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

Linda Yaccarino, incoming CEO of Twitter. Photo by Getty.

Musk and Yaccarino Are Bound to Clash

By Jessica E. Lessin · May 16, 2023 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

As I have been digesting the news that Elon Musk is going to officially install NBC advertising veteran Linda Yaccarino as head of Twitter, I’m perplexed. In at least one dimension that seems fairly important to Musk—thriftiness—I suspect they are worlds apart. Yaccarino has spent her career wooing Madison Avenue in all the ways heads... As I have been digesting the news that Elon Musk is going to officially install NBC advertising...

Photo via Shutterstock

How Vice Media Became a Money Pit

By Martin Peers · May 15, 2023 5:00pm PDT

There is such a thing as having too much money. At least, that is, if you’re a startup, as was clear in the paperwork accompanying today’s bankruptcy filing by Vice Media, famously valued at $5.7 billion a few years ago (mostly thanks to the blustery claims of its founder, Shane Smith). This court filing today by a restructuring executive at... There is such a thing as having too much money. At least, that is, if you’re a startup, as was...

Masayoshi Son. Photo by Bloomberg.

SoftBank’s Missed AI Call

By Martin Peers · May 11, 2023 5:00pm PDT

What do you call a visionary who fails to act on their own vision? Masayoshi Son. The SoftBank chief was a prominent advocate for artificial intelligence for at least the past six years, long before OpenAI’s ChatGPT woke the world to AI’s potential. But lately, as everyone and their dog rushes to put money into AI startups, SoftBank has been... What do you call a visionary who fails to act on their own vision? Masayoshi Son. The SoftBank...

Jack Dorsey, CEO of Block, and Jay-Z, former owner of Tidal. Photos by Bloomberg and Shutterstock.

What Block’s ‘Terrible Business Decision’ Means

By Martin Peers · May 10, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Jack Dorsey, CEO of Block, and Jay-Z, former owner of Tidal. Photos by Bloomberg and Shutterstock.

What Block’s ‘Terrible Business Decision’ Means

By Martin Peers · May 10, 2023 5:00pm PDT

We have lots of news today, including Disney’s change of heart on Hulu (see below) and Google’s blizzard of new product announcements at its annual developer conference. For more on Google, see here. But arguably the most important though little-covered news story this week was a Delaware court’s decision on Tuesday to reject a shareholder... We have lots of news today, including Disney’s change of heart on Hulu (see below) and Google’s...

Photo by Getty.

Creators Are Unlikely to Get the Collective Action They Deserve

By Jessica E. Lessin · May 9, 2023 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Before we get to today’s column, I must point you all to the news that ousted Fox host Tucker Carlson is planning to launch a show on Twitter—if he can first win a legal battle with Fox. You can read that great scoop here. The news reminds me of a column I wrote when Musk bought Twitter. I said he was doing it to become Rupert Murdoch. As... Before we get to today’s column, I must point you all to the news that ousted Fox host Tucker...

Photo via Dish Network.

Old-School TV’s Woes Deepen

By Martin Peers · May 8, 2023 5:00pm PDT

The old-fashioned TV business is slowly but surely sliding into the ocean. Yes, folks, while we’ve been obsessing about the money TV companies are losing on streaming, the older businesses have been falling apart. Rates of cord cutting from cable and satellite worsened in the first quarter. Today’s report from Dish Network, a satellite TV... The old-fashioned TV business is slowly but surely sliding into the ocean. Yes, folks, while we’...

Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple Isn’t Growing, but That’s OK (for Now)

By Martin Peers · May 4, 2023 5:00pm PDT

We got a barrage of March-quarter earnings today and they provide a good summary of who’s up and who’s down in tech and media. (Spoiler alert: Apple did fine, but given how weak the smartphone and PC markets are, that’s not saying much). For more details, grab a coffee (or a beer) and relax. Here we go:In ride hailing, Lyft is barely growing and... We got a barrage of March-quarter earnings today and they provide a good summary of who’s up and...

