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

Photo via Adobe Stock.

Instacart Shows Up Uber on Handling Stock Comp

By Martin Peers · Feb 14, 2024 5:00pm PST

Good things come to those who wait—including, we now know, Uber shareholders. The ride-hailing firm’s decision to launch a $7 billion stock buyback program sent the already rallying stock up another 15% to around $79.15. Since the stock was trading as low as $40 last October, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi should be pleased. But taking the glass... Good things come to those who wait—including, we now know, Uber shareholders. The ride-hailing...

Photo via Adobe Stock

Lyft Shows Proof of Life in Profitable Q4

By Martin Peers · Feb 13, 2024 5:03pm PST · 1 comment

Lyft lives! Well, maybe. The No. 2 ride-hailing firm reported that it generated real cash in the fourth quarter for the first time ever, and its CEO, David Risher, predicted the company would repeat the feat for all of 2024. Initial reaction from Wall Street was euphoric—at one point Lyft shares were up 60% in after-hours trading—but that... Lyft lives! Well, maybe. The No. 2 ride-hailing firm reported that it generated real cash in the...

"The Shy Five": Pat Collison (Stripe), Zhang Yiming (ByteDance), Ali Ghodsi (Databricks), Melanie Perkins (Canva) and Elon Musk (SpaceX).

Introducing the Shy Five

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 12, 2024 5:00pm PST

The insane stock rally in recent days of Arm, the SoftBank-owned chip designer, puts a big dent in the theory that the market for initial public offerings is still “closed.” The company’s stock price—which has doubled in the past week—is now up 192% from its September public listing, providing IPO investors with a juicy profit. What Arm... The insane stock rally in recent days of Arm, the SoftBank-owned chip designer, puts a big dent...

Photo by Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images.

Landing Apple as a Customer May Be More Trouble Than It’s Worth

By Martin Peers · Feb 9, 2024 3:15pm PST

Photo by Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images.

Landing Apple as a Customer May Be More Trouble Than It’s Worth

By Martin Peers · Feb 9, 2024 3:15pm PST

Be careful what you wish for, particularly if your wish is to sign Apple as a customer. That’s true whatever business you’re in, including, as The Information revealed this week, freight transport. As my colleagues Theo Wayt and Ann Gehan detailed in this report, freight firm Flexport’s biggest-name customer—one that hasn’t been disclosed before... Be careful what you wish for, particularly if your wish is to sign Apple as a customer. That’s...

Rene Haas, CEO of Arm Ltd. Photo by Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Arm’s Big Rally Doesn’t Compute

By Martin Peers · Feb 8, 2024 5:00pm PST

Wonders never cease: Arm’s pre-IPO promise to investors that the chip design firm would soon show decent growth turned out to be true! The company’s stock rocketed as much as 60% on Thursday after Arm reported a better-than-projected 14% revenue increase in December-quarter revenues. You might be thinking that 14% is hardly home run territory,... Wonders never cease: Arm’s pre-IPO promise to investors that the chip design firm would soon show...

Disney CEO Bob Iger with Taylor Swift and Fortnite's Ice King. Photos via Getty Images and Fortnite.

Disney’s Bob Iger Enlists Taylor Swift and Fortnite to Help in Reelection Campaign

By Martin Peers · Feb 7, 2024 5:00pm PST

Taylor Swift! Fortnite! Disney CEO Bob Iger dropped the names of both entertainment icons as he ramped up his campaign to defeat the two activist shareholders—Nelson Peltz and Blackwells Capital—trying to win seats on Disney’s board. Using the power of incumbency, Iger on Wednesday unveiled a deluge of glitzy new entertainment ventures alongside... Taylor Swift! Fortnite! Disney CEO Bob Iger dropped the names of both entertainment icons as he...

The Golden State Warriors versus Brooklyn Nets yesterday in New York City. Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images.

Media Giants’ Sports Venture Could Trigger Earthquake in Cable and Streaming

By Martin Peers · Feb 6, 2024 5:00pm PST

Whoa! We got very big news in the television world late Tuesday, as Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox announced they were joining forces to create a new streaming joint venture for sports. By including access to programming on traditional cable channels such as Disney’s ESPN, Fox’s sports channels and Warner’s TNT and TBS, the new service... Whoa! We got very big news in the television world late Tuesday, as Disney, Warner Bros....

