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

Netflix's Los Angeles office building. Photo by Bloomberg

Netflix for Games Will Require Lots of Hard Work

By Martin Peers · Jul 15, 2021 5:10pm PDT · 3 comments

Netflix’s hiring of a former Facebook executive to oversee an expansion into gaming will be welcome news for investors who are fretting about the company’s ability to maintain its robust growth of the past few years. But no one should be under any illusions about the rocky road ahead for Netflix as it seeks to become a force in gaming. This... Netflix’s hiring of a former Facebook executive to oversee an expansion into gaming will be...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Photo by Bloomberg

Microsoft’s Cybersecurity Weapon in the Cloud

By Martin Peers · Jul 14, 2021 5:00pm PDT

Microsoft struck a major blow in the cybersecurity wars today, with its decision to offer a cloud-based version of its Windows operating system. Windows 365, as it is dubbed, will make it easier for people to switch from outdated versions of Windows, those that are most likely to have software vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit. That is... Microsoft struck a major blow in the cybersecurity wars today, with its decision to offer a...

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. Photo by Bloomberg.

Netflix Stock Drifts Into Unusual Territory: Stagnation

By Martin Peers · Jul 13, 2021 5:00pm PDT

What’s the thing that investors fear far more than antitrust regulators? Slowing growth. That’s one takeaway from comparing the stock performance of Netflix this year with Apple, Amazon, Alphabet and Facebook. The stock prices of all four big tech giants, each under the crosshairs of U.S. and European antitrust regulators, are up between 10% and... What’s the thing that investors fear far more than antitrust regulators? Slowing growth. That’s...

Amazon's new CEO Andy Jassy. Photo by Bloomberg

The Danger Posed by AWS’ Paper Pushing Culture

By Martin Peers · Jul 12, 2021 5:00pm PDT

Amazon's new CEO Andy Jassy. Photo by Bloomberg

The Danger Posed by AWS’ Paper Pushing Culture

By Martin Peers · Jul 12, 2021 5:00pm PDT

If you want to understand the biggest threat facing Amazon today—and no, it's not new FTC chair Lina Khan—check out The Information’s story today about the bureaucratic creep at Amazon Web Services. One former AWS salesperson told our reporter, Kevin McLaughlin, that at AWS he was spending around 70% of his work hours on paperwork, including... If you want to understand the biggest threat facing Amazon today—and no, it's not new FTC chair...

The FTC Chair, Lina Khan. Photo by Bloomberg.

Why FTC’s Amazon-MGM Probe Is Based on Flawed Logic

By Martin Peers · Jul 9, 2021 5:00pm PDT

The Federal Trade Commission’s decision today to formally open an in-depth probe into Amazon’s $8.5 billion purchase of MGM signals just how much the Biden administration is changing the course of antitrust inquiries into tech. It’s not just about the obvious targets—Google’s self-evident dominance of the search market, for instance. Instead,... The Federal Trade Commission’s decision today to formally open an in-depth probe into Amazon’s...

Instacart's new CEO Fidji Simo. Photo by AP

Instacart’s Simo Hiring Caps Management Overhaul

By Martin Peers · Jul 8, 2021 5:07pm PDT

Instacart’s hiring of Facebook’s Fidji Simo as CEO is a masterful stroke by the grocery delivery app, capping six months of executive hiring that has built out its management team ahead of an expected public debut later this year. It speaks well of Apoorva Mehta that he made way for Simo, a sign that he knows that building Instacart into a much... Instacart’s hiring of Facebook’s Fidji Simo as CEO is a masterful stroke by the grocery delivery...

Amazon's just-retired CEO Jeff Bezos.

Amazon’s Much Feared Day Two May Already Have Started

By Martin Peers · Jul 7, 2021 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

One of Jeff Bezos’ big fears about Amazon is the notion that it could one day enter “Day Two,” which he has defined as “stasis,” followed in close order by irrelevance and then death. By at least one measure, the size of Amazon’s senior management team, it looks like the sun has started to rise on Day Two. And that occurred even before Bezos... One of Jeff Bezos’ big fears about Amazon is the notion that it could one day enter “Day Two,”...