A still from TikTok's Los Angeles office. Photo via YouTube/TikTok.

On TikTok and Publishers, We’ve Seen This Story Before

By Jessica E. Lessin · May 3, 2023 5:00pm PDT

A still from TikTok's Los Angeles office. Photo via YouTube/TikTok.

On TikTok and Publishers, We’ve Seen This Story Before

By Jessica E. Lessin · May 3, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Uh oh. Here we go again. In today’s headlines: TikTok, which could use some positive press attention at the moment, has begun allowing publishers to sell ads alongside their videos while keeping half the revenue. And some big publishers are taking it up on the invitation.The Wall Street Journal heralds the move thusly: “The opportunity to... Uh oh. Here we go again. In today’s headlines: TikTok, which could use some positive press...

Chegg headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif on May 2. Photo by Bloomberg.

ChatGPT Bandwagon Runs Over Chegg

By Martin Peers · May 2, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Are we at peak ChatGPT hype yet? It seems every company has got the memo that they need to declare how they’re using the technology. Just today, for instance, we heard from Uber (artificial intelligence will help Uber predict ETAs more accurately for riders), Box (announcing Box AI, “a breakthrough in how you can interact with your content”) and... Are we at peak ChatGPT hype yet? It seems every company has got the memo that they need to...

Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co. Photo by Bloomberg.

JPMorgan’s First Republic Deal Is a Home Run

By Martin Peers · May 1, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Talk about mixed feelings. Anyone who banks with First Republic is surely feeling relieved today, now that JPMorgan Chase has essentially taken over the bank in a rescue deal brokered by the federal government. After weeks of worrisome headlines and a steadily falling stock price, this is a good outcome for customers—even if it’s a disaster for... Talk about mixed feelings. Anyone who banks with First Republic is surely feeling relieved today,...

Photo by Getty.

Snap and Amazon Q1 Shows Big Tech’s Advertising Advantage

By Martin Peers · Apr 27, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Advantage, big tech. Snap’s first-quarter report today, showing a 7% drop in revenue, was a markedly worse performance than what its much bigger rival Meta Platforms reported on Wednesday night. (For those who’ve already forgotten, Meta’s ad revenue rose 4% in the quarter.) More noticeable was the difference in the second-quarter revenue... Advantage, big tech. Snap’s first-quarter report today, showing a 7% drop in revenue, was a...

Photo via Shutterstock.

Meta’s Quarter Offers Signs of Hope on Ads

By Martin Peers · Apr 26, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Photo via Shutterstock.

Meta’s Quarter Offers Signs of Hope on Ads

By Martin Peers · Apr 26, 2023 5:00pm PDT

In tech, three is the new 30. Meta Platforms on Wednesday reported a 3% lift in revenue for the first quarter, the same revenue increase Alphabet reported for its first quarter on Tuesday. Increasing the top line by 3% is a far cry from the 25% to 30% quarterly growth Facebook’s owner once reported with monotonous regularity. But it’s a big... In tech, three is the new 30. Meta Platforms on Wednesday reported a 3% lift in revenue for the...

Photos by Shutterstock.

Microsoft Outperforms Google in Q1

By Martin Peers · Apr 25, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Score one for Microsoft. At 48 years of age, the software giant may be old by tech standards, but it’s performing better than younger rival Alphabet, as their March quarter numbers showed today. Both companies posted better results than they had for the December quarter, although that’s a low bar, given that neither showed much growth at all... Score one for Microsoft. At 48 years of age, the software giant may be old by tech standards, but...

NYSE. Photo by Bloomberg.

