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

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Recent Editions

SEC Chair, Gary Gensler. Photo by Drew Angerer via Getty Images.

Bitcoin ETFs Approved After Six-Year Wait

By Martin Peers · Jan 10, 2024 5:00pm PST

This time it’s for real! After at least a six-year wait—and a hoax post on X Tuesday—the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday granted approval for companies to issue spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds. The approval will make it easier for individuals and institutional investors to invest in bitcoin without holding it directly on a... This time it’s for real! After at least a six-year wait—and a hoax post on X Tuesday—the...

Carta CEO, Henry Ward. Photo via Carta.

Will Investor Patience for Bad Founder Behavior Finally Wear Thin?

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 9, 2024 5:00pm PST

Marc Andreessen oversees 10 tech CEOs on the corporate boards he sits on. Andreessen, a self-proclaimed techno-optimist who often likes to stick it to the tech press when he finds its coverage unfair, probably doesn’t mind that several of those CEOS are lightning rods for controversy. There’s Mark Zuckerberg at Meta Platforms, Brian... Marc Andreessen oversees 10 tech CEOs on the corporate boards he sits on. Andreessen, a...

Twilio CEO, Jeff Lawson, who left the company on Sunday. Photo via Getty Images.

Why Twilio’s Lawson Didn’t Have to Cave to Activists

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

Well, that didn’t turn out to be too much of a fight. Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson on Sunday exited the company he founded, the enterprise software company said today, surrendering to activist Anson Funds with barely a shot fired. It didn’t take much to scare Twilio. Anson had hinted it could mount a proxy fight to win board seats if Twilio didn’t... Well, that didn’t turn out to be too much of a fight. Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson on Sunday exited the...

Photo via Getty

Apple, iMessage and Antitrust; Instacart’s Uber-Like Wall Street Life

By Martin Peers · Jan 5, 2024 3:30pm PST · 1 comment

Photo via Getty

Apple, iMessage and Antitrust; Instacart’s Uber-Like Wall Street Life

By Martin Peers · Jan 5, 2024 3:30pm PST · 1 comment

Here’s a question: How much would Apple suffer if it opened up iMessage to Android? The widespread assumption—including within Apple itself—is that by removing a major impediment to people using Android, such a move would boost sales of the devices based on the Google operating system, at the expense of the iPhone. But that may not be as true as... Here’s a question: How much would Apple suffer if it opened up iMessage to Android? The...

Why Peloton’s TikTok Rally Doesn’t Fit

Why Peloton’s TikTok Rally Doesn’t Fit

By Martin Peers · Jan 4, 2024 5:00pm PST · 3 comments

Wall Street traders need to exercise their brains a bit more. Peloton shares jumped 14% on Thursday after the struggling fitness firm struck a deal to put its workout videos on TikTok. Sure, associating with TikTok can help almost anything and anyone seem cool with the kids. But investors seem to be misreading this situation. The “exclusive... Wall Street traders need to exercise their brains a bit more. Peloton shares jumped 14% on...

Disney CEO Bob Iger at Shanghai Disney Resort in Shanghai, China on Dec. 19. Photo by VCG via Getty Images.

What Disney Can Learn From ValueAct’s Microsoft Experience

By Martin Peers · Jan 3, 2024 5:00pm PST

What’s past is prologue, as the saying goes. That’s one way to think about what’s likely to emerge from the scrum of activists surrounding Walt Disney, agitating both for and against CEO Bob Iger. Today’s news that Disney has struck an “information-sharing” agreement with ValueAct Capital, seen by many as the most sensible activist out there, is... What’s past is prologue, as the saying goes. That’s one way to think about what’s likely to...

Photo via Shutterstock

Apple Stock Leads Tech Sell-Off for 2024’s Opening Day

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

Talk about a cold shower! We opened 2024 with a tech stock sell-off across the board, as investors retreated from the go-go days of the past two months. The Nasdaq Composite Index, for instance, fell 1.6%. Among the biggest losers was Apple, everybody’s favorite stock, which fell 3.6% after an analyst at Barclays put out a bearish report on the... Talk about a cold shower! We opened 2024 with a tech stock sell-off across the board, as...

