.

Twitter Slashes Staff in Ad Product, Data Center Management

By Becky Peterson, Erin Woo and Kaya Yurieff · Nov 4, 2022 2:59pm PDT · 2 comments

Twitter offices in San Francisco. Photo by Bloomberg.

Twitter Slashes Staff in Ad Product, Data Center Management

By Becky Peterson, Erin Woo and Kaya Yurieff · Nov 4, 2022 2:59pm PDT · 2 comments

Several key departments at Twitter were reduced to a shadow of their former selves in mass layoffs on Friday undertaken by Elon Musk, the company’s new owner, according to employees. Among the worst hit were the teams responsible for product and engineering for ads, as well as the infrastructure team that runs data centers known internally... Several key departments at Twitter were reduced to a shadow of their former selves in mass...

Graphic: Shane Burke

Creator Economy

What Happens To Twitter Spaces?

By Kaya Yurieff · Nov 4, 2022 2:31pm PDT

As a Twitter super user, Elon Musk hasn’t wasted time rethinking tools for other active tweeters. In the past week or so since completing his takeover, Musk instructed engineers to resurrect six-second video app Vine, revamp subscription offering Twitter Blue, and build new functionalities such as paid direct messages and paywalled video,... As a Twitter super user, Elon Musk hasn’t wasted time rethinking tools for other active tweeters....

Art by Clark Miller

Department of Musk Studies

Elon Musk’s Meme-Spreading, Critic-Blocking, Ego-Inflating Twitter Feed by the Numbers

By Annie Goldsmith, Margaux MacColl and Arielle Pardes · Nov 4, 2022 1:30pm PDT · 2 comments

On October 27, new Twitter owner Elon Musk posted his third-most-liked tweet ever: “The bird is freed.” (No. 1 was his infamous putting-cocaine-back-into-Coke joke. No. 2 was his free-speech bear hug to critics.) Suddenly Musk’s obsessive Twitter use became more than just a headline generator. It also offered a tantalizing peek... On October 27, new Twitter owner Elon Musk posted his third-most-liked tweet ever: “The...

Art by Clark Miller

Could Gambling on Elections Be ‘Bigger Than Sports Betting’? A Trading Startup Shoots Its Shot

By Nancy Scola · Nov 4, 2022 12:14pm PDT · 2 comments

Running his fingers through his halo of dark hair while bouncing like a kid with the right answer, Tarek Mansour explained the derivation of his company’s name. “Kel shi” is Lebanese Arabic for “everything,” he said during a recent Zoom call from San Francisco. It’s why he and his co-founder Luana Lopes Lara named their company Kalshi—because... Running his fingers through his halo of dark hair while bouncing like a kid with the right...

Composite art by Clark Miller. Photos Ohanian, Creative Commons and Roberto Faccenda.

Ohanian in Paradise: Still Nursing Old Wounds From Reddit, the Former Founder Chases a New Legacy

By Abram Brown · Nov 4, 2022 9:00am PDT · 13 comments

Composite art by Clark Miller. Photos Ohanian, Creative Commons and Roberto Faccenda.

Ohanian in Paradise: Still Nursing Old Wounds From Reddit, the Former Founder Chases a New Legacy

By Abram Brown · Nov 4, 2022 9:00am PDT · 13 comments

A while back, Alexis Ohanian, the Reddit co-founder and venture capitalist, and his wife Serena Williams, the tennis legend and angel investor, reached a compromise. They’d been working under the same roof during the pandemic, Ohanian running his venture shop, Seven Seven Six, and Williams overseeing her growing empire of endorsements,... A while back, Alexis Ohanian, the Reddit co-founder and venture capitalist, and his wife Serena...