Five Big Tech Companies Report Earnings This Week—Here’s What to Watch

By Martin Peers · Apr 24, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Prepare yourselves. This week we’re going to hear lots of variations on the terms “headwinds” and “challenges” and “execution.” We’ve got March-quarter earnings coming from most of tech’s big names, and the picture isn’t expected to be pretty. Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms and Snap report between Tuesday and Thursday. You can see... Prepare yourselves. This week we’re going to hear lots of variations on the terms “headwinds” and...

Photo by Getty.

What BuzzFeed CEO’s Mea Culpa Means

By Martin Peers · Apr 20, 2023 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Those CEO apologies we’ve become used to seeing whenever a company announces layoffs are getting even more elaborate. BuzzFeed founder and CEO Jonah Peretti, for instance, had quite a doozy of a mea culpa today as he announced the shuttering of BuzzFeed News and another round of layoffs at the digital media firm. After counting off all the... Those CEO apologies we’ve become used to seeing whenever a company announces layoffs are getting...

SeatGeek CEO Mr. Jack Groetzinger. Photo by Bloomberg.

The IPOs Are Coming (Maybe)

By Martin Peers · Apr 19, 2023 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

SeatGeek CEO Mr. Jack Groetzinger. Photo by Bloomberg.

The IPOs Are Coming (Maybe)

By Martin Peers · Apr 19, 2023 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Be still, my beating heart. Is that the sound of the IPO market stirring? We scooped the news today that event-ticketing firm SeatGeek had filed confidentially with regulators to go public, just a few of days after blockchain firm Chia Network Inc. said it had done the same. (For more on Chia, see our Crypto Global newsletter today). A long... Be still, my beating heart. Is that the sound of the IPO market stirring? We scooped the news ...

Photo by Shutterstock

Netflix Is Now a Real TV Firm: Slow-Growing but Printing Money

By Martin Peers · Apr 18, 2023 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Netflix is looking more and more like an old-fashioned television company. In other words, it’s growing slowly but producing lots of cash. The video-streaming giant reported what can only be described as anemic growth in the first quarter. Revenue rose 3.7%, which is the kind of growth rate we associate with traditional TV firms like Fox Corp.... Netflix is looking more and more like an old-fashioned television company. In other words, it’s...

Photo by Bloomberg

Apple’s New Savings Account Makes iPhones More Valuable—for Thieves

By Martin Peers · Apr 17, 2023 5:00pm PDT · 4 comments

Apple is now paying you to have an iPhone! That’s right. Sign up for the savings account now available through Apple Wallet, administered by Goldman Sachs, and you will get an interest rate of 4.15%, Apple announced today. That’s a very good rate—most other digital-only banks aren’t offering terms quite as generous (as for big banks, forget it—... Apple is now paying you to have an iPhone! That’s right. Sign up for the savings account now...

Andy Jassy. Photo by Getty.

Amazon’s Andy Jassy Needs a Raise

By Martin Peers · Apr 13, 2023 5:00pm PDT · 4 comments

Andy Jassy needs a raise. Amazon's annual disclosure of its top executives' compensation, released today, portrays a CEO who is woefully underpaid given the immensity of the job he has. The company's stock-heavy executive compensation packages are laudable in how they align the interests of executives and shareholders. But shareholders also need... Andy Jassy needs a raise. Amazon's annual disclosure of its top executives' compensation,...

HBO & Max Content CEO Casey Bloys at today's event. Photo by Getty

Warner’s New Max Service Is a Decade Overdue

By Martin Peers · Apr 12, 2023 5:00pm PDT

HBO & Max Content CEO Casey Bloys at today's event. Photo by Getty

Warner’s New Max Service Is a Decade Overdue

By Martin Peers · Apr 12, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Better late than never. That could be the motto of Warner Bros. Discovery, which today put on a glitzy presentation to promote its overhauled streaming service, to be renamed Max (dropping HBO from the name) on May 23. The new service, combining shows from the company’s Discovery portfolio of reality shows with HBO Max’s lineup, is a worthy... Better late than never. That could be the motto of Warner Bros. Discovery, which today put on a...