Jonah Peretti, Buzzfeed founder and CEO. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty Images.

BuzzFeed’s Slow Disintegration; What Big Tech’s 5-Year Stock Record Reveals

By Martin Peers · Dec 29, 2023 3:00pm PST

Jonah Peretti, Buzzfeed founder and CEO. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty Images.

BuzzFeed’s Slow Disintegration; What Big Tech’s 5-Year Stock Record Reveals

By Martin Peers · Dec 29, 2023 3:00pm PST

Let’s hope all those wannabe digital media entrepreneurs are paying attention to the slow disintegration of BuzzFeed, the media star of 2016. We broke the news today that BuzzFeed’s big hope for paying off its debt and turning itself around isn’t going as planned. The company will shortly sell most of its Complex Network assets, but for just... Let’s hope all those wannabe digital media entrepreneurs are paying attention to the slow...

Cheddar's founder, Jon Steinberg. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Cheddar ‘No Money Down’ Sale Suggests Way of Future

By Martin Peers · Dec 28, 2023 5:00pm PST

Here’s a private equity firm you may hear more about next year: Regent. It appears to have developed a specialty in acquiring distressed assets, as financiers call businesses that are struggling to survive, without paying anything for them upfront. Regent has struck a series of deals this year in which it has taken a weak business off the hands... Here’s a private equity firm you may hear more about next year: Regent. It appears to have...

he New York Times Building. Photo via Shutterstock.

New York Times Co.’s OpenAI-Microsoft Suit Is a Negotiating Tactic

By Cory Weinberg · Dec 27, 2023 5:00pm PST · 4 comments

The biggest news on a slow news day in a slow news week is about the news. That’s the way the news people want it.The New York Times Co. grabbed the lonely spotlight Wednesday morning with a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, seeking compensation for the ChatGPT developer’s use of the newspaper’s articles to train ChatGPT. The lawsuit is an... The biggest news on a slow news day in a slow news week is about the news. That’s the way the...

The New York Stock Exchange on December 20. Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images.

Beaten-Up Stocks Roar in Year-End Rally

By Martin Peers · Dec 26, 2023 5:00pm PST

The year is ending on an upbeat note for the market, thanks to the Federal Reserve’s interest rate ceasefire. Among the biggest beneficiaries are small tech companies that were among the hardest hit by the market’s plunge over the past couple of years. Shopify, Snap, Coinbase and Affirm have rocketed since late September, rising between 50% and... The year is ending on an upbeat note for the market, thanks to the Federal Reserve’s interest...

Photo via Shutterstock

Lionsgate’s SPAC Deal Makes It an Appealing Target for Tech Buyers

By Martin Peers · Dec 22, 2023 3:00pm PST · 1 comment

Photo via Shutterstock

Lionsgate’s SPAC Deal Makes It an Appealing Target for Tech Buyers

By Martin Peers · Dec 22, 2023 3:00pm PST · 1 comment

If you think about it, all the traditional entertainment companies—including Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, NBCUniversal and Paramount Global—theoretically could be acquisition targets next year. But only one will be properly positioned to maximize its appeal to a tech firm like Apple, Amazon or Netflix. That one is Lionsgate, which owns a wide... If you think about it, all the traditional entertainment companies—including Disney, Warner Bros....

Stripe CEO, Patrick Collison. Photo by Erin Beach.

Why Stripe’s Recent Investors Are Smiling Now

By Martin Peers · Dec 21, 2023 5:00pm PST

Stripe is back! The payments firm, long a favorite of Silicon Valley investors, is enjoying a rebound in business that is surely making those investors who bought into its March fundraising feel pretty, pretty good. Remember, Stripe raised money at a valuation of just $50 billion, a few billion dollars below its original sought-after pricing... Stripe is back! The payments firm, long a favorite of Silicon Valley investors, is enjoying a...

