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

Peloton's new CEO, Barry McCarthy. Photo by Bloomberg.

Reasons To Be Skeptical About Barry McCarthy's Peloton Plans

By Martin Peers · Feb 14, 2022 5:00pm PST

Peloton’s new CEO, Barry McCarthy, wants the world to know he's not moving across the country just to preside over the sale of the troubled fitness equipment company. Instead, he told the Financial Times, he plans to concentrate on building out the content side of Peloton’s business, where profit margins are much higher than they are on the... Peloton’s new CEO, Barry McCarthy, wants the world to know he's not moving across the country...

Payhawk CEO Hristo Borisov (l), CTO Boyko Karadzhov (center) and CFO Konstantin Djengozov (r). Photo: Business Wire

Lightspeed Leads Deal for Brex Rival Payhawk at $1 Billion Valuation

By Kate Clark · Feb 14, 2022 3:15pm PST

Lightspeed Venture Partners is leading an investment of $100 million in London-based corporate card startup Payhawk, according to two people familiar with the matter. The deal values the startup, founded in 2018, at $1 billion including the new money, the people said. The new capital gives Payhawk ammunition to expand to the U.S., where it will... Lightspeed Venture Partners is leading an investment of $100 million in London-based corporate...

TikTok creator Nick Cho in an Alaska Airlines commercial during the 2022 Super Bowl. Photo: Screenshot from YouTube

Creator Economy

Where Were Creators at the Super Bowl?

By Kaya Yurieff · Feb 14, 2022 2:04pm PST

Sunday’s Super Bowl commercials sparkled with A-List celebrities such as Dolly Parton, Matthew McConaughey and Larry David. Largely absent from the prime time broadcast? Social media influencers. Internet personalities have mingled with the mainstream famous at events like the Met Gala and parlayed their internet notoriety into success in... Sunday’s Super Bowl commercials sparkled with A-List celebrities such as Dolly Parton, Matthew...

A promotional image for the Quest 2 VR headset. Credit: Meta Platforms.

The Uphill Battle of Moderating Horizon Worlds; Unity’s New AR App

By Mathew Olson · Feb 14, 2022 11:00am PST

A promotional image for the Quest 2 VR headset. Credit: Meta Platforms.

The Uphill Battle of Moderating Horizon Worlds; Unity’s New AR App

By Mathew Olson · Feb 14, 2022 11:00am PST

About 48 hours before Meta Platforms rolled out its nostalgia-infused Super Bowl ad for the Quest 2 and Horizon Worlds, BuzzFeed published a report on Meta’s latest VR social platform that brings back memories of past moderation struggles.To test Meta’s moderation of user-made Horizon Worlds content, BuzzFeed set up a world full of QAnon slogans... About 48 hours before Meta Platforms rolled out its nostalgia-infused Super Bowl ad for the Quest...

Photo by Tina Barney

Q&A

Top Vanity Fair Editor Radhika Jones Eyes Big Opportunities in E-Commerce, Video

By Jessica Toonkel · Feb 14, 2022 10:37am PST

Vanity Fair has never seen so much competition. From stalwarts like Variety that have been covering the entertainment industry for years, to newer startups like Puck News and Ankler Media, a joint venture founded by Richard Rushfield and Janice Min, there are perhaps more news organizations covering power and conflict in Hollywood and beyond... Vanity Fair has never seen so much competition. From stalwarts like Variety that have been...

Art by Mike Sullivan

TikTok Wants to Avoid Facebook’s Mess. Its Corporate Culture Could Complicate That

By Sarah Krouse and Jessica Toonkel · Feb 14, 2022 6:00am PST

Two years ago, a team of TikTok employees in China—where the hit video-sharing app’s parent company, ByteDance, is based—were excited to show their colleagues in the U.S. a preview of some new features they’d been working on. But the Americans were troubled when they saw one of them, which would let TikTok users darken or... Two years ago, a team of TikTok employees in China—where the hit video-sharing app’s...

At a Hero Electric charging station in New Delhi. Photo: Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg

The $50 Billion Electric Van Bonanza That Western Automakers Are Ignoring

By Steve LeVine · Feb 13, 2022 2:00pm PST

Welcome back to The Electric!We have two big live chats scheduled: At noon ET on Feb. 17, I’m delighted to welcome Dan Blondal, CEO of Nano One Materials, for a pop-up chat, “Reinventing the Battery Supply Chain,” on how the U.S. and Europe can leapfrog China and its lock on the refining of battery metals and manufacture of electrodes. Register... Welcome back to The Electric!We have two big live chats scheduled: At noon ET on Feb. 17, I’m...

