The Information

Photo by Bloomberg.

Walmart Plans to Offer Buy Now, Pay Later Loans Through its Fintech Venture

By Ann Gehan · Dec 8, 2022 2:47pm PST

The ambitious fintech venture backed by Walmart is planning to launch buy now, pay later loans as soon as next year, three people familiar with the matter said. That could put the world’s largest retailer in competition with fintech lenders like Affirm and Klarna, as well as Apple, another consumer giant set to launch its own installment... The ambitious fintech venture backed by Walmart is planning to launch buy now, pay later loans as...

Albert Wenger of Union Square Ventures. Photo by Getty Images. Art by Shane Burke.

Union Square Ventures Doubles Down on Climate With $200 Million Fund

By Kate Clark · Dec 8, 2022 10:58am PST

Union Square Ventures, the venture capital firm known for its early stakes in Twitter, Coinbase and Etsy, has raised $200 million for its second fund focused on early investments in climate tech startups, managing partner Albert Wenger confirmed to The Information. The fund amounts to a doubling down on the sector for the New York firm, a sign... Union Square Ventures, the venture capital firm known for its early stakes in Twitter, Coinbase...

From left: Stewart Butterfield, Marc Benioff and Bret Taylor. Photos by Getty; Bloomberg.

How Slack’s Marriage to Salesforce Crumbled

By Kevin McLaughlin · Dec 8, 2022 6:00am PST · 2 comments

Two years ago, Salesforce co-founder and CEO Marc Benioff gushed about his software company’s $28 billion purchase of messaging app Slack, describing it as a “match made in heaven.” It was also the most expensive subscription software acquisition of all time, with Salesforce paying around 26 times Slack’s forward... Two years ago, Salesforce co-founder and CEO Marc Benioff gushed about his software...

Elon Musk. Photo by Bloomberg

Twitter to Change Blue Pricing After Apple Spat

By Erin Woo · Dec 7, 2022 6:30pm PST

Elon Musk. Photo by Bloomberg

Twitter to Change Blue Pricing After Apple Spat

By Erin Woo · Dec 7, 2022 6:30pm PST

Twitter has informed some employees that it plans to charge customers $11 a month if they subscribe to Twitter Blue through Twitter’s app for iPhones and $8 if they do so through the web, according to a person briefed on the plans. Twitter’s owner Elon Musk had previously said the company would charge $8 a month for a new version of... Twitter has informed some employees that it plans to charge customers $11 a month if they...

Abraham Shafi, CEO of IRL (left), and Masayoshi Son, CEO of Softbank.

SEC Probes Whether SoftBank-Backed Messaging App Misled Investors

By Mark Matousek and Amir Efrati · Dec 7, 2022 12:59pm PST · 2 comments

The Securities and Exchange Commission has been investigating whether SoftBank-backed messaging app IRL violated securities laws, including in the way the startup described its business performance during talks with investors, according to people with knowledge of the situation. The SEC investigation began after The Information reported in May... The Securities and Exchange Commission has been investigating whether SoftBank-backed messaging...

Art via Shutterstock.

TikTok Pushes Social Features as Growth Cools

By Kaya Yurieff and Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Dec 7, 2022 6:00am PST

For the past year or so, Meta Platforms has been fiddling with its Instagram app to make it look more like TikTok, the short-video juggernaut that has been siphoning away its audience. Lately, though, TikTok has started borrowing a few social media tricks from the likes of Meta’s Instagram and upstart photo-sharing app BeReal. One of the... For the past year or so, Meta Platforms has been fiddling with its Instagram app to make it look...

Crypto and AI-Focused Sequoia Partner Is Leaving the Firm

By Aidan Ryan · Dec 6, 2022 5:15pm PST · 6 comments

Sequoia Capital partner Divya Gupta is leaving the firm just weeks after the storied venture capital firm apologized to limited partners about its $214 million investment in the now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX. Gupta worked on seed- and early-stage investments in cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence at Sequoia, and has worked at the firm... Sequoia Capital partner Divya Gupta is leaving the firm just weeks after the storied venture...

Zhang Lei, chairman and chief executive officer of Hillhouse Capital Group. Photo by Bloomberg.

