The Briefing by Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

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The Briefing

By Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

Get smarter about the day’s news in tech, media and finance by following Silicon Valley’s most-read executive newsletter.

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Recent Editions

Elon Musk. Photo via Getty

Wall Street Finally Forgives Musk for Twitter

By Martin Peers · Nov 11, 2024 5:00pm PST

This is telling: Tesla’s closing price today of $350 was the first time it has closed at that level since the first week of April 2022, when Elon Musk first revealed he was building a position in Twitter (now X). A two-and-a-half-year slump in Tesla’s stock price is over; it was sparked by his excursion into making over the social media app in... This is telling: Tesla’s closing price today of $350 was the first time it has closed at that...

David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery. Photo via Getty

Why TV Mergers Aren’t the Solution to Streaming’s Flaws

By Martin Peers · Nov 8, 2024 3:00pm PST

That didn’t take long. Within a day of Donald Trump’s election as president, TV executives were signaling optimism that the new administration would make life easier for them by allowing the industry to consolidate. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav made the most articulate case on Thursday, presenting mergers as a way of helping out poor... That didn’t take long. Within a day of Donald Trump’s election as president, TV executives were...

San Francisco City Hall on Election Day. Photo via Getty.

Politics Won’t Fracture Startup Investing

By Nick Wingfield, Natasha Mascarenhas and Paris Martineau · Nov 7, 2024 5:00pm PST · 4 comments

Considering the political rifts in tech this presidential election exposed, you might think Silicon Valley is about to fracture into a scenario in which blue venture capitalists widely refuse to work with red investors and founders—and vice versa. But we’re not so sure.There’s no doubt that at times during the campaign, the rhetoric between... Considering the political rifts in tech this presidential election exposed, you might think...

Photo via Getty

Techies Hope for Trump-Driven Deregulation

By Martin Peers · Nov 6, 2024 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Photo via Getty

Techies Hope for Trump-Driven Deregulation

By Martin Peers · Nov 6, 2024 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

That’s what you call delight. Stocks rocketed—the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 3%—as Wall Street applauded Donald Trump’s victory in Tuesday’s election. Most tech stocks rose in tandem—Tesla stock jumped 15%, reflecting the benefits CEO Elon Musk is expected to earn from his vocal support for Trump. Notably, one of the few tech stocks to lose... That’s what you call delight. Stocks rocketed—the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 3%—as Wall Street...

Photos via Getty.

Reddit Passes Snap

By Martin Peers · Nov 5, 2024 5:00pm PST

You’re likely distracted right now by election results, which have surely started rolling in as you’re reading. Rather than add to all the premature speculation on the topic, we think creating an election-free zone would be more useful. Below we recommend some things you can do tonight other than watch the news channels.Before we get to that,... You’re likely distracted right now by election results, which have surely started rolling in as...

ByteDance's Singapore offices. Photo via Shutterstock.

Why ByteDance is a Bargain

By Martin Peers · Nov 4, 2024 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

What’s the cheapest stock around right now? That has to be ByteDance, the privately owned Chinese tech giant that owns TikTok. As we reported today, ByteDance lifted its first-half revenue about 35% to $73 billion, which means it is now about as big as Facebook owner Meta Platforms but growing faster. In the first half, Meta’s revenue increased... What’s the cheapest stock around right now? That has to be ByteDance, the privately owned Chinese...

Michael Saylor. Photo via Getty.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin Bet

By Martin Peers · Nov 1, 2024 3:35pm PDT

You could be forgiven for missing, amid the onslaught of tech company earnings news lately, what may be the most startling business story of the week. That would be the plan by enterprise software and bitcoin investment firm MicroStrategy to raise a massive $42 billion over the next three years to buy more bitcoin, using equal parts debt and... You could be forgiven for missing, amid the onslaught of tech company earnings news lately, what...

Photo via Getty

Apple’s Weak Forecast, AWS’ Profit Rockets

By Martin Peers · Oct 31, 2024 5:00pm PDT

Photo via Getty

Apple’s Weak Forecast, AWS’ Profit Rockets

By Martin Peers · Oct 31, 2024 5:00pm PDT

Nothing particularly frightening emerged from the two big tech goliaths that reported September quarterly results tonight, Apple and Amazon. But they offered nothing particularly cheery, either.For both companies, the updates had a mix of good and bad news. Apple, for instance, reported 6% top-line growth for the September quarter, its best... Nothing particularly frightening emerged from the two big tech goliaths that reported September...

Photo via Getty

Meta and Microsoft Disappoint Investors

By Martin Peers · Oct 30, 2024 5:00pm PDT

Danger, danger! That’s the message Wall Street sent Meta Platforms tonight, as investors sold off shares in the company in the wake of its predictably healthy third-quarter earnings result. They perhaps weren’t thrilled that Meta plans to lift capital expenditures significantly again next year, on top of a projected increase this year of as much... Danger, danger! That’s the message Wall Street sent Meta Platforms tonight, as investors sold off...

Photo via Getty

Google Cloud’s Surge

By Martin Peers · Oct 29, 2024 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Google may have calmed some nerves on Wall Street on Tuesday. It delivered a third-quarter result showing a sharp acceleration in Google Cloud’s growth rate, to a bumper 35%, from 29% in the second quarter. CEO Sundar Pichai credited that performance in part to the company’s AI portfolio, which he said was helping it win new customers as well as... Google may have calmed some nerves on Wall Street on Tuesday. It delivered a third-quarter result...

