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

A person wearing the Nreal Air AR glasses. Photo: Nreal.

China’s Nreal Air to Make U.K. Debut; Vive’s Filmmaking Tool

By Mathew Olson · Apr 26, 2022 11:01am PDT

The U.K. is about to become an early adopter’s playground. Yesterday, Chinese AR glasses maker Nreal announced plans to release its Nreal Air AR glasses there later this spring through a partnership with British telecom EE. This will mark the first new market for Nreal Air since it launched across China, Japan and South Korea late last year.The... The U.K. is about to become an early adopter’s playground. Yesterday, Chinese AR glasses maker...

Photo by Bloomberg. Art by Haejin Park

Modest Proposals

Elon Musk Is Silicon Valley’s New Hero—for Better or Worse

By Sam Lessin · Apr 26, 2022 9:00am PDT · 10 comments

The hero’s journey of ancient mythology follows a well-understood and well-documented pattern: The hero receives a call to adventure, overcomes a series of trials, encounters an otherworldly figure who helps them achieve greatness, and finally makes a celebrated return, their adventure complete, to live in peace and freedom. Silicon Valley... The hero’s journey of ancient mythology follows a well-understood and well-documented...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in 2020. Photo by Bloomberg

Microsoft Hatches Plan to Sell Cloud Services to ‘Holdout’ Businesses

By Kevin McLaughlin · Apr 26, 2022 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Microsoft has become a cloud powerhouse provider primarily on the strength of its decadeslong, deep relationships with Fortune 500 companies. Now it’s stepping up its efforts to go after business customers who haven’t previously spent much on the cloud—call them cloud holdouts—so rivals like Amazon, Zoom and Salesforce... Microsoft has become a cloud powerhouse provider primarily on the strength of its decadeslong,...

Elon’s Org Chart: With Musk Focused on Twitter, These Executives Could Gain Power

By Mark Matousek · Apr 26, 2022 6:05am PDT · 1 comment

Elon’s Org Chart: With Musk Focused on Twitter, These Executives Could Gain Power

By Mark Matousek · Apr 26, 2022 6:05am PDT · 1 comment

Elon Musk is set to buy Twitter, a move that will add to his already lengthy list of responsibilities. While it’s not yet clear how involved Musk will be in Twitter’s day-to-day operations if and when the $44 billion takeover goes through, his comments in recent weeks about transforming the social media site suggest he won’t be... Elon Musk is set to buy Twitter, a move that will add to his already lengthy list of...

Photo: Yichuan Cao/Sipa/AP

A Shrewder Musk Would Have Bought a Lithium Mine

By Steve LeVine · Apr 26, 2022 4:02am PDT

The electric vehicle industry is in a supply crisis: There is not nearly enough raw nickel, lithium and other metals and minerals to build the batteries for the millions of EVs that the industry envisions selling this decade. Every Western EV and battery manufacturer on the planet is more or less in the same jam—none has sufficient battery raw... The electric vehicle industry is in a supply crisis: There is not nearly enough raw nickel,...

Anthony Scaramucci in 2019. Photo: Bloomberg.

FTX Meets Wall Street in the Bahamas; Decentralized Twitter Is Back in Play

By Akash Pasricha · Apr 25, 2022 6:01pm PDT

Two thousand of crypto’s biggest backers and founders are flocking to the Bahamas this week for a conference jointly held by crypto exchange FTX and investor forum SALT, which is entitled Crypto Bahamas. Back in its heyday, SALT was a glitzy hedge fund conference at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas that hosted former presidents Bill Clinton and... Two thousand of crypto’s biggest backers and founders are flocking to the Bahamas this week for a...

Elon Musk. Photo by Bloomberg.

Twitter Embraces Musk—Will He Live to Regret It?

By Martin Peers · Apr 25, 2022 5:00pm PDT

Wow. It took Twitter’s board less than two weeks to traverse all five stages of grief—from denial to bargaining to acceptance—and reach a deal with Elon Musk for control of Twitter. In the end, there really was no alternative. Twitter’s routinely disappointing performance, both as a stock and as a business, truly made Musk’s offer the “best path... Wow. It took Twitter’s board less than two weeks to traverse all five stages of grief—from denial...

