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

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Photo by Bloomberg.

Amazon’s Public Shareholders Show Their Hand

By Martin Peers · Apr 1, 2022 5:00pm PDT

It looks like Amazon’s public shareholders are beginning to assert themselves. Amazon disclosed today that last year it got feedback from some shareholders that it should grant smaller equity awards to top executives, with payouts based on their hitting specific performance goals. That’s interesting for a few reasons. One is that the feedback... It looks like Amazon’s public shareholders are beginning to assert themselves. Amazon disclosed...

Stock data on Nasdaq's MarketSite in February. Photo by Bloomberg.

What the Nasdaq Doesn’t Tell Us

By Martin Peers · Mar 31, 2022 5:00pm PDT

The first quarter ended today with another stock sell-off. That makes this a good time to review the state of tech stocks so far in 2022. Just don’t try to make any judgments based on the Nasdaq Composite Index, which is down 9% for the year to date. The Nasdaq is often used as a proxy for the tech sector simply because it includes the biggest... The first quarter ended today with another stock sell-off. That makes this a good time to review...

Apple's headquarters in Silicon Valley. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple Shouldn’t Reinvent the Wheel in Financial Services

By Martin Peers · Mar 30, 2022 5:00pm PDT

Sometimes it seems that the top executives of big tech companies are deliberately taunting antitrust regulators around the world. Bloomberg’s scoop today that Apple is “developing its own payment processing technology” is sure to intensify questions at the European Commission and the U.S. Justice Department about whether the iPhone maker is... Sometimes it seems that the top executives of big tech companies are deliberately taunting...

Microstrategy chairman Michael Saylor, on the left, at a bitcoin conference last year. Photo by Bloomberg.

Microstrategy’s All-or-Nothing Bitcoin Bet

By Martin Peers · Mar 29, 2022 5:00pm PDT

Microstrategy chairman Michael Saylor, on the left, at a bitcoin conference last year. Photo by Bloomberg.

Microstrategy’s All-or-Nothing Bitcoin Bet

By Martin Peers · Mar 29, 2022 5:00pm PDT

Question: What is today’s best definition of a gambler? Answer: someone who buys shares in Microstrategy. That's the analytics software firm which in the past two years has decided to put almost every cent it can find into bitcoin. As of Feb. 14, its total BTC investment amounted to $3.77 billion, about 20 times the cash Microstrategy’s software... Question: What is today’s best definition of a gambler? Answer: someone who buys shares in...

Apple CEO Tim Cook at Sunday's Academy Awards. Photo by AP

Apple is Playing a Different Streaming Game To Netflix

By Martin Peers · Mar 28, 2022 5:00pm PDT

Get me Zack or Jamie! You can bet there was a mad rush among Hollywood agents trying to get Apple TV+ chieftains Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht on the phone today. To imagine the scene, just picture those lines that used to wrap around Apple stores on iPhone release days. Yes, Sunday night’s Best Picture Oscar win for “CODA” will put the... Get me Zack or Jamie! You can bet there was a mad rush among Hollywood agents trying to get Apple...

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, earlier this month in Brussels. Photo by Bloomberg

Why Investors Shrugged Off Europe’s Big Tech Rules

By Nick Wingfield · Mar 25, 2022 4:55pm PDT

Greetings!Go figure. Late Thursday, European policymakers agreed on new competition rules that could soon force the most powerful tech companies on the planet to make big changes to their businesses. What was the reaction from investors in Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Amazon and Apple—four of the “gatekeepers,” in EU parlance, who could face the... Greetings!Go figure. Late Thursday, European policymakers agreed on new competition rules that...

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Photo by Bloomberg.

Uber's NYC Taxi Deal Is Biggest Retreat Yet From Kalanick Era

By Martin Peers · Mar 24, 2022 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Talk about waving the white flag! In recent years, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has pulled back from many of founder Travis Kalanick’s more ambitious initiatives, including autonomous car development and operations in many international markets. But Thursday’s news that Uber would partner with New York’s taxi industry to make all of the city’s... Talk about waving the white flag! In recent years, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has pulled back...

