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

The Spectacular End to the Myth That Content Needs Distribution

By Jessica E. Lessin · May 22, 2021 7:45am PDT · 2 comments

Dear Readers,In six weeks, the dons of media and tech will reconvene in Sun Valley, Idaho, at Allen & Co.’s annual conference. With last year on hiatus—and the headlines we’ve seen of late (Discovery! WarnerMedia! Gates!)—it is sure to be a lively affair.Let me suggest a panel discussion for the vaccinated tech and media moguls as they sit... Dear Readers,In six weeks, the dons of media and tech will reconvene in Sun Valley, Idaho, at...

Apple's Tim Cook in the courthouse today. Photo by Bloomberg

Why Apple Execs Lost Credibility During the Epic Trial

By Martin Peers · May 21, 2021 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Next time Apple reports quarterly profits, pull up your favorite music app and stream the song ‘I’ve got a feeling’. That appears to be what CEO Tim Cook does to assess how each of Apple’s divisions do. He testified today, in his time on the witness stand in the Apple-Epic trial, that while Apple doesn’t track the profitability of the App Store,... Next time Apple reports quarterly profits, pull up your favorite music app and stream the song ‘I...

Amazon’s Highway Tragedies — The Information’s 411

By Cory Weinberg · May 21, 2021 12:44pm PDT

Fast deliveries by Amazon and other online retailers have brought tremendous convenience for consumers, but the e-commerce boom has come at a cost. A five-month investigation by The Information identified a pattern of serious and sometimes deadly crashes involving drivers moving freight for Amazon. We explore the toll of Amazon’s trucking... Fast deliveries by Amazon and other online retailers have brought tremendous convenience for...

Axios co-founder Mike Allen. Photo by Bloomberg.

Axel Springer Is in Talks to Buy Axios

By Sahil Patel and Jessica Toonkel · May 21, 2021 7:40am PDT · 3 comments

Axios co-founder Mike Allen. Photo by Bloomberg.

Axel Springer Is in Talks to Buy Axios

By Sahil Patel and Jessica Toonkel · May 21, 2021 7:40am PDT · 3 comments

German media conglomerate Axel Springer is in talks to acquire Axios, according to people familiar with the matter, continuing a consolidation of the digital media sector. The valuation under discussion is around $400 million, said one of the people. Axel Springer already owns Insider and is an investor in Group Nine Media, owner of digital... German media conglomerate Axel Springer is in talks to acquire Axios, according to people...

A still from "Black Mirror: Bandersnatch." Image by Stuart Hendry/Netflix

Netflix Seeks Executive to Expand Game Efforts

By Nick Wingfield and Jessica Toonkel · May 21, 2021 6:00am PDT · 16 comments

Netflix is looking to hire an executive to oversee an expansion into videogames, a sign it is stepping up its efforts to grow beyond traditional filmed entertainment, according to people familiar with the situation. In recent weeks, Netflix has approached veteran game industry executives about joining the company, the people said. While the... Netflix is looking to hire an executive to oversee an expansion into videogames, a sign it is...

Xi Jinping, China's president. Photo by Bloomberg.

Beijing’s Message to Tech Moguls: Don’t Be Too Successful

By Martin Peers · May 20, 2021 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

When former President Trump was waging his war against TikTok last year, some commentators focused on how ByteDance CEO Zhang Yiming had failed to anticipate the political headwinds he would face as the first Chinese firm to create a successful global product. As it turned out, it was the Chinese government much more than the U.S. that Zhang had... When former President Trump was waging his war against TikTok last year, some commentators...

Snap’s senior vice president of content and partnerships Ben Schwerin, in a screenshot from an online presentation Thursday.

Creator Economy

For Creators, Snap Both Gives and Takes Away; Andreessen Horowitz Backs Maven

By Kaya Yurieff · May 20, 2021 3:48pm PDT · 1 comment

Creators made up about a third of the main announcements Snap shared at its developer conference on Thursday, showing just how much courting these internet personalities has taken center stage. At last year’s event, CEO Evan Spiegel and other executives barely mentioned creators, instead focusing on tools like a mini version of apps within... Creators made up about a third of the main announcements Snap shared at its developer conference...