Chart by Shane Burke

Why Meta and Apple Have Been Rallying, Unlike Microsoft and Google

By Martin Peers · Oct 28, 2024 5:00pm PDT

Get ready. We’re about to endure three days of earnings reports from five of the six biggest companies in tech—not including Nvidia, which doesn’t report earnings until Nov. 20. What makes these updates more interesting than usual is that investors appear to have wildly varying views of these companies right now, at least judging by their recent... Get ready. We’re about to endure three days of earnings reports from five of the six biggest...

Photo via Getty

Musk, Putin and CEO Telephone Calls

By Martin Peers · Oct 25, 2024 4:00pm PDT

Photo via Getty

Musk, Putin and CEO Telephone Calls

By Martin Peers · Oct 25, 2024 4:00pm PDT

We’ve learned a lot lately about who CEOs like to telephone. We reported a couple of weeks ago that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella likes to make two calls a day to CEOs of other companies, including startup chiefs, to ensure he stays up to date on the latest developments in tech. And Morgan Stanley’s former CEO and Disney chair-to-be Jim Gorman... We’ve learned a lot lately about who CEOs like to telephone. We reported a couple of weeks ago...

Photo via Getty

A Silicon Valley Divided

By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 24, 2024 5:00pm PDT · 3 comments

One of the developments I didn’t predict at the start of the year was the rise in support for Donald Trump among members of the tech elite—like Elon Musk. Musk aside, there’s no question that Silicon Valley elites are more politically divided than they have been for at least the last 20 years I have reported on them. The Valley’s most... One of the developments I didn’t predict at the start of the year was the rise in support for...

Photo via Adobe

Musk’s Tesla Turnaround

By Martin Peers · Oct 23, 2024 5:00pm PDT

Today Elon Musk had some good news to report about Tesla for a change. The electric vehicle maker’s third-quarter results on Wednesday were the strongest in 12 months, with a return to growth in auto revenues after two quarters of decline and the revelation that the Cybertruck had turned profitable. Tesla even projected it would finish this year... Today Elon Musk had some good news to report about Tesla for a change. The electric vehicle maker...

Screenshot from Temu.

Amazon, Temu and $20 Couches

By Martin Peers · Oct 22, 2024 5:00pm PDT

Memo to the Kamala Harris campaign: Have you checked out Temu? The presidential candidate faces a bunch of voters unhappy with how prices for consumer goods have skyrocketed under President Joe Biden. But she could push back on those complaints by pointing people to the website of Temu, the Chinese-owned bargain-basement shopping service that... Memo to the Kamala Harris campaign: Have you checked out Temu? The presidential candidate faces a...

Patrick Collison, CEO of Stripe, at an event by The Information in 2017. Photo by Erin Beach.

Stripe’s Bridge to Crypto

By Martin Peers · Oct 21, 2024 5:00pm PDT

Patrick Collison, CEO of Stripe, at an event by The Information in 2017. Photo by Erin Beach.

Stripe’s Bridge to Crypto

By Martin Peers · Oct 21, 2024 5:00pm PDT

Crypto is so back, baby! Payments firm Stripe confirmed that today with its deal—reportedly $1.1 billion—to buy Bridge, a startup that helps companies make payments using stablecoin (a type of cryptocurrency backed by dollars and other traditional currencies). Given that Bridge’s revenue may be around $12 million, as The Information... Crypto is so back, baby! Payments firm Stripe confirmed that today with its deal—reportedly $1.1...

Photo via Getty

Where Amazon Might Be Taking Whole Foods

By Theo Wayt · Oct 18, 2024 3:00pm PDT

In John Mackey’s new memoir, the Whole Foods founder and former CEO recalls how in mid-2022, shortly before he left the grocery chain, he took MDMA and psilocybin during a spiritual retreat. While under the influence, Mackey agonized over the ways he had been “disrespected and disempowered” after selling Whole Foods to Amazon five years earlier,... In John Mackey’s new memoir, the Whole Foods founder and former CEO recalls how in mid-2022,...

Demis Hassabis. Photo by Getty.

Google Fixes AI Structural Flaw

By Martin Peers · Oct 17, 2024 5:00pm PDT

Google might move slowly but it gets there eventually. Well, at least that’s the theory. A shake-up in the management ranks of the tech giant, unveiled on Thursday, belatedly fixes a flaw in the company’s artificial intelligence organization, one that had constrained its ability to compete with ChatGPT’s creator, OpenAI.CEO Sundar Pichai today... Google might move slowly but it gets there eventually. Well, at least that’s the theory. A...

Photo via Getty

Tech Revives Nuclear

By Martin Peers · Oct 16, 2024 5:00pm PDT

Big tech has well and truly gone nuclear. Amazon’s announcement today that it has signed three deals for the development of nuclear power reactors—including leading a $500 million funding round for a reactor developer called X-energy (not related to the X-obsessed Elon Musk)—demonstrates clearly how the tech industry is helping to revive nuclear... Big tech has well and truly gone nuclear. Amazon’s announcement today that it has signed three...

Steve Schwarzman, co-founder and CEO of Blackstone. Photo via Getty.

Blackstone's Giant Data Center Bet

By Martin Peers · Oct 15, 2024 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Steve Schwarzman, co-founder and CEO of Blackstone. Photo via Getty.

Blackstone's Giant Data Center Bet

By Martin Peers · Oct 15, 2024 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Big tech companies don’t report September-quarter earnings until the end of this month. But you don’t have to wait until then to get an update on the artificial intelligence data center gold rush that’s now underway. Instead, just tune in to Blackstone’s earnings call on Thursday.The giant investment firm has emerged as one of the big global... Big tech companies don’t report September-quarter earnings until the end of this month. But you...