David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery. Photo by Michael M. Santiago via Getty.

Warner Bros. Discovery’s Scary Movie

By Martin Peers · Dec 20, 2023 5:00pm PST

David Zaslav must like scary movies. The Warner Bros. Discovery CEO met with Paramount Global chief Bob Bakish this week, we and others reported, to discuss a merger, among other things. For the uninitiated, such a combination would put together the Warner Bros. and Paramount film and TV studios, as well as TV networks such as TNT, TBS,... David Zaslav must like scary movies. The Warner Bros. Discovery CEO met with Paramount Global...

Photo by Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

The Market’s Cycle of Silliness

By Cory Weinberg · Dec 19, 2023 5:00pm PST

The loose money that flowed during the SPAC boom gave fledgling companies like Los Angeles–based Fisker a chance to get their electric cars out into the world. Promising investors new, cost-efficient ways of building sustainable SUVs, Fisker topped out at an $8 billion market cap in early 2021, before it had even produced a car.While the SPAC... The loose money that flowed during the SPAC boom gave fledgling companies like Los Angeles–based...

Dylan Field, CEO of Figma. Photo by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

With Both X and Figma-Adobe, European Regulators Flex Muscles

By Martin Peers · Dec 18, 2023 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Dylan Field, CEO of Figma. Photo by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

With Both X and Figma-Adobe, European Regulators Flex Muscles

By Martin Peers · Dec 18, 2023 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

What would European bureaucrats do without an active U.S. tech industry to bother? On Monday, for instance, Adobe and Figma called off their $20 billion deal in the face of European regulatory opposition. The deal would have led “to higher prices, reduced quality or less choice for customers,” claimed European regulatory czar Margrethe Vestager... What would European bureaucrats do without an active U.S. tech industry to bother? On Monday, for...

Nelson Peltz. Photo by Getty

Why Nelson Peltz Can’t Fix Disney

By Martin Peers · Dec 15, 2023 3:00pm PST

Judging by two news events this week, next year will be dominated by new episodes in that long-running series, “The Decline of the TV Industry.” First, widespread reports that Shari Redstone is in talks to sell her stake in CBS owner Paramount Global suggest the Redstone family is finally throwing in the towel. Or at least they’re trying to, if... Judging by two news events this week, next year will be dominated by new episodes in that...

Midjourney/Mike Sullivan

The Next AI Battle: Adding It to Existing Products

By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 14, 2023 5:00pm PST · 3 comments

Ok, I’ll call it: We are closing this chapter of the AI wars.Since January or so, tech leaders, their customers and reporters have been haggling over advancements in large language models. We’ve been consumed by models, their names and which 0.5 version of a model is better than another. I don’t think any of that is going to matter... Ok, I’ll call it: We are closing this chapter of the AI wars.Since January or so, tech leaders,...

Etsy's Brooklyn, New York office today. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images.

Etsy’s Layoffs Reflect No-Growth Reality

By Martin Peers · Dec 13, 2023 5:00pm PST

When an online shopping site cuts 11% of its staff two weeks before Christmas, you know something’s up. This should be the happiest time of the year for Etsy, an online marketplace that today was promising “Last-minute gifts at every price!” Instead, the firm joined a growing list of businesses laying people off in recent days—including Spotify... When an online shopping site cuts 11% of its staff two weeks before Christmas, you know something...

Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Wall Street Yawns at Google’s Monopoly Threat

By Cory Weinberg · Dec 12, 2023 5:00pm PST

Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Wall Street Yawns at Google’s Monopoly Threat

By Cory Weinberg · Dec 12, 2023 5:00pm PST

Silicon Valley’s phones buzzed with alerts last night, offering surprising news about one of its bellwether companies: A federal jury decided Google had exercised unlawful monopoly power over app developers like Epic Games. Investors so far have responded mostly with a shrug. By the end of today, the stock of Google’s parent company, Alphabet,... Silicon Valley’s phones buzzed with alerts last night, offering surprising news about one of its...