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

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Recent Editions

Twitter's former CFO Anthony Noto. Photo by Bloomberg.

What Twitter’s $809.5 Million Legal Payout Tells Us

By Martin Peers · Sep 20, 2021 5:00pm PDT

It’s tempting to view Twitter’s $809.5 million settlement today of a shareholder lawsuit—which alleged that top executives misled investors with overly optimistic statements about user growth—as a meaningful development. The news media spends much of its time obsessing over the massive gulf between company executives’ public statements and... It’s tempting to view Twitter’s $809.5 million settlement today of a shareholder lawsuit—which...

Coinbase and Bitcoin signage in New York this April. Photo by Bloomberg

Coinbase Backs Down Against SEC; Robinhood Tests Wallet

By Hannah Miller · Sep 20, 2021 4:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Coinbase has decided not to launch its lending product after CEO Brian Armstrong said earlier this month that the Securities and Exchange Commission threatened to sue the cryptocurrency exchange if it released Lend, which planned to offer a 4% annual yield to people who lent their USD Coin cryptocurrency to Coinbase.The move is a big win for the... Coinbase has decided not to launch its lending product after CEO Brian Armstrong said earlier...

What’s Hot and Cold in the SPAC Market

By Aidan Ryan · Sep 20, 2021 9:01am PDT

After a frenetic beginning to 2021, the special purpose acquisition company market has cooled off in recent months, with fewer SPACs filing to go public and many pre-deal shares trading below their $10 issue price. And we’re now seeing the aftereffects of the SPAC meltdown: in particular, an evaporation of SPACs looking to combine with... After a frenetic beginning to 2021, the special purpose acquisition company market has cooled off...

Asia Innovations Group co-founder and CEO Andy Tian. Photo by Asia Innovations Group

More TikToks? Consumer Apps Developed in China Find Customers Overseas

By Shai Oster · Sep 20, 2021 6:01am PDT

Asia Innovations Group co-founder and CEO Andy Tian. Photo by Asia Innovations Group

More TikToks? Consumer Apps Developed in China Find Customers Overseas

By Shai Oster · Sep 20, 2021 6:01am PDT

For years, it seemed China’s mighty consumer app giants couldn’t figure out how to expand overseas. Alibaba, Tencent and many others famously failed. That changed when ByteDance turned TikTok into a global hit. But it’s not just TikTok. China’s software engineers and product managers are starting to crack the code and are... For years, it seemed China’s mighty consumer app giants couldn’t figure out how to...

Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg

Why Elon Musk Should Refund $2.3 Billion to Customers of Full Self-Driving

By Steve LeVine · Sep 19, 2021 2:00pm PDT

Welcome back to the paid beta of The Electric. We're building this for you, so please do let us know what you think. We're eager to hear your feedback, as we aim to create the best source of insight into EVs and battery technology available. Just reply directly to this email. I am always reachable at [email protected]. Why... Welcome back to the paid beta of The Electric. We're building this for you, so please do let...

Why the Press Could Fail

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 18, 2021 7:45am PDT · 11 comments

As a news entrepreneur, I’ve spent most of the last eight years focused on the business model challenges to our industry, which have been seismic. I’ve argued, again and again, that quality journalism won’t survive unless publishers stop trying to game algorithms for ad dollars and start holding themselves to a higher bar: journalism worth... As a news entrepreneur, I’ve spent most of the last eight years focused on the business model...

Zoom CEO Eric Yuan. Photo by Bloomberg

Zoom Video’s Stock Decline Raises Questions About Five9 Deal

By Martin Peers · Sep 17, 2021 5:01pm PDT · 1 comment

How Zoom Video’s star has fallen. The videoconferencing hit of the pandemic is on the outs with investors, not horribly but enough that it may have trouble winning over shareholders of Five9. That’s the contact-center software firm Zoom proposed buying in July for a price then estimated at $14.7 billion. A 20% drop in Zoom’s stock price since... How Zoom Video’s star has fallen. The videoconferencing hit of the pandemic is on the outs with...

