The Information

Uber’s Leadership Is Stretched Thin as Departures Mount

By Amir Efrati · Mar 10, 2020 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

Uber is acting more like a startup these days. For the past two and a half months, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has been doing two jobs at once—overseeing the ride-hailing company while also serving as chief product officer. One of his deputies, strategic finance chief Dennis Cinelli, for months also has been running Uber’s electric bike... Uber is acting more like a startup these days. For the past two and a half months, CEO Dara...

Inside Waymo’s Hiring Binge

By Amir Efrati · Feb 25, 2020 7:00am PST · 2 comments

Alphabet’s Waymo still hasn’t perfected a self-driving car. So it is throwing more money at the problem. Waymo nearly doubled its headcount to 1,500 employees, known as “Waymonauts,” from 800 about a year ago, said a person with knowledge of the figure. Much of the expansion came from the hiring of hundreds of engineers... Alphabet’s Waymo still hasn’t perfected a self-driving car. So it is throwing more...

The People With Power on Google’s Policy Team

By Ashley Gold · Feb 19, 2020 7:02am PST · 2 comments

Shortly after Google’s public policy chief, Karan Bhatia, joined the company in 2018, he launched a major overhaul of his sprawling department, with the goal of grouping staffers around policy issues and along business lines, rather than by geographic location. The restructured team likely now has its hands full: Since last year, the... Shortly after Google’s public policy chief, Karan Bhatia, joined the company in 2018, he...

The People With Power at ViacomCBS

By Jessica Toonkel · Feb 11, 2020 7:01am PST

The People With Power at ViacomCBS

By Jessica Toonkel · Feb 11, 2020 7:01am PST

When Shari Redstone merged her two TV companies, Viacom and CBS, two months ago, a top priority was overcoming years of sibling rivalry between the two companies, once part of a single firm that split apart in 2005. Over the past few weeks, she and her CEO, Bob Bakish, have taken a major step in that direction by assembling a management team... When Shari Redstone merged her two TV companies, Viacom and CBS, two months ago, a top priority...

The People With Power at Microsoft

By Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 3, 2020 7:01am PST

Microsoft was once so notorious for executive infighting that a cartoon diagram of its organizational chart—showing its various divisions aiming handguns at each other—went viral. The caricature pained Satya Nadella, he has said. After taking over as CEO of Microsoft in 2014, he made it a top priority to get the company’s... Microsoft was once so notorious for executive infighting that a cartoon diagram of its...

The People With Power at Twitter

By Alex Heath · Jan 13, 2020 7:01am PST · 1 comment

For more than four years, Jack Dorsey has held the CEO role at both Twitter and Square, splitting his time between the two companies, whose headquarters are near each other in downtown San Francisco. For Twitter, the lack of a full-time CEO has meant that senior leaders are effectively running the company by consensus. Having to get top... For more than four years, Jack Dorsey has held the CEO role at both Twitter and Square, splitting...

The People With Power at Facebook

By Alex Heath · Oct 3, 2019 7:00am PDT

Facebook’s burgeoning hardware group, its digital currency team and the executives leading Instagram are among the highlights of this updated org chart for the company, which identifies roughly 180 of the most senior people at Facebook. The chart—which is based on Facebook’s internal org chart and supplemented by additional... Facebook’s burgeoning hardware group, its digital currency team and the executives leading...

The People With Power at WarnerMedia

By Jessica Toonkel · Sep 17, 2019 7:11am PDT

The People With Power at WarnerMedia

By Jessica Toonkel · Sep 17, 2019 7:11am PDT

When AT&T completed its purchase of Time Warner last year, one of its top priorities was to restructure the entertainment company so that its three businesses—HBO, Turner and Warner Bros—operated as one division. The hope was that by pooling its resources across children’s programming, premium entertainment, news and... When AT&T completed its purchase of Time Warner last year, one of its top priorities was to...

The People With Power at Apple

By Wayne Ma and Aaron Tilley · Sep 12, 2019 8:40am PDT

Apple has undergone more changes to its leadership this year than in the past few years combined as it grapples with a slowdown of its most important product, the iPhone, the latest models of which were unveiled on Tuesday. Aside from high-profile departures, such as chief designer Jony Ive, Apple has elevated its heads of operations and... Apple has undergone more changes to its leadership this year than in the past few years combined...

The People With Power at Quibi

By Beejoli Shah · Sep 5, 2019 10:01am PDT

Quibi, the streaming video service launching next year, plans to air approximately 7,000 episodes of programming within its first year—an ambition for output likely surpassed only by Netflix. But unlike Netflix, which speeds production by letting a wide range of executives greenlight new shows, Quibi Chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg has to sign... Quibi, the streaming video service launching next year, plans to air approximately 7,000 episodes...

