The Information

Josh Machiz of Redpoint Ventures. Photo: Guerin Blask. Illustration: Mike Sullivan

Redpoint Ventures is Launching a Media Operation—And Embracing TikTok

By Kate Clark · Dec 21, 2021 1:43pm PST · 12 comments

Venture capitalists do a lot of things to show entrepreneurs they aren’t just a bunch of squares, from wearing hoodies to bragging about their NFT purchases. Now Redpoint Ventures—the San Francisco venture firm known for its stakes in Stripe and Snowflake—has a new plan to connect with startup founders: hiring a creator to... Venture capitalists do a lot of things to show entrepreneurs they aren’t just a bunch of...

ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming. Photo by Bloomberg.

Zhang Yiming Still Oversees ByteDance, Despite Stepping Back

By Juro Osawa · Dec 21, 2021 6:00am PST

Zhang Yiming, founder of ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, resigned as CEO and chair earlier this year. He no longer has any management title or board seat. But that doesn’t mean he’s no longer in control. The 38-year-old Zhang remains as active as ever inside the company. He continues to participate in high-level... Zhang Yiming, founder of ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, resigned as CEO and...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Google Cloud’s Software Crackdown Disrupts Customer Deals Worth Hundreds of Millions

By Kevin McLaughlin · Dec 20, 2021 11:16am PST · 1 comment

Google Cloud is much younger than its bigger competitors. While youth can be an asset in the technology business, it’s also caused difficulties for Google on numerous occasions—the latest of which has thrown at least several hundred million dollars’ worth of software contracts into limbo, according to an estimate from a Google... Google Cloud is much younger than its bigger competitors. While youth can be an asset in the...

Illustration by Josh Brill

The Year Startup Investors and Founders Went Ape Over Crypto

By Kate Clark · Dec 17, 2021 6:00am PST · 4 comments

Illustration by Josh Brill

The Year Startup Investors and Founders Went Ape Over Crypto

By Kate Clark · Dec 17, 2021 6:00am PST · 4 comments

Erick Calderon is an entrepreneur down to his bones. In college, he opened a snow cone stand across from the University of Texas at Austin. For the past 18 years, the 40-year-old has run a business in Houston that imports high-end porcelain and ceramic tiles from Spain and Italy. But both ventures pale in comparison with Calderon’s success... Erick Calderon is an entrepreneur down to his bones. In college, he opened a snow cone stand...

Photos: Supernatural VR

FTC Slows Meta Platforms’ Metaverse Strategy By Extending Antitrust Probe of VR Deal

By Josh Sisco · Dec 16, 2021 4:18pm PST · 1 comment

Meta Platforms’ Oculus virtual reality headsets are a vital step toward creating what its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, calls the metaverse, an immersive internet in which people can interact in digital spaces. In addition to building Oculus, Meta has acquired at least six companies that made some of the most popular games and other apps for the... Meta Platforms’ Oculus virtual reality headsets are a vital step toward creating what its...

Photo of Anatoly Yakovenko by Solana. Art by Mike Sullivan

Solana Generates $1 Billion in Returns for Multiple Early Backers

By Hannah Miller · Dec 13, 2021 2:42pm PST · 4 comments

When Solana Labs CEO Anatoly Yakovenko tried to raise money in 2018 to develop his idea for a faster blockchain for financial transactions, bitcoin prices were diving and investors were leery of blockchain startups. Then the former Qualcomm engineer convinced a friend he met playing underwater hockey to become an early investor. And that swim... When Solana Labs CEO Anatoly Yakovenko tried to raise money in 2018 to develop his idea for a...

An Amazon Fresh store in London. Photo by Bloomberg.

Amazon Ramps Up Plans for Instacart-Like Service in U.S., Europe

By Paris Martineau and Mark Di Stefano · Dec 13, 2021 6:00am PST

In recent years, Amazon has attracted wide attention with its effort to become a force in the grocery industry, from its $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods to its flashy rollout of tech-enabled stores like Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go. But the internet retailer has also quietly been laying the groundwork to become a major player in a less... In recent years, Amazon has attracted wide attention with its effort to become a force in the...

