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

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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.

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Recent Editions

Ramnik Arora. Photo via YouTube

Sam Bankman-Fried’s Silicon Valley Fixer

By Kate Clark · Nov 17, 2022 12:03pm PST

This fall, FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried traveled to the Middle East, hoping to raise boatloads of capital from deep-pocketed sovereign wealth funds. He came away empty-handed. But in the months before, he met with 100-some investment firms, successfully raising $2 billion in venture capital funding. He didn’t do it alone.“No one does [a]... This fall, FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried traveled to the Middle East, hoping to raise...

Ramnik Arora (l) and Sam Bankman-Fried. Art by Mike Sullivan.

The Man Who Helped Sam Bankman-Fried Raise Billions

By Kate Clark · Nov 17, 2022 9:33am PST · 1 comment

Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was known as a prolific venture fundraiser. But he didn’t work alone, leaning on a key lieutenant, Ramnik Arora, to iron out the details once his boss convinced Silicon Valley investors to sink nearly $2 billion into the once red-hot crypto exchange. Arora, whom Bankman-Fried plucked out of obscurity... Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was known as a prolific venture fundraiser. But he...

Photos by Getty, Bloomberg. Art by Shane Burke.

Vinod Khosla Wants More Crypto Regulation—Now

By Vinod Khosla · Nov 17, 2022 9:00am PST · 5 comments

Last week should have been all about the midterm elections, and yet the attention of the technology, banking and retail worlds were instead all riveted by the sudden collapse of FTX. I hope the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was paying attention as well. If it spurs action, this disaster may be a blessing in disguise. Until now, the SEC... Last week should have been all about the midterm elections, and yet the attention of the...

Google CEO Sundar Pichai and its HR chief Fiona Cicconi. Photos by Bloomberg and Onur Pinar.

10,000 Google Employees Could Be Rated as Low Performers

By Jon Victor · Nov 17, 2022 6:00am PST · 3 comments

Google CEO Sundar Pichai and its HR chief Fiona Cicconi. Photos by Bloomberg and Onur Pinar.

10,000 Google Employees Could Be Rated as Low Performers

By Jon Victor · Nov 17, 2022 6:00am PST · 3 comments

As layoffs spread across Silicon Valley, Google has stood out by not cutting employees so far. But as outside pressure builds on the company to improve the productivity of its workers, a new performance management system could help managers push out thousands of underperforming employees starting early next year. Managers could also use the... As layoffs spread across Silicon Valley, Google has stood out by not cutting employees so far....

Art by Shane Burke

Musk’s Part-Time Tesla CEO Status in the Spotlight

By Martin Peers · Nov 16, 2022 5:00pm PST

Whatever verdict emerges from this week’s Delaware court case over Elon Musk’s compensation as Tesla CEO, you can argue he has already lost. Tesla stock has dropped 51% since April 4, when Musk revealed he had bought a stake in Twitter. That’s more than twice as much as the Nasdaq has fallen in that period. Such a decline is a very clear signal... Whatever verdict emerges from this week’s Delaware court case over Elon Musk’s compensation as...

Paradigm Managing Partner Fred Ehrsam. Photo by Getty Images.

What the FTX Crash Means for VCs and Startups

By Aidan Ryan · Nov 16, 2022 4:42pm PST · 1 comment

The FTX saga continues to move at a blistering pace, with FTX, FTX US and Alameda Research all filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last Friday and Sam Bankman-Fried, its co-founder, resigning as CEO. We're starting to see the contagion of the FTX collapse spread to crypto lending companies including BlockFi and Genesis, both of which have halted... The FTX saga continues to move at a blistering pace, with FTX, FTX US and Alameda Research all...

From left: Flori Marquez, co-founder and COO of BlockFi, Tyler Winklevoss co-founder and CEO of Gemini and Sam Bankman-Fried. Photos by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan.