Art: Mike Sullivan

What YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest Results Could Say About Creators; Musk the Influencer

By Mahira Dayal · Apr 25, 2022 3:37pm PDT

Art: Mike Sullivan

Creator Economy

What YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest Results Could Say About Creators; Musk the Influencer

By Mahira Dayal · Apr 25, 2022 3:37pm PDT

Tuesday kicks off a three-day gusher of tech company quarterly results. If Snap, which reported first quarter results last week, is any indication of what’s to come, other companies will discuss pressures from the global economy. The photo-sharing app also indicated that the war in Ukraine prompted advertisers to halt spending, which hurt... Tuesday kicks off a three-day gusher of tech company quarterly results. If Snap, which reported...

Twitter's headquarters. Photo by Bloomberg.

As Musk Wins Twitter, a New Adversary Looms: Advertisers

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Jessica Toonkel · Apr 25, 2022 11:16am PDT · 10 comments

Elon Musk reached a deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion, Musk and the company announced Monday afternoon. But negotiating the deal may prove easier for Musk than owning the company. Musk faces immense challenges in reviving the 15-year-old service, which has suffered from stagnant user growth and uneven ad revenue performance for years. Ad... Elon Musk reached a deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion, Musk and the company announced...

CEO Mark Zuckerberg and a store employee at Meta's new retail flagship. Photo: Meta Platforms.

Meta Tiptoes Into Retail; How Coachella Went Bigger on AR This Year

By Mathew Olson · Apr 25, 2022 11:01am PDT

Meta Platforms may be trying to usher millions into the metaverse, but first it needs to sell more hardware—and so today comes the unveiling of a brick and mortar Meta Store, a place for the company to experiment ahead of a possible wider retail rollout. Opening in Burlingame, California on May 9, the shop nestled in Meta’s Reality Labs campus... Meta Platforms may be trying to usher millions into the metaverse, but first it needs to sell...

Wolfspeed CEO Gregg Lowe sold two big divisions to focus the company on silicon carbide chips. Photo courtesy of Wolfspeed

There’s a Piece of EV Tech Where the U.S. Has an Edge on China

By Stephen Nellis · Apr 25, 2022 10:00am PDT · 4 comments

China dominates the electric vehicle supply chain, from processing raw minerals like lithium into chemicals for batteries all the way to building finished cars. But there’s one niche where America still has an edge: chips made from an exotic material called silicon carbide. In EVs, these chips are used in inverters, which sit between the... China dominates the electric vehicle supply chain, from processing raw minerals like lithium into...

Elon Musk

Lessons from Elon Musk’s Imminent Acquisition of Twitter

By Jessica E. Lessin · Apr 25, 2022 8:56am PDT · 4 comments

Elon Musk

Lessons from Elon Musk’s Imminent Acquisition of Twitter

By Jessica E. Lessin · Apr 25, 2022 8:56am PDT · 4 comments

So where do we go from here?The richest man in the world is poised to strike a deal to acquire one of the world’s most important communications platforms, according to multiple media outlets and what we’re hearing. To say this is striking is, well, an understatement. Many questions remain about how he will manage the company; who will be in... So where do we go from here?The richest man in the world is poised to strike a deal to acquire...

From left, former Katerra CEO Michael Marks, Foxconn founder Terry Gou and SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son in Taiwan, 2019.

Bankrupt Startup That Blew $2 Billion From SoftBank Sues Ex-CEO, Board Directors Over ‘Self-Dealing’

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 25, 2022 6:00am PDT · 4 comments

In early 2018, SoftBank, the world’s biggest investor in tech startups, directed accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers to assess a construction startup in which it had just led an $865 million investment. The three-year-old startup, Katerra, was led by a former CEO of Tesla and had hired other experienced Silicon Valley executives and... In early 2018, SoftBank, the world’s biggest investor in tech startups, directed accounting...

A lithium brine pool in Calama, Chile, run by Albemarle. Photo: Cristobal Olivares/Bloomberg

Just How Many EVs Can Be Made? Far Fewer Than Expected

By Steve LeVine · Apr 24, 2022 2:00pm PDT

Save the date: In large parts of the world, when you say “electric vehicle” you don’t mean a car or an SUV, but a scooter—a two-wheeler, as they are better known. And today’s greatest two-wheeler mania of all is perhaps in India, pioneered by Hero Electric, the country’s largest manufacturer of electric two-wheelers, and its managing director, ... Save the date: In large parts of the world, when you say “electric vehicle” you don’t mean a car...