Chinese Investment Giant Hillhouse Capital Seeks to Expand Outside China

By Juro Osawa and Shai Oster · Dec 6, 2022 10:42am PST · 2 comments

Zhang Lei, chairman and chief executive officer of Hillhouse Capital Group. Photo by Bloomberg.

Chinese Investment Giant Hillhouse Capital Seeks to Expand Outside China

By Juro Osawa and Shai Oster · Dec 6, 2022 10:42am PST · 2 comments

Hillhouse Capital Group, the Chinese sprawling investment powerhouse that has drawn comparisons to Tiger Global Management, has a new challenge: growing outside China. The firm is best known for investments in Chinese tech giants such as Tencent, JD.com, Didi Global and TikTok owner ByteDance. But the devastation of China’s private equity... Hillhouse Capital Group, the Chinese sprawling investment powerhouse that has drawn comparisons...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Photo by Bloomberg

Microsoft Eyes ‘Super App’ to Break Apple and Google’s Hold on Mobile Search

By Aaron Holmes and Jon Victor · Dec 6, 2022 6:00am PST · 7 comments

Microsoft recently considered building a “super app” that could combine shopping, messaging, web search, news feeds and other services in a one-stop smartphone app, in what would be an ambitious move by the software giant to expand further into consumer services, according to people with direct knowledge of the discussions. Microsoft... Microsoft recently considered building a “super app” that could combine shopping,...

Former FTX Executive Brett Harrison in Talks With Investors for New Crypto Startup

By Aidan Ryan and Erin Woo · Dec 2, 2022 9:48am PST

Brett Harrison, the former president of FTX’s U.S. arm, is trying to raise money for a new crypto startup focused on building crypto trading software for big investors, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. Harrison has told at least one venture capital firm he is aiming to raise $6 million at a valuation of $60... Brett Harrison, the former president of FTX’s U.S. arm, is trying to raise money for a new...

Andy Jassy. Photo by Bloomberg.

Amazon Rescinds Job Offers in Retail Organization

By Theo Wayt · Dec 2, 2022 9:30am PST

Amazon has started rescinding job offers it had extended to new hires in its retail organization, a sign that the ecommerce giant’s cutbacks have moved beyond its devices division where recent layoffs were concentrated. Representatives from the retail organization, which is led by Amazon’s CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores Doug... Amazon has started rescinding job offers it had extended to new hires in its retail organization,...

SpaceX's Mark Juncosa and the Starship rocket in Boca Chica, Texas. Photo from Disney+ and Getty Images

Elon Musk’s Rocket Man at SpaceX Channels His Boss

By Becky Peterson · Dec 2, 2022 6:00am PST

SpaceX's Mark Juncosa and the Starship rocket in Boca Chica, Texas. Photo from Disney+ and Getty Images

Elon Musk’s Rocket Man at SpaceX Channels His Boss

By Becky Peterson · Dec 2, 2022 6:00am PST

Once, when top SpaceX executive Mark Juncosa was frustrated by poor cellphone service in a meeting at company headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., he pointed to a SpaceX employee in the meeting and told them it was their responsibility to fix the cell coverage in the room, according to a person who attended the meeting. It was the kind of thing... Once, when top SpaceX executive Mark Juncosa was frustrated by poor cellphone service in a...

Photo by Bloomberg.

Marc Lore’s Kitchen on Wheels Startup Cuts Staff, Dials Back Delivery Ambitions

By Theo Wayt and Erin Woo · Nov 30, 2022 2:24pm PST · 2 comments

Wonder, a mobile kitchen and food-delivery startup led by Jet.com founder Marc Lore, has laid off 7% of its workforce, a company spokesperson said, as it attempts to overhaul its business. The startup landed a $3.5 billion valuation when it raised $350 million this summer and planned to add more than a thousand kitchens around the tri-state area... Wonder, a mobile kitchen and food-delivery startup led by Jet.com founder Marc Lore, has laid off...

John Curtius. Art by Mike Sullivan.