Crypto Lending Seizes Up as FTX Contagion Spreads

By Aidan Ryan · Nov 16, 2022 3:33pm PST · 4 comments

FTX’s bankruptcy is causing the financing plumbing of the crypto industry to seize up, and the fallout is quickly spreading to other high-profile companies, including Genesis and Gemini. At the center of the meltdown is a business known as crypto lending, where firms lure customer deposits of crypto by offering high yields and lend money... FTX’s bankruptcy is causing the financing plumbing of the crypto industry to seize up, and...

Virtualness co-founders Kirthiga Reddy and Saurabh Doshi. Photo: Virtualness

Former SoftBank, Facebook Executives Launch NFT Startup

By Mahira Dayal · Nov 16, 2022 2:52pm PST

Virtualness co-founders Kirthiga Reddy and Saurabh Doshi. Photo: Virtualness

Creator Economy

Former SoftBank, Facebook Executives Launch NFT Startup

By Mahira Dayal · Nov 16, 2022 2:52pm PST

Two former Meta Platforms executives are launching a new non-fungible token startup for creators. Kirthiga Reddy and Saurabh Doshi have raised more than $8 million for their new company Virtualness, The Information is first to report. It will let creators design, produce and showcase digital collectibles and will launch next year. Reddy was the... Two former Meta Platforms executives are launching a new non-fungible token startup for creators....

Photos by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan.

TikTok Is the Canary in the U.S.-China Coal Mine

By Graham Webster · Nov 16, 2022 9:00am PST

With U.S.-China relations at their lowest point in decades, President Joe Biden went into his meeting Monday with China’s top leader, General Secretary Xi Jinping, looking to “build a floor for the relationship.” The long-delayed meeting looked like it could prove to be a turning point in bilateral diplomacy, but in the tech... With U.S.-China relations at their lowest point in decades, President Joe Biden went into his...

TikTok's Los Angeles office. Photo by Getty Images

As Meta and Twitter Lay Off Thousands in Bay Area, TikTok Plans to Double Staff

By Juro Osawa · Nov 16, 2022 6:00am PST · 1 comment

When Elon Musk bought Twitter and cut half its workforce earlier this month, TikTok’s in-house recruiters approached some of the laid-off software engineers about joining the viral video app’s Silicon Valley office. Then last week, the same recruiters contacted some of the engineers cut by Meta Platforms. The outreach highlighted a... When Elon Musk bought Twitter and cut half its workforce earlier this month, TikTok’s...

Photo by Shane Burke

Why 2023 Is Shaping Up to Be a Year of Restructurings, Sales in Tech

By Martin Peers · Nov 15, 2022 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

This has been a brutal year of fast-rising interest rates and fast-declining tech valuations, contributing to the recent cascade of mass layoffs and crypto bankruptcies. Next year, though, could be even more brutal. Money-losing companies that need to raise capital may find themselves running out of options: The pressure to sell may get more... This has been a brutal year of fast-rising interest rates and fast-declining tech valuations,...

Photo: Bloomberg

Twitch’s Revolving Creator Leadership; Substack Poaches from Meta

By Mahira Dayal · Nov 15, 2022 2:00pm PST

Photo: Bloomberg

Creator Economy

Twitch’s Revolving Creator Leadership; Substack Poaches from Meta

By Mahira Dayal · Nov 15, 2022 2:00pm PST

On Tuesday we published our first Twitch org chart. It charts out more than 50 people at the Amazon-owned video streaming unit led by chief executive officer Emmett Shear. One takeaway: There’s been an exodus among the ranks of creator leadership at Twitch this year. That reduced the number of senior leaders who can liaise with creators, some of... On Tuesday we published our first Twitch org chart. It charts out more than 50 people at the ...

Sam Bankman-Fried. Photo by Bloomberg.

VCs Consider Suing Bankman-Fried

By Cory Weinberg and Kate Clark · Nov 15, 2022 8:49am PST · 11 comments

Venture capitalists who collectively plowed billions of dollars into FTX are discussing whether to sue Sam Bankman-Fried for alleged fraud, two people familiar with the matter said. A lawsuit would be aimed at recovering money to offset what shareholders have likely lost now that FTX has filed for bankruptcy. Among the questions are whether... Venture capitalists who collectively plowed billions of dollars into FTX are discussing whether...

