The Information

The Ripple Labs Inc. booth at the Blockchain Week Summit in Paris on March 22. Photo by Getty.

Why the Crypto World Is Celebrating Ripple’s Partial Win Over the SEC

By Aidan Ryan · Jul 13, 2023 1:32pm PDT · 2 comments

The crypto world is celebrating after a federal judge issued a long-awaited ruling in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s case against Ripple Labs, saying some sales of Ripple’s xrp token did not constitute illegal securities sales. Shares in top U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase soared 25% after the ruling dropped, and xrp tokens... The crypto world is celebrating after a federal judge issued a long-awaited ruling in the...

Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase. Photo by Bloomberg.

The Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios for Coinbase

By Aidan Ryan · Jun 6, 2023 12:15pm PDT

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against Coinbase today, alleging a wide range of securities violations, kicks off what will likely be a yearslong legal battle that holds the key to Coinbase’s future. If the SEC wins, it will be all but impossible for the crypto giant to do business in the U.S. The SEC alleges that... The Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against Coinbase today, alleging a wide...

Photo by Bloomberg.

SBF’s Criminal Charges Take the Heat Off the Crypto Industry

By Aidan Ryan · Dec 13, 2022 11:45am PST · 1 comment

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has just been charged with a raft of crimes. But they’re not really crypto crimes—and that’s a big relief for the broader crypto industry. The criminal charges, laid out in an indictment filed by federal prosecutors in New York, center on decidedly old-school allegations like wire fraud and... FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has just been charged with a raft of crimes. But they’re not...

Elon Musk. Photo by Getty Images.

Musk Could Own Twitter Next Week: What Happens Next

By Becky Peterson and Akash Pasricha · Oct 4, 2022 12:14pm PDT · 2 comments

Elon Musk. Photo by Getty Images.

Musk Could Own Twitter Next Week: What Happens Next

By Becky Peterson and Akash Pasricha · Oct 4, 2022 12:14pm PDT · 2 comments

Elon Musk has spent months criticizing Twitter for everything from its management to its prevalence of phony users. Now he needs to figure out how to fix its business as advertiser spending evaporates. Musk’s decision to reverse course and offer to complete his $44 billion purchase of Twitter according to the original terms could mean he... Elon Musk has spent months criticizing Twitter for everything from its management to its...

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen. Photo by Bloomberg

Adobe’s $20 Billion Deal For Figma is More Than 50 Times the Startup’s Revenue

By Amir Efrati · Sep 15, 2022 9:25am PDT · 13 comments

The significance of Adobe’s $20 billion purchase of design software provider Figma unveiled Thursday can be summed up in three data points, which show how motivated Adobe was to seal the deal: The significance of Adobe’s $20 billion purchase of design software provider Figma unveiled...

Jay Carney, Amazon’s top public relations and public policy executive, is leaving for Airbnb. Photo: Bloomberg

Amazon PR Chief’s Exit Foretells Policy Shake-up

By Paris Martineau · Jul 22, 2022 5:02pm PDT · 1 comment

The departure of Jay Carney, Amazon’s top public relations and public policy executive, has set off an executive reshuffling that could recalibrate Amazon’s policy priorities at a time when the company faces the most serious regulatory challenges in its 28-year history. CEO Andy Jassy is on the hunt for a new senior policy executive,... The departure of Jay Carney, Amazon’s top public relations and public policy executive, has...

Elon Musk. Photo by Bloomberg.

Four Takeaways from Musk Bid for Twitter

By Martin Peers · Apr 14, 2022 5:56am PDT · 14 comments

Elon Musk’s $39 billion bid to buy the rest of Twitter, unveiled Thursday morning, ends the uncertainty surrounding his intentions for the social media firm. But it raises lots of questions about the impact of a takeover, particularly given his statement that he doesn’t “have confidence in management” and past tweets... Elon Musk’s $39 billion bid to buy the rest of Twitter, unveiled Thursday...

Under Chair Lina Khan, the Federal Trade Commission has taken a more skeptical view of mergers.

An Agitator Disrupts an Antitrust Garden Party

By Josh Sisco · Apr 12, 2022 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Under Chair Lina Khan, the Federal Trade Commission has taken a more skeptical view of mergers.

An Agitator Disrupts an Antitrust Garden Party

By Josh Sisco · Apr 12, 2022 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

The American Bar Association’s annual antitrust conference is typically a pretty staid affair where lawyers share gossip, drinks and tips on how to better defend their clients. Then, last Thursday, Barry Lynn disrupted the peace. Lynn, executive director of antimonopoly group Open Markets Institute, rattled off a list of social ills,... The American Bar Association’s annual antitrust conference is typically a pretty staid...

TSMC CEO C. C. Wei, center, at the company's annual shareholder meeting in Taiwan in 2020. Photo by Bloomberg

Apple’s Latest Chip Could Help TSMC Gain an Edge on Intel in New Battleground

By Stephen Nellis · Mar 15, 2022 10:28am PDT · 1 comment

When Apple Inc. introduced its newest computer last week—a boxy desktop machine called Mac Studio—the star of the show was the powerful chip at the heart of it. But that chip, the M1 Ultra, isn’t new at all. It consists of two existing Apple chips—the M1 Max, which powers Apple’s high-end MacBook Pro... When Apple Inc. introduced its newest computer last week—a boxy desktop machine called Mac...

Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger. Photo: Bloomberg

The Risk in Intel’s New Chipmaking Strategy

By Stephen Nellis · Feb 23, 2022 6:00am PST · 2 comments

Since the 1990s, Intel has managed the huge capital demands of the chipmaking business by concentrating on designing the most advanced and profitable chips and keeping its manufacturing operations lean. The company routinely snapped up billions of dollars in chipmaking tools, only to sell them off a few years later when they were no longer... Since the 1990s, Intel has managed the huge capital demands of the chipmaking business by...