Ex-Tiger Partner Curtius Targets $1 Billion Fund After Sudden Exit

By Erin Woo and Kate Clark · Nov 30, 2022 1:52pm PST · 2 comments

John Curtius, the former Tiger Global Management partner who became a key Silicon Valley dealmaker for the investment firm before his hasty exit two months ago, plans to raise $1 billion for his debut fund, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. It will focus on early-stage enterprise software investments. If successful,... John Curtius, the former Tiger Global Management partner who became a key Silicon Valley...

Tim Cook and Elon Musk. Photos by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan

Twitter Blue Relaunch Adds Pressure to Musk’s Apple Fight

By Erin Woo · Nov 29, 2022 2:40pm PST · 3 comments

Twitter’s impending relaunch of its subscription product, Twitter Blue, could bring Elon Musk’s fight with Apple to a head. Twitter Blue Verified, as the product is called, had been scheduled to roll out on Friday but only on Apple’s iOS mobile software, according to a person briefed on the plans. (Late Tuesday, Twitter ... Twitter’s impending relaunch of its subscription product, Twitter Blue, could bring Elon...

Charlie Bell. Photo via Microsoft

A Former Amazonian Hits Bumps in Push to Make Microsoft More Secure

By Kevin McLaughlin · Nov 29, 2022 6:00am PST

Charlie Bell. Photo via Microsoft

A Former Amazonian Hits Bumps in Push to Make Microsoft More Secure

By Kevin McLaughlin · Nov 29, 2022 6:00am PST

When Microsoft last year recruited Charlie Bell, a top product engineering executive at Amazon Web Services, it was a major coup for the software giant. Bell had spent 23 years at Amazon—15 of them at AWS, the retailer’s cloud computing unit—where he earned a reputation for being able to bulldoze through departmental politics,... When Microsoft last year recruited Charlie Bell, a top product engineering executive at Amazon...

Shou Zi Chew, chief executive officer of TikTok. Photo by Bloomberg.

ByteDance Investors Struggle to Sell Shares at Discounted $240 Billion Value Amid IPO Uncertainty

By Juro Osawa · Nov 28, 2022 4:40am PST · 1 comment

Investors in TikTok owner ByteDance are struggling to sell their shares in the secondary market, even at current asking prices valuing the company at around $240 billion, 20% below where ByteDance recently bought back stock, according to brokers and investors with knowledge of the matter. The price drop reflects a lack of investors... Investors in TikTok owner ByteDance are struggling to sell their shares in the secondary market,...

Chuck Robbins, CEO of Cisco. Photo by Bloomberg

Cisco Faces Resistance to Software Bundles from Cost-Conscious Companies

By Aaron Holmes · Nov 23, 2022 6:00am PST · 5 comments

For years, Cisco has relied on a widely used tactic to drive sales: The enterprise tech giant pitches customers on large bundles of products that include everything from its core networking products to more peripheral offerings from its sprawling portfolio, such as security software and its Webex videoconferencing app. But now customers are... For years, Cisco has relied on a widely used tactic to drive sales: The enterprise tech giant...

Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. Photos by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan

Google Cloud Considers Scrapping Sales Commissions Based on Deal Values

By Kevin McLaughlin · Nov 21, 2022 6:00am PST

To show investors that its cloud unit could compete with Amazon Web Services, Google in recent years signed billion-dollar, long-term deals with multinationals such as Deutsche Bank and Sabre. Google incentivized sales teams to nail those deals by basing a portion of their commissions on the value of the contracts—even if those customers... To show investors that its cloud unit could compete with Amazon Web Services, Google in recent...

Sam Bankman-Fried, second from right. Photo by Getty Images.

Bankman-Fried Spun His Spending Spree, and Investors Let It Slide

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 18, 2022 1:00pm PST · 5 comments

Sam Bankman-Fried, second from right. Photo by Getty Images.

Bankman-Fried Spun His Spending Spree, and Investors Let It Slide

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 18, 2022 1:00pm PST · 5 comments

With the crypto industry in crisis this summer, some of FTX’s venture capital investors were starting to scratch their heads: Why was its CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, spending so much money bailing out distressed crypto lenders and spraying cash at startups? The 30-year-old, hailed as the golden boy of crypto, told one of his investors... With the crypto industry in crisis this summer, some of FTX’s venture capital investors...