Snap Inc. stock figures displayed on the New York Stock Exchange floor this afternoon. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images.

Snap’s Layoffs Aim to Reduce Stock Comp Dilution

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

Snap Inc. stock figures displayed on the New York Stock Exchange floor this afternoon. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images.

Snap’s Layoffs Aim to Reduce Stock Comp Dilution

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

Hold the front page! A tech company is acknowledging that stock compensation is a real expense. On Monday, Snap said it was cutting 10% of its global workforce. As it was the latest in a very long list of tech companies to undertake layoffs in recent weeks, the news might not seem like a big deal. Like other companies, Snap said the layoffs were... Hold the front page! A tech company is acknowledging that stock compensation is a real expense....

Photo via AP

Investors Lose the Plot on Meta Stock

By Martin Peers · Feb 2, 2024 3:13pm PST · 7 comments

Investors appear to have taken leave of their senses—at least with regard to the value of Facebook parent Meta Platforms. The stock rocketed 20% today, a rise fueled by the company’s robust fourth-quarter results, giving Meta a market capitalization of $1.2 trillion. (Bloomberg reported that the market value of today’s gain was the single... Investors appear to have taken leave of their senses—at least with regard to the value of...

Photo via AP

Meta Is Q4 Standout of Tech Trifecta

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

We got a trifecta of big tech earnings results today, with December quarter updates from Apple, Amazon and Meta Platforms. Of that group, Meta was the standout, reporting 25% growth in revenue to just above $40 billion, at the high end of what it had projected. Even better, Meta projected that revenue growth could accelerate further to as high... We got a trifecta of big tech earnings results today, with December quarter updates from Apple,...

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Discord's Jason Citron, Snap's Evan Spiegel, TikTok's Shou Chew and X's Linda Yaccarino at today's U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing. Photos via Getty Images.

Social Media Senate Hearing: Point Scoring and Talking Points

By Martin Peers · Jan 31, 2024 5:00pm PST

It’s doubtful much of substance was achieved from today’s Senate hearing into “big tech and the online child sexual exploitation crisis,” starring a lineup of social media CEOs. As is typical, the CEOs recited jargonistic talking points and floundered when a cavalcade of senators demanded yes-or-no answers to a variety of questions. The senators... It’s doubtful much of substance was achieved from today’s Senate hearing into “big tech and the...

Photo via AP

Delaware Tells Musk ‘No’; Alphabet and Microsoft’s AI-Driven Earnings

By Martin Peers · Jan 30, 2024 5:00pm PST · 9 comments

Photo via AP

Delaware Tells Musk ‘No’; Alphabet and Microsoft’s AI-Driven Earnings

By Martin Peers · Jan 30, 2024 5:00pm PST · 9 comments

Tuesday’s biggest tech news has to be the Delaware Court of Chancery’s stunning decision rescinding Elon Musk’s $56 billion Tesla pay package from 2018. The ruling, a big victory for the Tesla shareholder who sued to block the pay deal, should be a warning to all company boards that are dominated by a high-profile CEO: Make sure you’ve got some... Tuesday’s biggest tech news has to be the Delaware Court of Chancery’s stunning decision...

Photo via Shutterstock

The Market-Based Case for Covering Startups’ Financial Data

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 29, 2024 5:00pm PST · 5 comments

One of the foundational academic works business students read and discuss is George Akerlof’s 1970 paper, “The Market for ‘Lemons.’” Akerlof, a Nobel Prize winner, described a problem in the used car market: Buyers have less information about the quality of the car than sellers do. They can’t see the defects in low-quality used cars, or “lemons.... One of the foundational academic works business students read and discuss is George Akerlof’s...