Chart by Mike Sullivan

The Information Investigation: Amazon Delivery Stations Have More Than Double the Injury Rate of Other Warehouses

By Paris Martineau · Sep 17, 2021 11:26am PDT

Chart by Mike Sullivan

The Information Investigation: Amazon Delivery Stations Have More Than Double the Injury Rate of Other Warehouses

By Paris Martineau · Sep 17, 2021 11:26am PDT

Working at an Amazon warehouse is more dangerous than working at the typical warehouse. But working at an Amazon delivery station, a small shipping hub where delivery vans whiz in and out daily, appears to be the most hazardous warehouse job of all. In 2019 and 2020, injury rates at Amazon delivery stations were more than double the... Working at an Amazon warehouse is more dangerous than working at the typical warehouse. But...

Insight Partners, Venture Capital’s ‘Sleeping Giant,’ Wakes Up

By Kate Clark · Sep 17, 2021 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

In 2009, a 23-year-old analyst at Insight Partners walked out of the private equity and venture capital firm’s New York headquarters for the last time—with heaps of proprietary data in tow. The junior deal maker had downloaded information from Insight’s database of private company information dating back to its 1995 founding,... In 2009, a 23-year-old analyst at Insight Partners walked out of the private equity and venture...

DoorDash CEO Tony Xu talking at a conference in 2019. Photo by Bloomberg.

DoorDash Passes Uber in Market Cap—And What That Means

By Martin Peers · Sep 16, 2021 5:00pm PDT

DoorDash shares today hit their highest level since the company went public last December. At $221.50, DoorDash shares are worth more than double the IPO price, valuing the company at $74.8 billion in market cap. For those who see life as a contest, that means DoorDash is worth a tad more than Uber, which is a significantly bigger and more... DoorDash shares today hit their highest level since the company went public last December. At...

Illustration by Mike Sullivan

Coinbase to Expand Into Derivatives; China Snuffs Out More Miners; Revolut Pays WeWork in Bitcoin

By Hannah Miller · Sep 16, 2021 2:59pm PDT

Coinbase is going even further to distinguish itself from other cryptocurrency exchanges in the U.S. The company said in a tweet late Wednesday that it plans to offer futures and derivatives trading. It filed an application that day with the National Futures Association to register as a futures commission merchant under the name Coinbase... Coinbase is going even further to distinguish itself from other cryptocurrency exchanges in the...

Sweden's Hallwyl Museum, digitized as a 3D puzzle made for VR. Credit: Realities.io

How VR Puzzle Makers Realities.io Pieced Together a Hit Game

By Mathew Olson · Sep 16, 2021 11:01am PDT · 1 comment

Sweden's Hallwyl Museum, digitized as a 3D puzzle made for VR. Credit: Realities.io

How VR Puzzle Makers Realities.io Pieced Together a Hit Game

By Mathew Olson · Sep 16, 2021 11:01am PDT · 1 comment

The origin story behind the VR game Puzzling Places is a fun one. Realities.io, the game’s creators, experienced a bug that jumbled the various parts of a 3D photogrammetry scan like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Looking at the results, one team member joked it could be a game.That epiphany was just the start of a larger puzzle for the team. Even... The origin story behind the VR game Puzzling Places is a fun one. Realities.io, the game’s...

Photo by Bloomberg

Apple Poised to Gain More Market Share Amid Chip Crunch, New Survey Shows

By Sarah Krouse · Sep 16, 2021 8:20am PDT · 1 comment

As Apple prepares to release the latest generation of its iPhone this fall, it is starting to feel the pinch Android makers have been feeling for months from the global chip shortage. Still, new survey results suggest the chip crunch is hitting other manufacturers of high-end phones such as Samsung Electronics much harder, and the problems are... As Apple prepares to release the latest generation of its iPhone this fall, it is starting to...

Didi Global's offices in Hangzhou, China. Photo by Bloomberg

Could Didi List in Hong Kong to Stop Bleeding for Shareholders?

By Juro Osawa and Shai Oster · Sep 16, 2021 6:01am PDT · 1 comment

Could the path to relief for Didi Global’s beleaguered shareholders run through Hong Kong? It’s a pressing question as Full Truck Alliance, a U.S.-listed Chinese commercial freight company, which like Didi is under cybersecurity investigation by Chinese authorities, explores with bankers the possibility of listing its shares in Hong... Could the path to relief for Didi Global’s beleaguered shareholders run through Hong Kong?...

