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

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

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

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

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

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 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...

A tester wearing the Project Aria research glasses. Photo: Facebook

Facebook Expands Its AR Research, Tiptoes Into Ray-Ban Marketing

By Mathew Olson · Sep 15, 2021 11:00am PDT · 1 comment

A tester wearing the Project Aria research glasses. Photo: Facebook

Facebook Expands Its AR Research, Tiptoes Into Ray-Ban Marketing

By Mathew Olson · Sep 15, 2021 11:00am PDT · 1 comment

Facebook’s new smart glasses have been out for less than a week, but it seems work on the company’s greater goal—AR glasses—isn’t slowing down.On Tuesday, Facebook took a step forward with Project Aria, its AR glasses research program, announcing that Singapore would be the first location outside of the U.S. for public Aria testing, following... Facebook’s new smart glasses have been out for less than a week, but it seems work on the company...

Reddit COO Jen Wong.

Reddit’s Ad Revenue Expected to Double to at Least $350 Million This Year

By Sahil Patel · Sep 15, 2021 6:01am PDT

The “meme stock” rally that sent shares of companies like GameStop and AMC Entertainment soaring earlier this year was driven in large part by discussion on Reddit, the 16-year-old online news aggregator and discussion forum. That reflects the size of Reddit’s audience, which runs to 430 million monthly users globally,... The “meme stock” rally that sent shares of companies like GameStop and AMC...

An image from Apple's streamed presentation today. Photo by Bloomberg

Apple’s iPhone Commercial Highlights Environmental Challenge

By Martin Peers · Sep 14, 2021 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

In its annual product advertisement-disguised-as-news-event today, Apple executives went out of their way to highlight the environmentally friendly techniques they now employ to make hardware. The iPhone 13’s antenna lines will use recycled material from water bottles, for instance, while Apple has eliminated the outer plastic wrap on iPhone... In its annual product advertisement-disguised-as-news-event today, Apple executives went out of...

From left to right, YouTube personalities Jackie Aina, Emma Chamberlain and TikTok star Addison Rae at the Met Gala on Monday night. Photo: AP Illustration: Mike Sullivan

Creator Economy

Influencers Blanket Met Gala; LinkedIn Launches Creator Fund

By Kaya Yurieff · Sep 14, 2021 4:00pm PDT

The Met Gala’s guest list was notably different than past years, with a parade of homegrown internet stars on the red carpet on Monday night. That’s a huge contrast to prior years where the exclusive guest list focused on A-list celebrities, including top actors and singers. This year, at least half a dozen social media creators attended,... The Met Gala’s guest list was notably different than past years, with a parade of homegrown...

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. Photo by Bloomberg.

Gensler’s Coinbase Jab; Solana Stumbles; Alexis Ohanian’s Crypto Pin

By Hannah Miller · Sep 14, 2021 3:15pm PDT

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. Photo by Bloomberg.

Gensler’s Coinbase Jab; Solana Stumbles; Alexis Ohanian’s Crypto Pin

By Hannah Miller · Sep 14, 2021 3:15pm PDT

Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler doubled down on his criticism of cryptocurrencies Tuesday—and then took one more dig, at Coinbase. During a hearing on oversight of the SEC with the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, long-time crypto critic Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D.-Mass.) asked Gensler about whether an investor can... Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler doubled down on his criticism of...

The new camera array on the iPhone 13 Pro models. Photo: Apple

Apple Keeps Quiet on AR; Facebook’s Workrooms Expansion Strategy

By Mathew Olson · Sep 14, 2021 12:15pm PDT · 1 comment

Apple’s latest launch event, unveiling this year’s new iPhone 13 product line, marked this year as a transitional period between more sweeping iPhone redesigns. That was largely expected. Perhaps more surprising is that AR was barely mentioned during the event, with Apple instead focusing on improvements to other aspects of its mobile camera... Apple’s latest launch event, unveiling this year’s new iPhone 13 product line, marked this year...

Robinhood and Coinbase Top List of Tech’s Fastest-Growing Employers

By Nick Wingfield · Sep 14, 2021 9:00am PDT · 3 comments

Two fintech powerhouses that went public this year, Robinhood Markets and Coinbase Global, both hired new employees at among the fastest clips in the tech industry in their most recent quarters, according to an analysis by The Information of publicly traded tech companies. Each of the two companies saw their headcounts jump at triple-digit rates... Two fintech powerhouses that went public this year, Robinhood Markets and Coinbase Global, both...

A container ship sailing past the city of Qingdao in east China's Shandong province last month. Photo by AP.

Former Ant Executive’s Fintech Startup in Funding Talks at $1 Billion Valuation

By Juro Osawa · Sep 14, 2021 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

XTransfer, a Chinese cross-border payment startup headed by a former Ant Group executive, is in advanced talks with Dan Sundheim’s D1 Capital Partners and other investors to raise capital at a pre-money valuation of $1 billion, more than triple its previous funding round in January, people familiar with the matter said. The funding would... XTransfer, a Chinese cross-border payment startup headed by a former Ant Group executive, is in...

Investor Tim Draper. Photo by Bloomberg

Mammoth Funding Deal Signals Frothiness of VC Funding Market

By Martin Peers · Sep 13, 2021 5:00pm PDT

Investor Tim Draper. Photo by Bloomberg

Mammoth Funding Deal Signals Frothiness of VC Funding Market

By Martin Peers · Sep 13, 2021 5:00pm PDT

If only Michael Crichton had lived to see this day. The author of “Jurassic Park,” the 1990 novel that became a monster hit movie, would be pleased to see his fiction become reality in the biotech firm Colossal, which revealed today that it has raised $15 million in venture funding to bring back to life the woolly mammoth. That creature has been... If only Michael Crichton had lived to see this day. The author of “Jurassic Park,” the 1990 novel...