The Information

Inside an Amazon Go store in Seattle. Photo by Bloomberg

Buyer Beware: Why Retailers Should Think Hard About Amazon ‘Go’ Partnerships

By Priya Anand and Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 26, 2020 1:01pm PST

Amazon is angling to become a toll collector on physical retail just as it is in e-commerce, with its vast marketplace that outside merchants access for a fee. But brick-and-mortar retailers may want to approach Amazon’s latest idea with caution.As Amazon on Tuesday unveiled in Seattle its biggest Amazon Go outlet—grocery stores... Amazon is angling to become a toll collector on physical retail just as it is in e-commerce, with...

Disney executive chairman Bob Iger. Photo by Bloomberg

Despite Stepping Down as Disney CEO, Iger Will Still Be In Charge

By Tom Dotan, Jessica Toonkel and Martin Peers · Feb 25, 2020 1:43pm PST

Disney named its park chief Bob Chapek to succeed Bob Iger as CEO. But Iger isn’t going anywhere. He will become executive chairman, allowing him to retain control of the company at least through the end of next year, Disney’s disclosures show.As CEO, Chapek will report to Iger and to the board, Disney’s securities filing... Disney named its park chief Bob Chapek to succeed Bob Iger as CEO. But Iger isn’t going...

FTC Chairman Joseph Simons. Photo by Bloomberg

Five Takeaways From the FTC’s New Antitrust Probe

By Nick Wingfield, Christopher Stern and Ashley Gold · Feb 11, 2020 12:32pm PST · 1 comment

Much of the antitrust scrutiny on big tech companies has focused on whether their biggest acquisitions violated competition laws. Now the Federal Trade Commission, in a sweeping review of five iconic players in the industry, is looking at whether their smaller deals might have hurt competition, too. On Tuesday, the FTC said it has ordered... Much of the antitrust scrutiny on big tech companies has focused on whether their biggest...

How YouTube and Google Cloud Compare to Rivals

By Nick Wingfield and Tom Dotan · Feb 3, 2020 4:08pm PST · 2 comments

How YouTube and Google Cloud Compare to Rivals

By Nick Wingfield and Tom Dotan · Feb 3, 2020 4:08pm PST · 2 comments

Let this sink in: YouTube makes more money from advertising than the ABC, NBC and Fox broadcast networks—combined.That was among the revelations in an unexpectedly newsy earnings report on Monday by Alphabet, the parent company of Google, which broke out the financial performance of several of its key businesses for the first time. The... Let this sink in: YouTube makes more money from advertising than the ABC, NBC and Fox broadcast...

Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat. Photo by Bloomberg

Who Wins and Loses at Alphabet From Page Departure

By Nick Bastone and Amir Efrati · Dec 4, 2019 12:50pm PST · 6 comments

Twenty-one years after founding Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin announced on Tuesday they would be stepping down from their leadership roles at the company. Page will no longer serve as the CEO of Alphabet, the holding company of Google and its ambitious endeavors known as “Other Bets.” And Brin will step down as Alphabet’s... Twenty-one years after founding Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin announced on Tuesday they...

Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Photo by AP

As Alphabet Grows Obsolete, Page and Brin Step Aside

By Jessica E. Lessin, Nick Bastone and Nick Wingfield · Dec 3, 2019 3:32pm PST · 1 comment

The days of Alphabet, the Google parent company that Larry Page and Sergey Brin created as a playground for ambitious new bets, may be numbered. A little over four years after Page and Brin formed Alphabet, the two made a surprise announcement on Tuesday that Google CEO Sundar Pichai will become Alphabet’s CEO, replacing Page. Brin... The days of Alphabet, the Google parent company that Larry Page and Sergey Brin created as a...

Disney Plus' introductory page. Photo by AP

Early Streaming Glitches Highlight Disney’s Tech Challenges

By Tom Dotan and Kevin McLaughlin · Nov 13, 2019 4:42pm PST

Disney’s revelation on Wednesday that it signed up 10 million subscribers for Disney Plus on its first day was as strong an indication as any that it will quickly become a formidable player in the streaming space—and also gave some explanation for its early technical woes.A few hours after launch on Tuesday morning, customers began... Disney’s revelation on Wednesday that it signed up 10 million subscribers for Disney Plus...

