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 CEO Reed Hastings. Photo by Bloomberg

The Debate About Netflix Shareholder Voting Rights

By Martin Peers · Jun 9, 2021 6:08pm PDT · 2 comments

Would you believe that one of the angriest groups of shareholders in corporate America is, by one measure, at Netflix. What could shareholders have to complain about with the video streaming giant, given how its shares have appreciated over the past decade? Yet last week, shareholders owning 56% of Netflix’s shares voted against the re-election... Would you believe that one of the angriest groups of shareholders in corporate America is, by one...

IRS headquarters in Washington

Bezos’ Taxes In the Spotlight

By Martin Peers · Jun 8, 2021 5:04pm PDT

Jeff Bezos pays taxes! We learned exactly how much from a ProPublica expose about the personal tax details of some of America’s richest people. The publication got what it said was a “vast trove” of confidential tax records covering a 15-year period for Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch and Mark Zuckerberg, although it appears to be... Jeff Bezos pays taxes! We learned exactly how much from a ProPublica expose about the personal...

Jeff Bezos at a Blue Origin event in 2017. Photo by Bloomberg

Bezos Will Blast Himself Into Space

By Martin Peers · Jun 7, 2021 5:00pm PDT

Now we know why Jeff Bezos picked July 5 as the date to give up the Amazon CEO job—two weeks later he’ll be flying into space on Blue Origin’s first flight with human passengers. Can you imagine the nerves of investors if he decided to strap himself into that rocket ship while still holding the CEO reins? A flight of any kind has an element... Now we know why Jeff Bezos picked July 5 as the date to give up the Amazon CEO job—two weeks...

Bill Ackman. Photo by Bloomberg

What Ackman, and Tencent, See In Universal Music

By Martin Peers · Jun 4, 2021 5:01pm PDT

Bill Ackman. Photo by Bloomberg

What Ackman, and Tencent, See In Universal Music

By Martin Peers · Jun 4, 2021 5:01pm PDT

Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman’s plan to acquire 10% of Universal Music Group through his SPAC, at a valuation of $43 billion, is the clearest sign yet that the music industry is, improbably enough, hot. Yes, the industry that was in decline for years thanks to piracy and the digital disruption of the CD business is showing enough promise from... Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman’s plan to acquire 10% of Universal Music Group through his SPAC,...

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Photo by Bloomberg

Twitter’s Subscription Plan Generates Yawn From Wall Street

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

Twitter finally provided some clarity about its plans for subscriptions today, unveiling what it calls Twitter Blue, now going live in Canada and Australia. For about $3 a month, hardcore Twitter users can get what can only be described as minor enhancements, such as the ability to undo a tweet within 30 seconds of sending it. This won’t... Twitter finally provided some clarity about its plans for subscriptions today, unveiling what it...

Dropbox CEO Drew Houston. Photo by Bloomberg

Elliott to Dropbox: Houston, We Have a Problem

By Martin Peers · Jun 2, 2021 5:02pm PDT · 2 comments

Activist investor Elliott Management has had remarkable success lately, helping push both AT&T to abandon its disastrous entertainment diversification and Dell to spin off VMware. (Its track record in Twitter, on the other hand, is, well, meh). It will, however, take all of Elliott’s skill to get a return on its investment in Dropbox, first... Activist investor Elliott Management has had remarkable success lately, helping push both...

Someone taking a photo of Cloudera signage when the company went public at the New York Stock Exchange in 2017. Photo by Bloomberg

Requiem for Cloudera and What It Means for Confluent IPO

By Martin Peers · Jun 1, 2021 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Next time you feel the urge to buy stock of a fast-growing enterprise software company, remember Cloudera. Private equity firms KKR and Clayton Dubilier & Rice today unveiled a deal to buy the enterprise software company for $16 a share, $1 more than where Cloudera went public in 2017. Still, the offer price is a darn sight better than the... Next time you feel the urge to buy stock of a fast-growing enterprise software company, remember...

An AMC-owned theater in London last week. Photo by Bloomberg

Latest Meme Stock Rally in AMC is a Big Screen Farce

By Martin Peers · May 28, 2021 4:00pm PDT

An AMC-owned theater in London last week. Photo by Bloomberg

Latest Meme Stock Rally in AMC is a Big Screen Farce

By Martin Peers · May 28, 2021 4:00pm PDT

Hollywood studios and movie theater chains are undoubtedly hoping to put the Covid era behind them this weekend, the traditional start of the summer box office bonanza. The odds are in their favor. Whatever you think of the big movies opening—“A Quiet Place Part II” and “Cruella”—there’s sure to be crowds of people wanting to once again... Hollywood studios and movie theater chains are undoubtedly hoping to put the Covid era behind...

Adam Neumann. Photo by Bloomberg

With WeWork’s Neumann, SoftBank Takes Path of Least Resistance

By Martin Peers · May 27, 2021 5:00pm PDT

Adam Neumann extracted an enormous price from SoftBank to go quietly, as the Wall Street Journal reported today. Yes, the man who almost drove the co-working space provider into the ground is getting paid to make a SPAC merger with WeWork possible. It raises the question: Why didn’t SoftBank simply call his bluff and refuse to negotiate with... Adam Neumann extracted an enormous price from SoftBank to go quietly, as the Wall Street Journal...

MGM's headquarters. Photo by Bloomberg.

Amazon Puts MGM in Shopping Cart, Doubling Down on Hollywood

By Martin Peers · May 26, 2021 5:00pm PDT

Amazon’s $8.45 billion purchase of MGM signals, for Hollywood, just how much video streaming has reshaped the entertainment landscape. Tech-driven companies are taking more of Hollywood’s real estate while older players, like WarnerMedia and Discovery, join forces so as to better compete. But does the deal mean much for Amazon, the... Amazon’s $8.45 billion purchase of MGM signals, for Hollywood, just how much video streaming has...