Snap’s new AR-equipped Spectacles. Image: Snap

Snap Aims to Take AR Lead With New Spectacles

By Mathew Olson · May 20, 2021 11:42am PDT

Snap’s new AR-equipped Spectacles. Image: Snap

Snap Aims to Take AR Lead With New Spectacles

By Mathew Olson · May 20, 2021 11:42am PDT

Today, Snap revealed its next-generation Spectacles, the first glasses from the company to support the real-time display of AR content. As The Information previously reported, these glasses are aimed at Snap’s large audience of developers and AR content creators, and Snap will only be distributing the devices to a select group of people. So... Today, Snap revealed its next-generation Spectacles, the first glasses from the company to...

The People With Power at Shopify

By Mark Di Stefano and Malique Morris · May 20, 2021 6:00am PDT · 8 comments

Tobias Lütke has transformed Shopify into an e-commerce giant with a $145 billion market value, thanks to the popularity of its tools, which power online shopping functions for a huge range of sellers, from the shoe company Allbirds to ketchup maker Heinz. Inside Shopify, though, his intense and demanding leadership style has earned... Tobias Lütke has transformed Shopify into an e-commerce giant with a $145 billion market...

ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming. Photo by Bloomberg.

ByteDance Investors Say CEO Change Is Reaction to Beijing’s Tech Crackdown

By Juro Osawa, Yunan Zhang and Shai Oster · May 20, 2021 1:24am PDT · 3 comments

Two investors in TikTok owner ByteDance said they supported Thursday’s surprise announcement by founder Zhang Yiming that he is stepping down as CEO of the world’s most valuable privately-held technology company. The move by Zhang to play a less prominent role and hand the reins to a trusted confidant, co-founder Liang Rubo, was an... Two investors in TikTok owner ByteDance said they supported Thursday’s surprise...

Jittery stock traders on the New York Stock Exchange last year. Photo by Bloomberg

Bitcoin’s Bad Day Doesn’t Scare Off Bulls

By Martin Peers · May 19, 2021 5:29pm PDT

Jitters have returned to the markets, both in equities and in cryptocurrencies. Crypto prices and crypto-sensitive stocks—from Bitcoin to Ethereum to Coinbase—tumbled by double-digit percentages today before recovering somewhat, while the broader market also lost ground. Not that there’s anything wrong with that: The sell-off in crypto in... Jitters have returned to the markets, both in equities and in cryptocurrencies. Crypto prices and...

Atelier Ventures’ Li Jin. Photo: Li Jin

Investor Li Jin Says We’ll All Be Creators in 10 Years

By Kaya Yurieff · May 19, 2021 3:40pm PDT · 1 comment

Atelier Ventures’ Li Jin. Photo: Li Jin

Creator Economy

Investor Li Jin Says We’ll All Be Creators in 10 Years

By Kaya Yurieff · May 19, 2021 3:40pm PDT · 1 comment

Li Jin has become something of a soothsayer on the creator economy. After nearly four years at Andreessen Horowitz, where she penned a much-discussed essay about the proliferation of people turning their interests into livelihoods, she founded early-stage venture firm Atelier Ventures last year and writes a newsletter on what she terms the “... Li Jin has become something of a soothsayer on the creator economy. After nearly four years at ...

Clay Bavor, Google's VP of AR/VR. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google Meet Melds With AR/VR in Project Starline

By Mathew Olson · May 19, 2021 11:00am PDT · 1 comment

New signs of life appeared in Google’s AR/VR efforts Tuesday, at its first I/O conference in two years, when the company revealed an immersive video conferencing tool called Project Starline. Sitting inside a special booth, people can have a 3D videoconference with someone in another part of the country so realistically it looks as if they're... New signs of life appeared in Google’s AR/VR efforts Tuesday, at its first I/O conference in two...