Rosie the Riveting: The Stunning Success Story of Fanhouse Founder Rosie Nguyen

Rosie the Riveting: The Stunning Success Story of Fanhouse Founder Rosie Nguyen

By Jon Steinberg · Apr 23, 2022 8:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend! If you were one of those insatiably curious kids who liked to rip apart toasters or ham radios and figure out how to reassemble them (a pretty common hobby in Silicon Valley, I’d wager), you’re going to love Stephen’s story about Lumafield. The CT scanning startup, with offices in Cambridge, Mass. and San... Hi, welcome to your Weekend! If you were one of those insatiably curious kids who liked to...

What to Expect From Next Week’s Tech Earnings Onslaught

What to Expect From Next Week’s Tech Earnings Onslaught

By Martin Peers · Apr 22, 2022 5:00pm PDT

What to Expect From Next Week’s Tech Earnings Onslaught

What to Expect From Next Week’s Tech Earnings Onslaught

By Martin Peers · Apr 22, 2022 5:00pm PDT

Farewell, FAANG. With its stock price collapse this week, Netflix became the second member of the iconic group of high-flying big tech stocks—Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google—to get kicked to the curb this year. The other, of course, was Facebook parent Meta Platforms, whose stock was pummeled after its bleak fourth-quarter earnings... Farewell, FAANG. With its stock price collapse this week, Netflix became the second member of the...

Art: Clark Miller. All photographs: Rosie Nguyen

“She Has Always Played Life on Hard Mode”: A Female Founder on Battling Poverty, Online Harassers and Tim Cook

By Margaux MacColl · Apr 22, 2022 3:13pm PDT · 1 comment

“This account is a safe space for horny women,” Rosie Nguyen announced to her 156,000 Twitter followers earlier this week. “You are loved and seen.” The sentiment was actually a bit tame for Nguyen, who’s gained a large and loyal social media following for her often racy tweets posted under the handle @Jasminericegirl. Nguyen broadcasts the... “This account is a safe space for horny women,” Rosie Nguyen announced to her 156,000 Twitter...

Broadcom headquarters in San Jose, Calif. Photo by Bloomberg

Broadcom is Under Antitrust Scrutiny from the FTC—Again

By Josh Sisco · Apr 22, 2022 1:47pm PDT

Less than six months after Broadcom and the Federal Trade Commission formally settled an antitrust probe of the chip giant, the company is back in the agency’s crosshairs following complaints that it is once again forcing exclusive agreements with customers, according to people with knowledge of the situation and a document seen by The... Less than six months after Broadcom and the Federal Trade Commission formally settled an...

Art by Clark Miller.

Scene and Heard

Dining With Apes: A Visit to the World’s First NFT-Themed Restaurant

By Brandon Reynolds · Apr 22, 2022 1:30pm PDT · 1 comment

In Southern California, it is requisite to compare any food item remotely resembling a hamburger to an In-N-Out burger. So when I visited Bored & Hungry, the world’s first NFT-branded hamburger joint, on Tuesday afternoon, I had In-N-Out on my mind. The new place, formerly a Louisiana Fried Chicken, is at a busy intersection of Long Beach,... In Southern California, it is requisite to compare any food item remotely resembling a hamburger...

Netflix's headquarters in Los Gatos, Calif. Photo by Bloomberg.

Netflix Employees Press for More Pay Flexibility as Stock Drop Wipes Out Option Value

By Jessica Toonkel · Apr 22, 2022 12:24pm PDT · 6 comments

Netflix's headquarters in Los Gatos, Calif. Photo by Bloomberg.

Netflix Employees Press for More Pay Flexibility as Stock Drop Wipes Out Option Value

By Jessica Toonkel · Apr 22, 2022 12:24pm PDT · 6 comments

Netflix’s stock collapse this week has wiped out the value of all stock options issued to company employees since 2018. It didn’t take long for employees to complain: At a staff meeting the day after the company’s earnings report on Tuesday, employees pressed the company to consider changes to existing compensation arrangements... Netflix’s stock collapse this week has wiped out the value of all stock options issued to...