The People in Power at Twitch After Executive Departures and a Cut in Streamer Pay

By Mahira Dayal · Nov 15, 2022 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Twitch, Amazon’s video-streaming unit, shook up its top ranks earlier this year following the departures of Chief Operating Officer Sara Clemens and Chief Content Officer Michael Aragon. That led to a consolidation of power under President Dan Clancy. The Information’s first Twitch org chart maps out more than 50 people in power at... Twitch, Amazon’s video-streaming unit, shook up its top ranks earlier this year following...

Photo by Shutterstock

The Moment Tech’s D.C. Opponents Have Been Waiting For

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 14, 2022 5:00pm PST

Talk about blood in the water. Washington, D.C., regulators and lawmakers have been chomping at the bit to put Silicon Valley in its place for years—and the moment they’ve been waiting for has finally arrived. The U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission are tripping over themselves to investigate FTX CEO Sam... Talk about blood in the water. Washington, D.C., regulators and lawmakers have been chomping at...

On chat app Geneva, users join groups based on interests. Graphic: Shane Burke

Chat App Geneva Raises Series A; Musk’s Creator Questions

By Kaya Yurieff · Nov 14, 2022 1:00pm PST

On chat app Geneva, users join groups based on interests. Graphic: Shane Burke

Creator Economy

Chat App Geneva Raises Series A; Musk’s Creator Questions

By Kaya Yurieff · Nov 14, 2022 1:00pm PST

The rise of TikTok, which prioritizes recommended videos over social connections, has created an opening for other social media apps that help users connect privately around common interests. One is Geneva, a group chat app that’s similar to Discord and Slack. As we wrote in October, Geneva and others—including SMS texting... The rise of TikTok, which prioritizes recommended videos over social connections, has created an...

Sea executives when the stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Photo by Getty.

Southeast Asia’s Biggest Internet Firm Has Laid Off 7,000 Workers

By Juro Osawa · Nov 14, 2022 8:55am PST

Sea Ltd., Southeast Asia’s largest internet company by revenue and market value, has laid off more than 7,000 employees, or around 10% of its workforce, over the past six months, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. Sea, a Nasdaq-listed company whose shareholders include Tencent, BlackRock and T. Rowe Price, had been seen... Sea Ltd., Southeast Asia’s largest internet company by revenue and market value, has laid...

Illustration by Jesús Escudero

Inside Apple’s Love-Hate Relationship With Its $4 Billion Ads Business

By Wayne Ma · Nov 14, 2022 6:00am PST · 2 comments

Inside Apple’s advertising department, there’s a list of forbidden words that sales representatives are told never to utter when speaking to clients. Instead of using the term “targeting” to describe the company’s ability to deliver Apple search ads tailored to users’ tastes, Apple asks its ad sales reps to... Inside Apple’s advertising department, there’s a list of forbidden words that sales...

The Map That Shows Which EV Battery Factories Will Be Built—and Which Won’t

By Steve LeVine · Nov 14, 2022 5:00am PST

Automakers are racing to convert their fleets to electric vehicles. By 2030, global automakers want to be producing 40 million or more EVs a year, half the global fleet. That’s sparked a secondary race among established companies and startups to supply them with batteries. The factories where those batteries are built have come to be... Automakers are racing to convert their fleets to electric vehicles. By 2030, global automakers...

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. Photo: Bloomberg

Startups Should Prepare for ‘Second-Order Fallout’ From FTX Collapse

By Kate Clark and Erin Woo · Nov 13, 2022 2:15pm PST · 9 comments

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. Photo: Bloomberg

Startups Should Prepare for ‘Second-Order Fallout’ From FTX Collapse

By Kate Clark and Erin Woo · Nov 13, 2022 2:15pm PST · 9 comments

The failure of crypto exchange FTX has prompted venture investors to issue a blunt warning to startup founders: The current economic situation poses steep challenges to companies. As a result, startups shouldn’t expect to raise new money through 2024 and should prepare for “deep cuts.” Arjun Sethi, a co-founder of FTX backer... The failure of crypto exchange FTX has prompted venture investors to issue a blunt warning to...