Why Amazon Is Pursuing MGM—and What It Means for Apple

By Jessica Toonkel and Martin Peers · May 19, 2021 6:01am PDT

In the space of two weeks last month, Sony Pictures announced deals to license its movies to both Netflix and Disney. The deals complement each other: Netflix will show Sony movies soon after they’ve been in theaters and Disney will show them after they go off Netflix. One company conspicuously shut out of the deal was Amazon, which was... In the space of two weeks last month, Sony Pictures announced deals to license its movies to both...

Phil Schiller arriving at court last week. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple’s Blissful Ignorance on App Store Profits

By Martin Peers · May 18, 2021 5:00pm PDT

If Apple executive Phil Schiller is to be believed, Apple executives don’t know whether the App Store is profitable. That subject “doesn’t come up” in internal Apple discussions, Schiller testified today at the Epic-Apple trial. This is a business that by some estimates generates between $10 billion and $12 billion in annual profits for Apple—... If Apple executive Phil Schiller is to be believed, Apple executives don’t know whether the App...

TI Creator Economy: A Table of Tipping Take Rates; Cameo Gets a New Rival

By Kaya Yurieff · May 18, 2021 4:04pm PDT

Creator Economy

TI Creator Economy: A Table of Tipping Take Rates; Cameo Gets a New Rival

By Kaya Yurieff · May 18, 2021 4:04pm PDT

Online tipping has quietly exploded over the last two years as social networks try to appeal to creators, who are looking for new ways to make money directly from fans. Our latest chart shows how much these features can vary, particularly in the percentage, or take rate, a technology company gets. While a handful such as Clubhouse and ... Online tipping has quietly exploded over the last two years as social networks try to appeal to...

Hugo Barra at an Oculus event in 2018. Photo by Bloomberg

Barra Bids Facebook Farewell, DigiLens Debuts Design v1

By Mathew Olson · May 18, 2021 11:00am PDT

Facebook is losing a big name in its AR/VR efforts with Hugo Barra’s departure from Facebook announced yesterday. The social media giant has plenty of talent in that space now, though, most notably Mark Zuckerberg himself. So what’s the impact of Barra’s exit?If there is any disruption it would be to Facebook’s Ray-Ban non-AR smart glasses... Facebook is losing a big name in its AR/VR efforts with Hugo Barra’s departure from Facebook...

On the Market: Veterans of Google, Microsoft and Facebook

By The Information Staff · May 18, 2021 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

The pandemic did little to interrupt the flow of tech and media executives moving in and out of senior roles. In The Information’s latest batch of Free Agents, we profile some top executives who are considering their next move. They include one of Microsoft’s senior officials, Google’s longtime payments chief and a co-founder... The pandemic did little to interrupt the flow of tech and media executives moving in and out of...

AT&T former CEO Randall Stephenson. Photo by Bloomberg

AT&T Hangs Up on WarnerMedia

By Martin Peers · May 17, 2021 5:00pm PDT

AT&T’s agreement to sell WarnerMedia to Discovery ends the telecom firm’s six-year dalliance with the entertainment industry, which as expected turned out to be an egregious waste of shareholder money and management attention. Including its DirecTV acquisition, AT&T spent $126 billion and assumed billions of dollars more in debt on two... AT&T’s agreement to sell WarnerMedia to Discovery ends the telecom firm’s six-year dalliance...

Tyler “Ninja” Blevins in 2018. Photo: Getty Images

Why Twitch’s Streaming Cost-Cuts Make Sense; Twitter Teases an ‘Undo’ Feature

By Kaya Yurieff · May 17, 2021 3:33pm PDT

Tyler “Ninja” Blevins in 2018. Photo: Getty Images

Creator Economy

Why Twitch’s Streaming Cost-Cuts Make Sense; Twitter Teases an ‘Undo’ Feature

By Kaya Yurieff · May 17, 2021 3:33pm PDT

Twitch, the livestreaming platform popular with gamers, is making a big push to appeal to more viewers outside of the U.S. by slashing prices on subscriptions to its streamers’ channels. The move makes sense, given the wide gap between people who watch Twitch and those who want to pay for it regularly. But Twitch has to proceed gingerly:... Twitch, the livestreaming platform popular with gamers, is making a big push to appeal to more...