Crypto Scams Have Gotten Way Out of Control

Crypto Scams Have Gotten Way Out of Control

By Jon Steinberg · Feb 12, 2022 8:00am PST

Crypto Scams Have Gotten Way Out of Control

Crypto Scams Have Gotten Way Out of Control

By Jon Steinberg · Feb 12, 2022 8:00am PST

Hi, welcome to your Weekend!As we were preparing a slate of stories for the week, the Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that it had made its “largest financial seizure ever,” reclaiming $3.6 billion of the $4.5 billion in Bitcoin that was stolen from Bitfinex, a currency exchange, in 2016. You likely heard about this story, because... Hi, welcome to your Weekend!As we were preparing a slate of stories for the week, the Department...

Illustration by Danielle Davis.

The Latest Trend in EdTech: Dungeons & Dragons Academies

By Mary Pilon · Feb 12, 2022 5:00am PST · 1 comment

Live from his home dungeon in Orem, Utah, Dax Levine called class into session one recent Wednesday evening. “People pay me to find creative ways to murder them,” he told the 10 students who had logged into Zoom. They were there to engage in the night’s lecture on “Conflict-Driven Characters,” just one of the courses offered at Levine’s... Live from his home dungeon in Orem, Utah, Dax Levine called class into session one recent...

Zendesk's San Francisco headquarters. Photo by Bloomberg.

Lessons in Takeover Strategy: Zendesk-Momentive Edition

By Martin Peers · Feb 11, 2022 5:00pm PST

If there’s a next season of “Billions,” the writers may want to pivot to the enterprise software world, focusing on what has to be the most drama-laden takeover deal in recent memory. That would be Zendesk’s bid to buy Momentive Global, the company formerly known as SurveyMonkey. This software soap opera hasn’t received a lot of mainstream media... If there’s a next season of “Billions,” the writers may want to pivot to the enterprise software...

Art by Haejin Park.

Crypto’s Town Square Has Become “a Scammer’s Paradise.” Why Isn’t Discord Doing More to Clean It Up?

By Margaux MacColl · Feb 11, 2022 1:00pm PST · 3 comments

Kat Heart’s home was on fire. It was July 2021 and Heart, a part-time outdoor education instructor, was 3,000 miles away in White Plains, N.Y., teaching children how to forage for food and survive bear encounters. Meanwhile, an electrical flame crawled up the walls of her duplex in Arlington, Wash., collapsing the roof and destroying almost... Kat Heart’s home was on fire. It was July 2021 and Heart, a part-time outdoor education...

Erich Schwartzel courtesy of Penguin Randomhouse.

Erich Schwartzel’s “Red Carpet” Reveals How Beijing Used Hollywood as a Tool of Chinese Soft Power

By Jillian Goodman · Feb 11, 2022 12:00pm PST · 2 comments

Erich Schwartzel courtesy of Penguin Randomhouse.

Erich Schwartzel’s “Red Carpet” Reveals How Beijing Used Hollywood as a Tool of Chinese Soft Power

By Jillian Goodman · Feb 11, 2022 12:00pm PST · 2 comments

This is 10 Questions, a new column in which we ask tech authors to pull back the covers on their recently released books. Interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity. There are two important things to understand about China’s relationship with Hollywood, according to Erich Schwartzel, author of “Red Carpet: Hollywood, China, and the... This is 10 Questions, a new column in which we ask tech authors to pull back the covers on their...

Art by Haejin Park. Photo courtesy Hilary Coles.

The Founder Who Went Up a Mountain in Nepal and Came Down a Better Leader

By Annie Goldsmith · Feb 11, 2022 12:00pm PST · 1 comment

In our new column, My Life’s Work, we ask tech founders and executives how their unique life experiences influenced their careers. Interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity. When Hilary Coles co-founded Hims in 2017, the company focused on two key areas: men’s hair loss and erectile dysfunction, offering telehealth solutions and... In our new column, My Life’s Work, we ask tech founders and executives how their unique life...