Didi's Beijing offices. Photo by Bloomberg.

The Real Lesson of Didi Global’s Stock Drop

By Martin Peers · Jul 6, 2021 5:00pm PDT

Didi's Beijing offices. Photo by Bloomberg.

The Real Lesson of Didi Global’s Stock Drop

By Martin Peers · Jul 6, 2021 5:00pm PDT

For a brief moment last week, it looked like Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi Global was going to get away with a more successful IPO than that of its U.S. counterparts Uber and Lyft two years ago. That was until the Chinese government, with a weekend edict about data security, reminded the company who’s really in charge, lopping 20% off the value... For a brief moment last week, it looked like Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi Global was going to...

Amazon's incoming CEO Andy Jassy. Photo by Bloomberg

What Andy Jassy Could Learn From Cook, Nadella and Pichai

By Martin Peers · Jul 2, 2021 5:01pm PDT

What a relief! Amazon revealed late today that Andy Jassy, who takes the reins as CEO on Tuesday, won’t have to search the cushions for coins. Amazon is granting him restricted stock that at today’s price is worth $214 million, an award several times bigger than the grants he’s been getting every couple of years as AWS chief. Jassy already has... What a relief! Amazon revealed late today that Andy Jassy, who takes the reins as CEO on Tuesday,...

Wall Street traders. Photo by Bloomberg.

Robinhood’s Rush to Go Public

By Martin Peers · Jul 1, 2021 5:00pm PDT

It says something about the disconnect nowadays between rational thought and market activity on Wall Street that today, one day after Robinhood was fined $70 million by a financial industry regulator, it confirmed plans to go public. And its IPO filing highlights just how enmeshed the company is in regulatory investigations and litigation of one... It says something about the disconnect nowadays between rational thought and market activity on...

Didi's office in Hangzhou, China. Photo by Bloomberg.

Didi’s Uninspiring Public Debut

By Martin Peers · Jun 30, 2021 5:00pm PDT · 3 comments

Executives at Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global can relax. The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange today and, hey, it went up! Not by much—1%—but that’s better than Uber achieved two years ago. Yes, when it comes to ride hailing and Wall Street, the bar for success is low.You can’t blame investors for being dubious about the... Executives at Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global can relax. The company went public on the...

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Photo by Bloomberg.

Uber Joins Tech Shift to More Remote Work

By Martin Peers · Jun 29, 2021 5:16pm PDT

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Photo by Bloomberg.

Uber Joins Tech Shift to More Remote Work

By Martin Peers · Jun 29, 2021 5:16pm PDT

Uber told employees today it will let people work remotely half the time, the latest example of a company fine-tuning its remote work policies as a return to the office gets closer. Uber’s policy, allowing more remote work than planned just a few months ago, is to go into effect in September. Based on anecdotal evidence, that month appears to be... Uber told employees today it will let people work remotely half the time, the latest example of a...

The FTC's Washington D.C. office. Photo by AP

Judge’s Facebook Ruling Embarrasses FTC, States

By Martin Peers · Jun 28, 2021 5:00pm PDT

Lawyers at the Federal Trade Commission have egg on their faces after a federal judge ruled the agency, in its antitrust case against Facebook, hadn’t made the case the company had a monopoly. Even more embarrassing was the judge’s outright dismissal of a case filed by a group of 40 states. The FTC’s case wasn’t dismissed, in contrast, and the... Lawyers at the Federal Trade Commission have egg on their faces after a federal judge ruled the...