Instacart CEO Apoorva Mehta. Photo by Bloomberg

Instacart’s Facebook Hiring Program

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

Instacart may soon get the nickname “little Facebook,” judging by the number of Facebookers joining the grocery-delivery company. Today came news that Instacart hired Nikila Srinivasan, most recently a product executive at Facebook, to be its first VP of product for international markets. Srinivasan’s hiring follows two other senior hires from... Instacart may soon get the nickname “little Facebook,” judging by the number of Facebookers...

AT&T CEO John Stankey. Photo by Bloomberg.

AT&T CEO Predicts Music, Games Coming to Video Streaming Services

By Martin Peers · May 24, 2021 5:30pm PDT

AT&T CEO John Stankey. Photo by Bloomberg.

AT&T CEO Predicts Music, Games Coming to Video Streaming Services

By Martin Peers · May 24, 2021 5:30pm PDT

Prepare for a deluge of headlines about tech and entertainment. News accounts today suggested that Amazon’s interest in buying MGM—which we first reported a week ago—could lead to a deal this week. As we have noted, one reason for the deal is that Hollywood outsiders like Amazon that operate streaming services are finding it harder to get their... Prepare for a deluge of headlines about tech and entertainment. News accounts today suggested...

Apple's Tim Cook in the courthouse today. Photo by Bloomberg

Why Apple Execs Lost Credibility During the Epic Trial

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

Next time Apple reports quarterly profits, pull up your favorite music app and stream the song ‘I’ve got a feeling’. That appears to be what CEO Tim Cook does to assess how each of Apple’s divisions do. He testified today, in his time on the witness stand in the Apple-Epic trial, that while Apple doesn’t track the profitability of the App Store,... Next time Apple reports quarterly profits, pull up your favorite music app and stream the song ‘I...

Xi Jinping, China's president. Photo by Bloomberg.

Beijing’s Message to Tech Moguls: Don’t Be Too Successful

By Martin Peers · May 20, 2021 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

When former President Trump was waging his war against TikTok last year, some commentators focused on how ByteDance CEO Zhang Yiming had failed to anticipate the political headwinds he would face as the first Chinese firm to create a successful global product. As it turned out, it was the Chinese government much more than the U.S. that Zhang had... When former President Trump was waging his war against TikTok last year, some commentators...

Jittery stock traders on the New York Stock Exchange last year. Photo by Bloomberg

Bitcoin’s Bad Day Doesn’t Scare Off Bulls

By Martin Peers · May 19, 2021 5:29pm PDT

Jitters have returned to the markets, both in equities and in cryptocurrencies. Crypto prices and crypto-sensitive stocks—from Bitcoin to Ethereum to Coinbase—tumbled by double-digit percentages today before recovering somewhat, while the broader market also lost ground. Not that there’s anything wrong with that: The sell-off in crypto in... Jitters have returned to the markets, both in equities and in cryptocurrencies. Crypto prices and...

Phil Schiller arriving at court last week. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple’s Blissful Ignorance on App Store Profits

By Martin Peers · May 18, 2021 5:00pm PDT

Phil Schiller arriving at court last week. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple’s Blissful Ignorance on App Store Profits

By Martin Peers · May 18, 2021 5:00pm PDT

If Apple executive Phil Schiller is to be believed, Apple executives don’t know whether the App Store is profitable. That subject “doesn’t come up” in internal Apple discussions, Schiller testified today at the Epic-Apple trial. This is a business that by some estimates generates between $10 billion and $12 billion in annual profits for Apple—... If Apple executive Phil Schiller is to be believed, Apple executives don’t know whether the App...

AT&T former CEO Randall Stephenson. Photo by Bloomberg

AT&T Hangs Up on WarnerMedia

By Martin Peers · May 17, 2021 5:00pm PDT

AT&T’s agreement to sell WarnerMedia to Discovery ends the telecom firm’s six-year dalliance with the entertainment industry, which as expected turned out to be an egregious waste of shareholder money and management attention. Including its DirecTV acquisition, AT&T spent $126 billion and assumed billions of dollars more in debt on two... AT&T’s agreement to sell WarnerMedia to Discovery ends the telecom firm’s six-year dalliance...

The Real Cost of Amazon Prime

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

In his annual shareholder letter a few weeks ago, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos calculated the value the e-commerce giant had created for its customers. He concentrated on how much time Amazon saves shoppers in freeing them from driving to a store to buy goods. His conclusion: The convenience of Amazon Prime is worth $630 a year for each Prime... In his annual shareholder letter a few weeks ago, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos calculated the value...

Disney's headquarters in Burbank.

Why Disney’s Streaming Slowdown Isn’t as Bad as It Looks

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

How many video streaming services does it take to profitably entertain America? That question has been top of mind for people in the tech and media industries over the past year, as numerous TV companies jumped into the market made popular by Netflix with their own streaming offerings. Whether there was enough demand for each of these to make... How many video streaming services does it take to profitably entertain America? That question has...

SoftBank CEO Masa Son. Photo by Bloomberg

SoftBank's Year of Dramas and Crises

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

SoftBank CEO Masa Son. Photo by Bloomberg

SoftBank's Year of Dramas and Crises

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

What a year SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son has had. The Japanese investment giant was arguably one of the worst affected by the Covid downturn last year, given its high debt and significant exposure to companies like Uber and WeWork that were walloped by the lockdowns. Even before the worst of the economic impact had hit, SoftBank reported a $9... What a year SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son has had. The Japanese investment giant was arguably one of...