The People With Power at Google Cloud

By Kevin McLaughlin and Amir Efrati · Jul 29, 2019 7:01am PDT

In February, a month after Thomas Kurian became CEO of Google’s cloud computing unit, he pledged publicly that Google Cloud would compete “much more aggressively” than in the past, promising to significantly expand its sales force in order to land more Fortune 500 companies as customers. Since then, Mr. Kurian has moved quickly... In February, a month after Thomas Kurian became CEO of Google’s cloud computing unit, he...

The People With Power at Amazon Web Services

By Amir Efrati and Kevin McLaughlin · Jul 18, 2019 7:01am PDT

The People With Power at Amazon Web Services

By Amir Efrati and Kevin McLaughlin · Jul 18, 2019 7:01am PDT

Since Amazon stumbled into the cloud computing business 13 years ago, its Amazon Web Services division has soared to more than $25 billion in annual sales, accounting for nearly 59% of the internet retailer’s operating income. In contrast, it has taken Salesforce—no slouch in the cloud computing business—nearly two decades to... Since Amazon stumbled into the cloud computing business 13 years ago, its Amazon Web Services...

The People With Power at Facebook’s Calibra

By Alex Heath · Jul 16, 2019 12:21pm PDT · 1 comment

At Facebook’s new Calibra subsidiary, the group’s leader, David Marcus, relies on a mix of Facebook veterans and people from his Silicon Valley past to figure out how to weave the Libra digital currency into the social media giant’s family of apps. Of the eight people who report directly to him, two used to work at PayPal,... At Facebook’s new Calibra subsidiary, the group’s leader, David Marcus, relies on a...

The People With Power at WeWork

By Cory Weinberg · Jul 8, 2019 10:01am PDT · 2 comments

WeWork CEO Adam Neumann has said in interviews that his “superpower” is change. Whether his deputies share his comfort with change is another question, as roles atop the company are often in flux, creating uncertainty about who aside from Mr. Neumann holds power at WeWork. Reporting lines at the company shift often. People close to... WeWork CEO Adam Neumann has said in interviews that his “superpower” is change....

The People With Power at Spotify

By Jessica Toonkel · Jun 27, 2019 7:01am PDT · 2 comments

For the leaders of Spotify, one of the biggest challenges of running the global leader in streaming music is bridging different worlds—that of media and tech, and also New York and Stockholm, where its biggest offices are located. Adding to the stress is increasing competition from Apple and the pressures of going public, as Spotify did... For the leaders of Spotify, one of the biggest challenges of running the global leader in...

The People With Power at Snap

By Tom Dotan and Alex Heath · Jun 17, 2019 7:01am PDT

The People With Power at Snap

By Tom Dotan and Alex Heath · Jun 17, 2019 7:01am PDT

Snap is on the mend. After a year of turmoil, when most of the top management team departed and the stock plunged to as low as $5, things have stabilized. The revolving door of executive departures has halted, at least for the moment. A new senior team, with more women than in the past, is in place, drawn from companies as varied as Amazon,... Snap is on the mend. After a year of turmoil, when most of the top management team departed and...

The People With Power at Endeavor

By Beejoli Shah · Jun 3, 2019 7:01am PDT

Ari Emanuel, one of the most high-profile Hollywood agents of the past 25 years, has long been the public face of Endeavor, the talent agency-turned-entertainment conglomerate. But as the company goes public, with a heavy debt load and operating losses, another figure will be in the spotlight: President Mark Shapiro. Mr. Shapiro, a former CEO of... Ari Emanuel, one of the most high-profile Hollywood agents of the past 25 years, has long been...

The People With Power at Tencent

By Juro Osawa and Wayne Ma · Apr 29, 2019 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Pony Ma is well known as the co-founder and chief executive of Chinese tech giant Tencent, which operates the ubiquitous app WeChat. The bookish Mr. Ma, whose passion outside of work is astronomy, has long been the public face of Tencent. But the key executive in Tencent’s daily operations is as much President Martin Lau as Mr. Ma. All of... Pony Ma is well known as the co-founder and chief executive of Chinese tech giant Tencent, which...

The People With Power on Facebook’s Policy and Communications Team

By Ashley Gold · Mar 27, 2019 6:30am PDT · 4 comments

Facebook is facing growing public outcry over how it runs its business, intense political and regulatory scrutiny of its handling of user information, and lawsuits and investigations into data breaches and privacy scandals. It all adds up to the worst crisis for the company since its founding. And there’s no end in sight.Confronted with... Facebook is facing growing public outcry over how it runs its business, intense political and...

The People With Power at Google Advertising

By Sarah Kuranda · Mar 13, 2019 6:30am PDT

The People With Power at Google Advertising

By Sarah Kuranda · Mar 13, 2019 6:30am PDT

For years, Google has been the top dog in internet advertising, with Facebook not far behind. But now an interloper in the ad market, Amazon, is attracting growing attention from the leaders of Google’s ad group—more than 50 of whom are shown in the chart accompanying this story. Google’s salespeople have even started... For years, Google has been the top dog in internet advertising, with Facebook not far behind. But...