Goldman CEO David Solomon. Photo by Bloomberg

Goldman’s GreenSky Purchase Shows Blue Sky Belief in Online Lending

By Martin Peers · Sep 15, 2021 5:00pm PDT

It’s a good time to be in the business of lending people money to buy stuff online, at least if you’re one of those credit-card alternatives that have reclaimed the age-old term “buy now, pay later.” Until recently, some of these companies couldn’t get the time of day from investors. But that’s all changed. Take today’s deal, Goldman Sachs’ $2.2... It’s a good time to be in the business of lending people money to buy stuff online, at least if...

Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal. Photo: Mythical Entertainment Illustration: Mike Sullivan

Jellysmack Hires MTV Ex-Exec; Q&A With Rhett & Link; Discord’s Pre-Public Moves

By Kaya Yurieff · Sep 15, 2021 4:22pm PDT

Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal. Photo: Mythical Entertainment Illustration: Mike Sullivan

Creator Economy

Jellysmack Hires MTV Ex-Exec; Q&A With Rhett & Link; Discord’s Pre-Public Moves

By Kaya Yurieff · Sep 15, 2021 4:22pm PDT

The explosion of interest in the creator sector has shown up in job listings data. In the past three years, job opportunities with the word creator in the title or description have soared 4,645 times, to 92,900 positions, according to data firm Thinknum. Sean Atkins, the prior president of MTV, is the latest to jump to a creator-economy... The explosion of interest in the creator sector has shown up in job listings data. In the past...

OpenSea Admission Roils NFT Market; Google Gets a New Blockchain Client

By Hannah Miller · Sep 15, 2021 3:26pm PDT

Non-fungible tokens were put in the spotlight Wednesday after OpenSea, a marketplace for the blockchain-based assets known as NFTs, said that an employee bought some of these digital collectibles knowing they were going to be featured on OpenSea’s front page. The allegations follow a rollercoaster ride for NFT sales, as you can see from our... Non-fungible tokens were put in the spotlight Wednesday after OpenSea, a marketplace for the...

WTF: Women in Tech, Media & Finance

Announcing the 2021 WTF Summit Masterclasses

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 15, 2021 3:03pm PDT

We’re excited to see everyone on October 6 & 7 at The Information's WTF Summit. Our masterclass breakout sessions are an important part of the Summit. At this year’s event, we’ll have two sets of 45-minute breakout sessions, one on each day. Here’s a preview of this year’s topics. For sponsorship and group... We’re excited to see everyone on October 6 & 7 at The Information's WTF Summit. Our...

Joe Lonsdale in 2017. Photo: Bloomberg

Tiger Global to Invest in Joe Lonsdale’s Newest Fintech Venture

By Kate Clark · Sep 15, 2021 12:38pm PDT · 4 comments

Joe Lonsdale, the former PayPal intern who co-founded big-data analytics business Palantir and wealth management platform Addepar, is raising capital for a new company to help financial advisers make private market investments. Tiger Global Management has agreed to invest at least $50 million as part of a Series A funding round for the new... Joe Lonsdale, the former PayPal intern who co-founded big-data analytics business Palantir and...

Redbird's Gerry Cardinale next to a statute of the Incredible Hulk. Photo by Bloomberg

Sports Media Investor RedBird Capital Is In Talks to Invest in LeBron James’ SpringHill

By Jessica Toonkel and Sahil Patel · Sep 15, 2021 11:06am PDT · 1 comment

Redbird's Gerry Cardinale next to a statute of the Incredible Hulk. Photo by Bloomberg

Sports Media Investor RedBird Capital Is In Talks to Invest in LeBron James’ SpringHill

By Jessica Toonkel and Sahil Patel · Sep 15, 2021 11:06am PDT · 1 comment

RedBird Capital Partners, an investment firm specializing in sports media, is in advanced talks to buy a minority stake in NBA superstar LeBron James’ entertainment firm, SpringHill Company, according to people familiar with the matter. The talks are the latest sign of investor appetite for independent entertainment businesses, sparked by... RedBird Capital Partners, an investment firm specializing in sports media, is in advanced talks...