Photo by AP

Tom Brady’s Media Company Looks to Raise $50 Million as Demand for Sports Content Surges

By Jessica Toonkel · Feb 11, 2022 10:23am PST

Superstar quarterback Tom Brady is freshly retired from football, but he’s got plenty else to keep him busy. His production company, Religion of Sports, is looking to raise around $50 million, according to people familiar with the situation. Such a deal would value the four-year-old company, co-founded by Brady, former NFL star Michael... Superstar quarterback Tom Brady is freshly retired from football, but he’s got plenty else...

From left, Alibaba co-founder Trudy Dai, CEO Daniel Zhang, and co-founder Jack Ma. Photos by AP; Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan

Jack Ma’s Alibaba Heir Faces Growing Doubts

By Juro Osawa · Feb 11, 2022 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Alibaba and its CEO, Daniel Zhang, face what could be a year of reckoning. The share price of the company, sometimes referred to as the Chinese equivalent of Amazon, plummeted over the past year under the onslaught of aggressive regulators and competitors it had overlooked, eroding morale. And chatter in the cafeteria of Alibaba’s... Alibaba and its CEO, Daniel Zhang, face what could be a year of reckoning. The share price of the...

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. Photo: Bloomberg

Binance the SPAC Savior; What Happens if Salesforce Joins the NFT Fray

By Akash Pasricha · Feb 10, 2022 5:52pm PST

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. Photo: Bloomberg

Binance the SPAC Savior; What Happens if Salesforce Joins the NFT Fray

By Akash Pasricha · Feb 10, 2022 5:52pm PST

Over the last six months, we’ve grown accustomed to crypto trading firms shelling out big bucks for the naming rights to stadiums, sports team sponsorships and Super Bowl ads. So perhaps it was only a matter of time before these cash-flush firms did one better and bought stakes in iconic U.S. companies. That’s the cleanest explanation for... Over the last six months, we’ve grown accustomed to crypto trading firms shelling out big bucks...

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. Photo by Bloomberg

Binance Blesses Forbes’ SPAC Deal

By Martin Peers · Feb 10, 2022 5:00pm PST

When it comes to weaving a fun story, it’s tough to beat the news media. That’s why we’re skeptical of the explanation crypto exchange Binance is giving for its $200 million investment in Forbes. This is likely less about Binance helping Forbes adapt to Web3 and more about saving Forbes’ SPAC deal from a BuzzFeed-like embarrassment.Let’s... When it comes to weaving a fun story, it’s tough to beat the news media. That’s why we’re...

Matt Koval, a long-time YouTube employee and creator, is joining startup Mighty Networks. Photo: Matt Koval

Creator Economy

YouTube’s Matt Koval Joins Mighty Networks; Twitter CEO on Creator Priorities

By Kaya Yurieff · Feb 10, 2022 2:32pm PST

Matt Koval has spent a lot of time thinking about how to be successful as a creator: He started making YouTube videos in 2008 and about four years later became an employee for the video-sharing site. That tenure, which ends March 1 when he joins startup Mighty Networks, gave him a window into a big challenge facing many creators: how to turn... Matt Koval has spent a lot of time thinking about how to be successful as a creator: He started...

Meta Chief Business Officer Marne Levine.

Women in Tech Leadership Forum

Meta’s Ads Chief: Transition to Metaverse, Reels Will Pay Off

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Feb 10, 2022 1:32pm PST · 1 comment

Marne Levine, chief business officer at Facebook owner Meta Platforms, said the company is in a period of “transition” similar to its difficult shift a decade ago from desktop apps to mobile apps where ads were unproven. “We’re making significant investments in big bets that will pay off in the long term,” she said... Marne Levine, chief business officer at Facebook owner Meta Platforms, said the company is in a...

A plaza in Decentraland, where Samsung has opened a virtual store called 837X. Credit: Decentraland Foundation.

Samsung’s Latest AR Moves; Microsoft’s Potent App Store Promises

By Mathew Olson · Feb 10, 2022 11:00am PST

A plaza in Decentraland, where Samsung has opened a virtual store called 837X. Credit: Decentraland Foundation.

Samsung’s Latest AR Moves; Microsoft’s Potent App Store Promises

By Mathew Olson · Feb 10, 2022 11:00am PST

Gadget hounds more or less knew what to expect from Samsung’s first big event of the year yesterday: new phones and tablets under the Galaxy brand. Compared to Apple and even Google with its refresh of the Pixel phone last year, Samsung isn’t pitching its phones on the merits of AR all that hard—but that doesn’t mean the company’s interest in... Gadget hounds more or less knew what to expect from Samsung’s first big event of the year...