Turnaround at Snap, Twitter Could Pose Challenge for Facebook Antitrust Case

By Tom Dotan · Oct 2, 2019 10:36am PDT · 1 comment

Turnaround at Snap, Twitter Could Pose Challenge for Facebook Antitrust Case

By Tom Dotan · Oct 2, 2019 10:36am PDT · 1 comment

Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s claim on Tuesday that Facebook has “bulldozed competition” reflects a view that is driving an antitrust investigation into the social network giant. It’s a little ironic, then, that two of Facebook’s highest-profile rivals, Snap and Twitter, have lately been doing better than they have in a... Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s claim on Tuesday that Facebook has “bulldozed...

Tim Cook speaks at an Apple event in September, 2018. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple’s iPhone Prospects in China Tougher Than Ever

By Juro Osawa and Wayne Ma · Sep 10, 2019 9:32am PDT · 1 comment

Huawei may be struggling to deal with U.S. sanctions in many international markets, but in China its sales are surging, thanks to its smartphones’ high-end specs and rising patriotic sentiment. And that spells bad news for Apple’s hopes for its new iPhones in the Chinese market.Until recently, the iPhone was the only luxury... Huawei may be struggling to deal with U.S. sanctions in many international markets, but in China...

New York State Attorney General Letitia James, shown in June, is leading a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general in investigating Facebook for alleged antitrust issues. Photo: AP

Google, Facebook Face Multiple Risks From New State Probes

By Ashley Gold and Christopher Stern · Sep 9, 2019 9:28am PDT

Google and Facebook are likely to find it much harder to escape antitrust penalties now that more than two dozen state attorneys general have decided to launch their own probes of the tech giants.The states’ involvement ups the ante for Google parent Alphabet and Facebook in multiple ways. The companies, already under investigation for... Google and Facebook are likely to find it much harder to escape antitrust penalties now that more...

John Foley, founder and CEO of Peloton. Photo by Bloomberg.

Peloton IPO Filing Shows Wider Losses as Marketing Surges

By Nick Wingfield · Aug 27, 2019 4:18pm PDT · 2 comments

Peloton, the provider of internet fitness classes and connected exercise equipment, has seen its losses balloon as it has poured money into sales and marketing, the company said in a filing for an initial public offering on Tuesday afternoon. Peloton is not your typical tech or internet IPO, as its filing makes clear. It sells both... Peloton, the provider of internet fitness classes and connected exercise equipment, has seen its...

Uber and Lyft stickers are displayed on a vehicle in New York. Photo by Bloomberg.

Food Delivery, Foreign Markets Weigh on Uber Results

By Amir Efrati · Aug 8, 2019 4:18pm PDT · 1 comment

Uber and Lyft stickers are displayed on a vehicle in New York. Photo by Bloomberg.

Food Delivery, Foreign Markets Weigh on Uber Results

By Amir Efrati · Aug 8, 2019 4:18pm PDT · 1 comment

Uber’s food-delivery service and some of its foreign ride-hailing operations increasingly look like albatrosses weighing it down, rather than the sources of growth predicted by executives before the company’s IPO.That suggests pressure is likely to grow on CEO Dara Khosrowshahi to consider merging Uber Eats with rival food delivery... Uber’s food-delivery service and some of its foreign ride-hailing operations increasingly...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Bloomberg

FTC Deal with Facebook Sparks Skepticism

By Ashley Gold, Christopher Stern and Alex Heath · Jul 24, 2019 2:59pm PDT · 2 comments

Facebook and the Federal Trade Commission had a consistent message about the privacy settlement they announced Wednesday: It was a historic deal that will significantly change how the social media company conducts itself in the future. Both parties have a lot of persuading to do to convince critics. While the $5 billion fine Facebook... Facebook and the Federal Trade Commission had a consistent message about the privacy settlement...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in Paris in May. Photo by Bloomberg

Eight Takeaways From Facebook’s Libra Cryptocurrency

By Jon Victor and Alex Heath · Jun 18, 2019 5:00am PDT · 9 comments

Inside Facebook, a group has spent the past year developing a cryptocurrency that could have far-reaching implications for the company’s business and the broader digital payments industry if successful. Now the group is finally going public with the details of its plans. Facebook unveiled the plans early Tuesday when it published an... Inside Facebook, a group has spent the past year developing a cryptocurrency that could have...