Images by Microsoft; Activision. Art by Mike Sullivan

Eight Takeaways From the Microsoft-Activision Deal

By Nick Wingfield · Jan 18, 2022 1:58pm PST · 7 comments

Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard may have caught the market by surprise, but the deal makes sense on a number of levels. Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard may have caught the market by...

Y Combinator president Geoff Ralston. Photo by Wikigeoff2021

Y Combinator’s New Deal Sparks Fear in Seed Investors

By Kate Clark · Jan 10, 2022 8:45pm PST · 9 comments

Y Combinator president Geoff Ralston. Photo by Wikigeoff2021

Y Combinator’s New Deal Sparks Fear in Seed Investors

By Kate Clark · Jan 10, 2022 8:45pm PST · 9 comments

Y Combinator’s change to the deal terms it grants startup founders has given the famed startup accelerator more firepower than ever. And that’s causing an outcry among the seed investors who comb through its graduating classes to find the next Stripe and Airbnb. On Monday, Y Combinator said that in addition to its usual $125,000... Y Combinator’s change to the deal terms it grants startup founders has given the famed...

Cryptocurrency investor Katie Haun in 2018.

What Crypto Investor Katie Haun’s Exit From Andreessen Horowitz Means

By Kate Clark · Dec 15, 2021 6:07pm PST · 4 comments

Surging public adoption of cryptocurrencies and investments in crypto-related startups this year has already forced major changes at some of the biggest venture capital firms, which have raced to catch up to VC upstarts specializing in the crypto sector. But the departure Wednesday of crypto-investment partner Katie Haun from Andreessen... Surging public adoption of cryptocurrencies and investments in crypto-related startups this year...

iPhones on display. Photo by Bloomberg

Apple Will Face Pressure to Store More Customer Data in China Under New Laws

By Wayne Ma · Oct 21, 2021 12:10pm PDT

Apple could be the next target of new Chinese government rules forcing U.S. companies to store more user data in the country, analysts and legal experts say. Those rules have so far forced Tesla to store local driver data in China and contributed to LinkedIn pulling back from its operations there. Legal experts say Chinese authorities... Apple could be the next target of new Chinese government rules forcing U.S. companies to...

Apple CEO Tim Cook in 2019. Photo by Bloomberg

After Court’s Apple App Store Ruling, All Eyes on How Gamers Respond

By Josh Sisco · Sep 10, 2021 1:47pm PDT · 5 comments

Friday’s federal court ruling on Epic Games’ lawsuit against Apple opens the door to app developers of all kinds to pitch alternative payment options, getting around Apple’s 30% App Store fee. Whether it has any practical impact on Apple’s bottom line, though, comes down to a single question: Will gamers be willing to... Friday’s federal court ruling on Epic Games’ lawsuit against Apple opens the door to...

Didi Chuxing's office in Hangzhou. Photo by Bloomberg

Didi’s Trouble With Regulators Could Chill China Tech Plans for U.S. IPOs

By Juro Osawa and Shai Oster · Jul 5, 2021 5:37am PDT · 2 comments

Didi Chuxing's office in Hangzhou. Photo by Bloomberg

Didi’s Trouble With Regulators Could Chill China Tech Plans for U.S. IPOs

By Juro Osawa and Shai Oster · Jul 5, 2021 5:37am PDT · 2 comments

Didi Chuxing’s trouble with China’s regulators raises questions about the ride-hailing giant’s future just days after it raised $4.4 billion in a U.S. initial public offering. It also could discourage other major Chinese tech companies from going public in the U.S. On Sunday, the Cybersecurity Administration of China ordered... Didi Chuxing’s trouble with China’s regulators raises questions about the...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg; photo by Bloomberg

FTC’s Court Loss Against Facebook Could Spur Congress on Antitrust Reform

By Josh Sisco · Jun 28, 2021 4:17pm PDT · 1 comment

A federal court ruling on Monday handed Facebook an unexpected and dramatic win—for now—in its defense against U.S. antitrust lawyers who were seeking to force the company to spin off Whatsapp and Instagram. The ruling by a federal judge to toss out a pair of antitrust lawsuits filed last fall by the Federal Trade Commission and a... A federal court ruling on Monday handed Facebook an unexpected and dramatic win—for...

BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti. Photo by Bloomberg.

BuzzFeed Confirms Merger Plans, Showing Advertising Remains Central to Future

By Sahil Patel · Jun 24, 2021 12:34pm PDT

When BuzzFeed confirmed its plan to go public on Thursday, it made the pitch that it can accelerate growth through newer, fast-growing businesses like commerce. Yet the details of its presentation to investors show BuzzFeed still expects to be heavily reliant on advertising, a business in which it has struggled to grow over the past few years. ... When BuzzFeed confirmed its plan to go public on Thursday, it made the pitch that it can...

Apple CEO Tim Cook at an Oakland courthouse on May 21 during the final stage of an antitrust trial. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple Facing Potential Loss in App Store Antitrust Case as Judge Turns Hostile

By Josh Sisco · May 25, 2021 6:01am PDT · 6 comments

The last two days of Apple’s high-profile antitrust trial against app developer Epic Games didn’t go the way Apple had hoped. The judge, Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, voiced concerns about Apple’s App Store levying a 30% tax on digital purchases made in apps, an issue that is at the core of Epic’s complaint. She also said... The last two days of Apple’s high-profile antitrust trial against app developer Epic Games...

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

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...