Former Instacart President Carolyn Everson. Photo: Bloomberg

Instacart President’s Exit Followed Disagreement With CEO On Grocer Relationships

By Berber Jin · Dec 10, 2021 4:06pm PST

Former Instacart President Carolyn Everson. Photo: Bloomberg

Instacart President’s Exit Followed Disagreement With CEO On Grocer Relationships

By Berber Jin · Dec 10, 2021 4:06pm PST

Carolyn Everson decided to depart as president of Instacart under pressure from CEO Fidji Simo, who had different expectations over how Everson should manage Instacart’s relationship with its grocery retailers, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Earlier on Friday, Everson announced her exit from a job she started just three... Carolyn Everson decided to depart as president of Instacart under pressure from CEO Fidji Simo,...

Tencent's headquarters in Shenzhen, China. Photo by Bloomberg.

Tencent in Talks to Boost Supercell Stake at $11 Billion Valuation Amid Sign of Rebound

By Wayne Ma, Juro Osawa and Shai Oster · Dec 10, 2021 6:00am PST

Tencent hasn’t given up on Supercell. The Finnish developer of mobile games such as Clash of Clans has seen revenue fall nearly every year since Chinese internet giant Tencent led a group of investors to buy a majority stake in it in 2016. Yet Tencent is now negotiating a new deal that would boost its stake in Supercell at a valuation of... Tencent hasn’t given up on Supercell. The Finnish developer of mobile games such as Clash...

Andrew Bosworth, in charge of Meta's virtual and augmented reality products, recently inherited Meta's AI team.

Meta’s AI Team, Which Tackles Harmful Facebook Posts, Moves to AR/VR Unit

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Dec 9, 2021 3:52pm PST

Facebook parent Meta Platforms has moved its artificial intelligence group to the Reality Labs unit developing augmented and virtual reality products, according to a person familiar with the matter and confirmed by the company. The shift comes as Meta invests more money in AR and VR to develop the metaverse—virtual immersive worlds that... Facebook parent Meta Platforms has moved its artificial intelligence group to the Reality Labs...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella

Microsoft Seeks to Stem Employee Departures Through ‘Career Check-ins’

By Kevin McLaughlin · Dec 9, 2021 6:00am PST

Microsoft employees have been known to stick around. CEO Satya Nadella and several other senior executives joined the company more than 25 years ago. But that has changed amid the pandemic, as Microsoft, along with virtually every other technology company, has struggled to retain talent. Attrition at Microsoft has become a big enough problem... Microsoft employees have been known to stick around. CEO Satya Nadella and several other senior...

Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan. Photo by Bloomberg

Why the FTC Rejected Nvidia’s Antitrust Settlement for $75 Billion Arm Deal

By Josh Sisco · Dec 8, 2021 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan. Photo by Bloomberg

Why the FTC Rejected Nvidia’s Antitrust Settlement for $75 Billion Arm Deal

By Josh Sisco · Dec 8, 2021 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Regulators who normally seek to block mergers between companies that compete with one another are becoming increasingly combative about vertical mergers between companies that don’t. The latest example is how the Federal Trade Commission handled chipmaker Nvidia’s contentious takeover of Arm Holdings, a designer of chips for mobile... Regulators who normally seek to block mergers between companies that compete with one another are...

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Photo collage by Haejin Park. Photos by Bloomberg

Inside Tim Cook’s Secret $275 Billion Deal with Chinese Authorities

By Wayne Ma · Dec 7, 2021 6:00am PST · 8 comments

Apple’s iPhone recently became the top-selling smartphone in China, its second-biggest market after the U.S., for the first time in six years. But the company owes much of that success to CEO Tim Cook, who laid the foundation years ago by secretly signing an agreement, estimated to be worth more than $275 billion, with Chinese officials... Apple’s iPhone recently became the top-selling smartphone in China, its second-biggest...

Roblox's home page, as shown on a laptop. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple’s Treatment of Roblox in Spotlight in DOJ Antitrust Probe

By Josh Sisco · Dec 6, 2021 12:20pm PST

As the U.S. government tries to put together an antitrust case against Apple for the way it controls iPhones, prosecutors are looking for instances in which the company is unevenly enforcing rules for app developers in ways that could hurt its potential rivals. One example they’re focused on is Apple’s hands-off approach with gaming... As the U.S. government tries to put together an antitrust case against Apple for the way it...