Makan Delrahim, assistant attorney general for the antitrust division of the U.S. Department of Justice, in April. Photo by Bloomberg

Antitrust Reviews May Force Big Tech to Rethink Conduct

By Nick Wingfield and Christopher Stern · Jun 3, 2019 3:50pm PDT

While the nation’s leading antitrust enforcers—the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice—are signaling fresh interest in examining big tech companies, it could take years for any concrete legal action to come from their efforts. But that doesn’t mean it will be business as usual for Google, Facebook,... While the nation’s leading antitrust enforcers—the Federal Trade Commission and the...

Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel. Photo by Bloomberg

Endeavor’s IPO Filing Shows Heavy Debt and Losses

By Beejoli Shah, Martin Peers and Alfred Lee · May 23, 2019 1:03pm PDT · 1 comment

Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel. Photo by Bloomberg

Endeavor’s IPO Filing Shows Heavy Debt and Losses

By Beejoli Shah, Martin Peers and Alfred Lee · May 23, 2019 1:03pm PDT · 1 comment

Endeavor, the talent agency turned entertainment conglomerate, filed to go public on Thursday, pulling back the curtain on a company that has taken on heavy debts in recent years to diversify into a variety of sports and content businesses.The IPO filing revealed that Endeavor’s revenue rose 20% to $3.6 billion last year, while its... Endeavor, the talent agency turned entertainment conglomerate, filed to go public on Thursday,...

Daniel Wall, a lawyer for Apple in the Apple v. Pepper case, left, leaves the U.S. Supreme Court last November. Photo by Bloomberg

Apple’s Grip on Apps Faces Challenge From Supreme Court Ruling

By Ashley Gold and Christopher Stern · May 13, 2019 3:08pm PDT · 2 comments

Could Apple’s vise-like grip on the distribution of iPhone apps be slipping? That’s the most important long-term question resulting from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Monday, which allowed a lawsuit from a group of iPhone users who accused Apple of overcharging them for apps to proceed in a lower court. The case—which argues... Could Apple’s vise-like grip on the distribution of iPhone apps be slipping? That’s...

A WeWork co-working office building in Tokyo. Photo by Bloomberg.

What We Know About WeWork’s Financials

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 29, 2019 4:52pm PDT · 1 comment

WeWork’s announcement Monday that it had filed to go public took many employees by surprise. WeWork confidentially submitted the filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission in December, it said, and on Monday updated the document, which it drafted mostly with an internal team and without an investment bank, according to a person... WeWork’s announcement Monday that it had filed to go public took many employees by...

Slack CEO and co-founder Stewart Butterfield. Photo by Bloomberg

What Slack’s Filing Reveals

By Nick Wingfield and Martin Peers · Apr 26, 2019 9:34am PDT

More than 83% of the organizations using Slack do so without paying the business messaging company, but the minority who do have helped create a business that saw revenue jump 82% to more than $400 million in its most recent fiscal year. Those were among the details in Slack’s much-anticipated filing with securities regulators for a direct... More than 83% of the organizations using Slack do so without paying the business messaging...

Apple CEO Tim Cook (left) and Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf. Photos by Bloomberg

Behind Qualcomm Truce, a Setback for Apple’s Chip Independence

By Nick Wingfield and Aaron Tilley · Apr 16, 2019 3:50pm PDT · 4 comments

Apple CEO Tim Cook (left) and Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf. Photos by Bloomberg

Behind Qualcomm Truce, a Setback for Apple’s Chip Independence

By Nick Wingfield and Aaron Tilley · Apr 16, 2019 3:50pm PDT · 4 comments

A little over a decade ago, Apple shelled out $278 million to acquire a chip startup, PA Semi, providing it with the know-how to create its own chips for the iPhone and putting it on a path towards independence from outside suppliers in the chip business. On Tuesday, though, Apple took a detour on that journey when it settled a long-running... A little over a decade ago, Apple shelled out $278 million to acquire a chip startup, PA Semi,...