Reed Hastings, co-founder and former CEO of Netflix. Photo by Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

How Netflix Missed Out on Succession Drama

By Martin Peers · Jan 26, 2024 3:00pm PST · 2 comments

When it comes to drama, Netflix has turned out to be a disappointment, at least for reporters. In the annals of tech CEO successions, Reed Hastings’ handoff of the reins to the duo of Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters seems to have gone about as smoothly as possible. In the year since Hastings kicked himself upstairs, Netflix stock has soared 67%.... When it comes to drama, Netflix has turned out to be a disappointment, at least for reporters. In...

Apple's Fifth Avenue store entrance in New York City. Photo via Adobe Stock.

Reading Apple’s Fine Print on Europe Changes

By Nick Wingfield · Jan 25, 2024 5:00pm PST

In the classic Akira Kurosawa movie “Rashomon,” four witnesses to a murder describe the event in four conflicting ways. Watching that movie would have been good preparation for the contradictory narratives that greeted Apple’s seemingly momentous news today about changes to its app policies in Europe. Apple outlined those... In the classic Akira Kurosawa movie “Rashomon,” four witnesses to a murder describe the event in...

The Magnificent Seven Steve McQueen riding shotgun as Yul Brynner takes the reigns in a scene from the 1960 western. Photo by Screen Archives/Getty Images.

Tesla’s Slowdown Disqualifies It From ‘Magnificent Seven’ Group

By Martin Peers · Jan 24, 2024 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

The Magnificent Seven Steve McQueen riding shotgun as Yul Brynner takes the reigns in a scene from the 1960 western. Photo by Screen Archives/Getty Images.

Tesla’s Slowdown Disqualifies It From ‘Magnificent Seven’ Group

By Martin Peers · Jan 24, 2024 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Stock market pundits may want to come up with a new name for the big tech stocks driving the overall market. The “magnificent seven” descriptor—referring to Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Nvidia and Tesla—no longer seems to make much sense. I’d like to suggest that’s because none of the company CEOs look like cowboy... Stock market pundits may want to come up with a new name for the big tech stocks driving the...

A WWE Raw event in London. Photo via Shutterstock.

Why Netflix’s Raw Deal Will Strengthen Its Streaming Lead

By Martin Peers · Jan 23, 2024 5:00pm PST · 2 comments

Netflix has put media companies in a chokehold. The streaming giant’s $5 billion deal to assume the rights to World Wrestling Entertainment’s Raw from NBCUniversal’s USA network—and other WWE programming overseas—demonstrates its growing competitive advantage over older TV companies. USA has aired Raw since 1993—with a five-year break in the... Netflix has put media companies in a chokehold. The streaming giant’s $5 billion deal to assume...

Photo via Adobe Stock

Chips Are Hot, and That Won’t Stop

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 22, 2024 5:00pm PST

Whenever I fly to or from San Francisco, I like to snoop on people in first class as I shuffle back to my coach seat. What gadgets are they using? What are they reading? (And, maybe, are there any confidential documents on their laptop screens? Shh.) On Sunday, as I flew back to New York from a West Coast visit, one gentleman was about halfway... Whenever I fly to or from San Francisco, I like to snoop on people in first class as I shuffle...

Photo via Shutterstock

What to Expect From Tech Earnings Season

By Martin Peers · Jan 19, 2024 3:05pm PST

Earnings season is back! Netflix kicks off the tech sector’s round of December-quarter reports on Tuesday, followed the week after by Alphabet, Microsoft, Apple, Meta Platforms and others. This promises to be an unremarkable quarter, with big companies’ growth rates largely unchanged from the third quarter. That’s not as true for Netflix, which... Earnings season is back! Netflix kicks off the tech sector’s round of December-quarter reports on...

Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images.

Why Tech’s Latest Job Cut Wave Feels Different

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 18, 2024 5:00pm PST · 3 comments

Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images.

Why Tech’s Latest Job Cut Wave Feels Different

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 18, 2024 5:00pm PST · 3 comments

When a year or so ago tech companies including Amazon, Meta Platforms and Google announced broad layoffs—in some cases for the first time in their history—tech workers were on edge.But as 2023 wore on, there was a little sense of relief. It started to feel like the post-pandemic themes of “rightsizing” and “removing layers of management” that... When a year or so ago tech companies including Amazon, Meta Platforms and Google announced broad...