Illustration by Danielle Davis

Internal Google Data Reveals It’s Bigger Than Snowflake in Key Cloud Business

By Kevin McLaughlin and Amir Efrati · Dec 6, 2021 6:00am PST

Google may lag far behind rivals Amazon Web Services and Microsoft in the cloud market. But at least the company can boast that it’s outselling one of the hottest cloud companies, Snowflake, in an important segment of the business—at least right now. Snowflake’s business is data warehousing, which uses a type of database... Google may lag far behind rivals Amazon Web Services and Microsoft in the cloud market. But at...

FTX co-founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. Photo: Bloomberg

Crypto Exchange FTX, U.S. Affiliate Seek to Raise $1.5 Billion

By Kate Clark, Berber Jin and Hannah Miller · Dec 3, 2021 8:09pm PST

FTX co-founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. Photo: Bloomberg

Crypto Exchange FTX, U.S. Affiliate Seek to Raise $1.5 Billion

By Kate Clark, Berber Jin and Hannah Miller · Dec 3, 2021 8:09pm PST

FTX co-founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has told investors he is seeking a new round of funding for the global crypto exchange and he is also asking investors to buy shares in its U.S. affiliate, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. The new fundraising aims to value FTX at $32 billion and FTX’s U.S. affiliate... FTX co-founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has told investors he is seeking a new round of funding...

Howie Liu, co-founder and CEO of AirTable. Photo by Bloomberg

Airtable Valuation to Double to $11.7 Billion in New Funding

By Berber Jin · Dec 3, 2021 12:41pm PST

Airtable, a developer of cloud-based collaboration software, is finalizing a new round of funding that would value the San Francisco startup at $11.7 billion including the new capital, said two people familiar with the discussions. XN LP, a multibillion-dollar investment firm that backs both public and private companies, is set to lead the... Airtable, a developer of cloud-based collaboration software, is finalizing a new round of funding...

Amazon trailers at the entrance to an Amazon warehouse in Kolbaskowo, Poland, in 2018. Photo by Bloomberg

Amazon Expands Trucking Program to Europe

By Paris Martineau and Mark Di Stefano · Dec 2, 2021 6:01am PST

Bogged down by ballooning shipping costs at home and abroad, Amazon is looking to rapidly increase the number of small trucking companies that haul its goods around Europe. The internet retailer is expanding a little-known program called Amazon Freight Partner to Germany, Spain, Poland, France and Italy, and aims to train hundreds of would-be... Bogged down by ballooning shipping costs at home and abroad, Amazon is looking to rapidly...

An Instacart worker loads groceries into her car for home delivery. Photo by AP

Instacart Plans 15-Minute Delivery Trial as Rival Startups Grow

By Berber Jin · Dec 1, 2021 1:31pm PST · 3 comments

For Instacart, the leading U.S. grocery delivery company, being fast may not be fast enough. The $39 billion-valuation startup is planning to launch a pilot program to provide delivery of groceries or convenience items in 15 minutes or less to U.S. customers, said two people with direct knowledge of the plan. As a part of the proposed program,... For Instacart, the leading U.S. grocery delivery company, being fast may not be fast enough. The...

Salesforce's co-CEOs, Bret Taylor and Marc Benioff. Photos by Bloomberg

Salesforce’s Taylor Will Report to Benioff, Despite Co-CEO Title

By Kevin McLaughlin · Dec 1, 2021 10:47am PST

Salesforce's co-CEOs, Bret Taylor and Marc Benioff. Photos by Bloomberg

Salesforce’s Taylor Will Report to Benioff, Despite Co-CEO Title

By Kevin McLaughlin · Dec 1, 2021 10:47am PST

Bret Taylor is co-CEO of Salesforce in name only, it turns out. The Information has learned that in his new role Taylor will continue to report to Marc Benioff, who is ostensibly his equal as co-CEO. The reporting arrangement, outlined in a Slack message Benioff sent to employees on Wednesday, contrasts with the structure put into place for... Bret Taylor is co-CEO of Salesforce in name only, it turns out. The Information has learned that...