Google's Mountain View campus. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple Pressured by Google-Spotify Deal

By Martin Peers · Mar 23, 2022 5:00pm PDT

Google's Mountain View campus. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple Pressured by Google-Spotify Deal

By Martin Peers · Mar 23, 2022 5:00pm PDT

It may only be a matter of time before the Berlin Wall of the mobile app ecosystem, Apple’s rigid App Store rules, falls. Google’s announcement today that its Google Play app store will allow a “dual billing option” in U.S. apps, starting with Spotify, puts pressure on Apple to follow suit. Giving consumers a choice about the payment systems... It may only be a matter of time before the Berlin Wall of the mobile app ecosystem, Apple’s rigid...

BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti. Photo by Bloomberg.

It’s Déjà Vu at BuzzFeed

By Martin Peers · Mar 22, 2022 5:00pm PDT

Greetings!So, BuzzFeed executives are talking about making the company’s news division profitable. And they’re pivoting part of its business after realizing it was too reliant on Facebook to drive traffic. No, you didn’t just wake up in 2018. BuzzFeed executives are really saying the same things they were saying four years ago about some of the... Greetings!So, BuzzFeed executives are talking about making the company’s news division...

Thoma Bravo founder Orlando Bravo. Photo by Bloomberg

Private Equity Feasts on Software Bargains

By Martin Peers · Mar 21, 2022 5:00pm PDT

If there’s one group of deal makers that hasn’t been slowed by market volatility, it’s those private equity folks buying up much of the enterprise software industry. Thoma Bravo’s $10.7 billion deal on Sunday to buy Anaplan, a maker of business planning software, follows Vista Equity Partner’s $16.5 billion purchase of Citrix Systems in January.... If there’s one group of deal makers that hasn’t been slowed by market volatility, it’s those...

SoftBank Chief Masayoshi Son. Photo by Bloomberg.

SoftBank Bails on Cruise, Possibly In a Sign of the Times

By Martin Peers · Mar 18, 2022 5:00pm PDT

If there’s one company that’s likely to be harder hit than most by the recent stock market upheaval, its Japanese investor SoftBank. Today’s news that SoftBank is selling out of the GM-controlled self-driving car unit Cruise, instead of investing more money as was expected just six weeks ago, might be an indication that SoftBank is feeling the... If there’s one company that’s likely to be harder hit than most by the recent stock market...

MGM's office in California. Photo by Bloomberg.

Amazon’s Minor Win Over FTC Overshadowed by Bigger Battle to Come

By Martin Peers · Mar 17, 2022 5:00pm PDT

MGM's office in California. Photo by Bloomberg.

Amazon’s Minor Win Over FTC Overshadowed by Bigger Battle to Come

By Martin Peers · Mar 17, 2022 5:00pm PDT

Greetings!With its completion of its MGM purchase today, Amazon appears to have won a minor victory in the increasingly intense war between the tech behemoth and the Federal Trade Commission. But the real battle, which will likely focus on Amazon’s power in e-commerce and cloud computing, remains to be fought. And all Amazon might have... Greetings!With its completion of its MGM purchase today, Amazon appears to have won a minor...

Troy Aikman. Photo by Bloomberg.

What Troy Aikman’s ESPN Move Says About Amazon’s Status in Media

By Martin Peers · Mar 16, 2022 5:00pm PDT

ESPN’s confirmation today that it signed former star Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman, along with sportscaster Joe Buck, to announce Monday Night Football games is a reminder of the pull that the Disney-controlled cable sports channel still exercises in the media. Aikman, most recently at Fox Sports, had been reportedly courted by Amazon... ESPN’s confirmation today that it signed former star Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman,...

Arm CEO Rene Haas. Photo by Bloomberg.