The European Commission's competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager. Photo by Bloomberg

Tech’s New Growth Industry: Antitrust Inquiries

By Martin Peers · Jun 25, 2021 5:00pm PDT

The role of big tech companies in creating jobs is often underappreciated. And we’re not just talking about software engineering jobs or chefs in fancy campus cafeterias. Given the proliferating number of tech-focused antitrust inquiries, particularly in Europe, it’s a good bet a lot of jobs are being created at European regulatory agencies and... The role of big tech companies in creating jobs is often underappreciated. And we’re not just...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Photo by Bloomberg.

Microsoft Pokes Salesforce With Teams Move

By Martin Peers · Jun 24, 2021 5:00pm PDT

Right about now, Salesforce chief Marc Benioff must be wondering what he got himself into with his $27.7 billion purchase of Slack. Microsoft’s decision to incorporate its Slack competitor Teams with its new Windows 11 operating system—unveiled today—guarantees that Teams will be an even bigger potential competitor to Slack. And that means the... Right about now, Salesforce chief Marc Benioff must be wondering what he got himself into with...

Apple executive Craig Federighi. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple’s Malware Red Herring

By Martin Peers · Jun 23, 2021 5:02pm PDT

Apple executive Craig Federighi. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple’s Malware Red Herring

By Martin Peers · Jun 23, 2021 5:02pm PDT

In case you missed it—by perhaps living in the Arctic with no internet access—Apple wants you to know that allowing people to “sideload” apps from third party app stores would pose a security risk for iPhone users. It made that case today in a paper it published that was written in the most consumer-friendly way, complete with colorful drawings.... In case you missed it—by perhaps living in the Arctic with no internet access—Apple wants you to...

Splunk's San Jose, Calif. office. Photo by Bloomberg.

What Silver Lake’s Splunk Investment Means

By Martin Peers · Jun 22, 2021 5:05pm PDT

The Federal Reserve feels raising interest rates too soon could choke off the recovery. But if you’ve been paying attention to what cheap money has wrought, you might wish the Fed could move faster. Take the recent spate of money-raisings by a select group of tech companies, which has fueled less-than-productive spending on stock buybacks and... The Federal Reserve feels raising interest rates too soon could choke off the recovery. But if...

Uber's San Francisco headquarters. Photo by Bloomberg.

Uber’s High-Price Grocery Delivery Bet

By Martin Peers · Jun 21, 2021 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Greetings!It’s boom time for lazy people! Well, at least those people who couldn’t be bothered leaving the house to buy a bottle of beer or pick up the groceries. Delivery service GoPuff today struck a deal to buy Liquor Barn, an alcohol retailer, its second such purchase in a few months. Uber, meanwhile, said it would spend $1.4 billion in... Greetings!It’s boom time for lazy people! Well, at least those people who couldn’t be bothered...

Taxis pass in front of the New York Times Co. headquarters in New York. Photo: Bloomberg

Media’s On-Again, Off-Again Merger Dance

By Sahil Patel · Jun 18, 2021 5:13pm PDT

Media companies are often hunting for merger partners and spinning off units, but this year the pace has seemed particularly frenetic. That’s partly due to the pressure these companies face as big tech companies muscle into their businesses—taking ad dollars, streaming subscribers, time spent—and reducing the confidence of investors that they... Media companies are often hunting for merger partners and spinning off units, but this year the...

Signage is displayed at the TikTok Creator's Lab 2019 event hosted by Bytedance Ltd. in Tokyo. Photo: Bloomberg

ByteDance’s Big Victory Dance

By Amir Efrati · Jun 17, 2021 6:12pm PDT

Signage is displayed at the TikTok Creator's Lab 2019 event hosted by Bytedance Ltd. in Tokyo. Photo: Bloomberg

ByteDance’s Big Victory Dance

By Amir Efrati · Jun 17, 2021 6:12pm PDT

This morning, the business world learned two things about TikTok owner ByteDance as it moves toward a public stock offering, the most anticipated consumer tech listing since Alibaba in 2014. First, the company revealed its 2020 revenue and operating loss to employees—and by extension, to the press. Using some back-of-the-envelope math,... This morning, the business world learned two things about TikTok owner ByteDance as it moves...