Arm’s Job Cuts Could Be a Sign of Things to Come

By Martin Peers · Mar 15, 2022 5:00pm PDT

Amid the crush of bad news lately, one thing we haven’t seen too much of is job cuts. In fact, the story has been more about the tightness of the labor market, as tech companies struggle to hire enough people. But a Bloomberg report today about chip designer Arm planning to cut up to 1,000 jobs to improve its profitability ahead of an IPO may be... Amid the crush of bad news lately, one thing we haven’t seen too much of is job cuts. In fact,...

Foxconn employees walking past a company facility in Shenzhen. Photo by Bloomberg.

China Covid Lockdowns Cast Shadows on Apple

By Martin Peers · Mar 14, 2022 5:00pm PDT

What a year this is turning out to be. If war and inflation wasn’t enough, we’ve still got Covid-19 doing its thing. Whoever sent the memo that the pandemic is waning apparently left China off the distribution list. Yet another Covid-inspired lockdown in China has closed Foxconn factories in Shenzhen until at least March 20. That’s bad news for... What a year this is turning out to be. If war and inflation wasn’t enough, we’ve still got...

Moscow. Photo by Bloomberg.

Russia Pullout Costs Add to First-Quarter Pressures for Tech Firms

By Martin Peers · Mar 11, 2022 5:00pm PST

Moscow. Photo by Bloomberg.

Russia Pullout Costs Add to First-Quarter Pressures for Tech Firms

By Martin Peers · Mar 11, 2022 5:00pm PST

The stragglers are still reporting their fourth-quarter numbers, but it’s time to focus on what the first and second quarters will bring. And it’s not shaping up to be good. Rising inflation, supply chain constraints and labor shortages are the macro factors bearing down on many, if not most, companies, although they’re surely baked into stock... The stragglers are still reporting their fourth-quarter numbers, but it’s time to focus on what...

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Photo by Bloomberg.

Rising Gas Prices Threaten Uber, Lyft, DoorDash

By Martin Peers · Mar 10, 2022 5:00pm PST

Can Uber and Lyft ever catch a break? Just when investors might have thought it was safe to wade back into the ride-hailing waters, thanks to the decline of Omicron, gas prices take off. That’s going to raise fuel costs for drivers—including those working for both ride-hailing services and food-delivery operations like DoorDash—probably causing... Can Uber and Lyft ever catch a break? Just when investors might have thought it was safe to wade...

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Photo by Bloomberg.

What Amazon's Stock Buyback Says About Andy Jassy's Management

By Martin Peers · Mar 9, 2022 5:00pm PST

Amazon picked a good day to unveil some notably shareholder-friendly moves, with a long-overdue stock split and a $10 billion stock buyback program. It may not be a coincidence that the announcement came the same day a bipartisan congressional committee asked the Justice Department to investigate what it called “potentially criminal conduct” by... Amazon picked a good day to unveil some notably shareholder-friendly moves, with a long-overdue...

Google Cloud chief Thomas Kurian. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google-Mandiant Deal Poses Test for Antitrust Regulators

By Martin Peers · Mar 8, 2022 5:00pm PST

The M&A folks at big tech companies apparently are still working, despite regulators’ best efforts to do away with their jobs. Google’s $5.4 billion cash deal to buy cybersecurity firm Mandiant today—confirming The Information’s scoop on Monday about deal talks—demonstrates that big tech companies aren’t going to let antitrust pressure stop... The M&A folks at big tech companies apparently are still working, despite regulators’ best...

Apple CEO Tim Cook at the Golden Globe awards in 2020. Photo by AP

Why Tim Cook Should Explain His Apple TV+ Strategy

By Martin Peers · Mar 7, 2022 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Apple CEO Tim Cook at the Golden Globe awards in 2020. Photo by AP

Why Tim Cook Should Explain His Apple TV+ Strategy

By Martin Peers · Mar 7, 2022 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

There may be no CEO in tech who has done as good a job at maximizing profits as Apple’s Tim Cook. Indeed, the company’s ability to extract as many dollars as possible from every part of its business can seem almost excessive at times (for example, when it charges $99 for a laptop power adapter). But it’s all good for shareholders and one reason... There may be no CEO in tech who has done as good a job at maximizing profits as Apple’s Tim Cook....