Data

WPP would win most from $5 bln data-business sale

19 Mar 2019

Buyout groups Advent and Blackstone are circling the ad group’s market-research unit Kantar, Reuters reported. Private-equity buyers could hike margins and combine it with a rival. WPP’s wad of cash and retained access to its consumers’ data sounds more enticing, though.

Review: The case for regulating Facebook

1 Feb 2019

Mark Zuckerberg’s social-media outfit has been caught pushing the data-privacy envelope again – by Apple. In his new book, “Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe,” early adviser Roger McNamee lays out what went wrong – and how to tackle the dangers such companies present.

Strong U.S. jobs are weak tonic for markets

4 Jan 2019

Payrolls expanded at a surprisingly robust pace in December and wages ticked higher. The data shows an American economy ending the year on a high note. But employment is a lagging indicator. Slowing earnings and trade-war risks are likely to be more powerful market motivators.

Facebook headed for Big Tobacco-style backlash

20 Dec 2018

A number of U.S. states may follow the District of Columbia in suing the $380 bln social network for misusing customer data. It’d be reminiscent of the 1990s fight against cigarette makers. A similar outcome would leave Facebook paying huge fines and bound by tighter rules.

Silicon Valley mud fight leaves all splattered

4 Dec 2018

Apple boss Tim Cook is taking aim at social networks' privacy issues. Meanwhile Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been keen to point out the iPhone’s dominance. Where other industries stick together in the face of regulatory challenges, tech is making politicians' work easier.

Marriott breach invites data cops to check in

30 Nov 2018

Another 500 mln people now have to worry about identity theft. Hanging onto personal data, protecting it ineffectively and disclosing breaches only slowly are habits in corporate America. It’s not only Google, Facebook and their ilk that merit privacy rules more like Europe’s.

Review: New tech brings golden age of media

16 Nov 2018

The internet has provided ample fodder for the endless debate over culture versus commerce. In “Digital Renaissance,” business professor Joel Waldfogel says consumers have more good music, movies and television shows than ever to choose from, and haven’t bankrupted industry.

Mark Zuckerberg pushes wrong kind of independence

15 Nov 2018

Facebook’s CEO is setting up an external committee to police fake news and hateful content after more revelations about how he and others dealt with Russian meddling. But outsourcing decisions won’t fix Facebook’s culture. Removing Zuckerberg as chair would be a good first step.

Viewsroom: Europe fights U.S. Big Tech

15 Nov 2018

Digital titans like Alphabet and Apple may rule the roost, but EU rules on data privacy are helping startups flourish on the other side of the Atlantic. Meanwhile, Facebook’s inability to police fake content spreads to Africa. Plus: Mumbai’s ride-share drivers go on strike.

Alphabet ad machine aids Tim Cook’s data case

25 Oct 2018

The Google parent raked in more revenue and profit during the third quarter. The stronger the $730 bln firm gets, the more scrutiny it will attract from watchdogs who want to safeguard consumer data. The Apple boss’s call for tighter privacy restrictions is a telling sign.

Cathay Pacific typifies data-breach turbulence

25 Oct 2018

The $5 bln Hong Kong airline disclosed unauthorised access to personal details of over 9 mln passengers. It also waited seven months to come clean. Though investors should know by now that hacks can happen anywhere, they leave struggling companies like Cathay more exposed.

Google inadvertently makes case for data crackdown

9 Oct 2018

The search giant kept secret a security hole to avoid regulators’ scrutiny, the Wall Street Journal says. The lack of transparency underlines that such disclosures should be out of managers’ hands. U.S. lawmakers eyeing a law similar to Europe’s GDPR have an extra argument.

Data is new beat for transatlantic antitrust cops

28 Sep 2018

The U.S. DOJ’s Makan Delrahim and the EU’s Margrethe Vestager worry concentrations of personal information may be used to stifle competition. She has been the tougher so far, but the shared focus could hurt tech giants like Facebook and Alphabet that depend on data for profit.

U.S. data privacy suffers from too many cooks

26 Sep 2018

Amazon, Apple and other tech executives said a single federal privacy law is needed to avoid fragmented state rules. Different standards also apply to the healthcare and financial industries, while data collection extends beyond tech. Europe has some ideas to offer.

Nielsen’s best option is to rip off the band-aid

13 Aug 2018

Paul Singer’s Elliott disclosed a 5 pct stake in the stumbling $8.5 bln TV-ratings firm and is pushing for a sale. It’s a surer remedy than auctioning one floundering business unit amidst a protracted CEO search. Buyout firms took Nielsen on once before. Maybe they will again.

Tesla gets a lesson in buyout realities

9 Aug 2018

Elon Musk wanting to take the money-losing carmaker private has set Wall Street all atwitter. But Dun & Bradstreet’s $5.4 bln LBO is a reminder of what it usually takes: a mature, mediocre, profitable firm. That’s a better bet than capital-draining dreams of domination.

Blackstone gets “insurance” on $20 bln F&R deal

18 Jul 2018

Its buyout of Thomson Reuters’ financial-data arm comes with features that enhance the seller’s upside if things go very well – but leaves Steve Schwarzman’s investment firm in better shape if things wobble. That ought to help hold the Canadian group’s feet to the fire.

Micro Focus $2.5 bln sale amplifies growth problem

2 Jul 2018

The British tech group’s disposal of an open-source software unit is helping its share price, which halved in March. Yet the source of its problems, a troubled former HP division, now accounts for more of the group’s revenue. A tricky turnaround has become even harder to execute.

Wall Street data merger chases $10 trln dream

21 May 2018

IHS Markit is snapping up Ipreo from Blackstone and Goldman for $1.86 bln to bulk up the information it can sell on alternative assets from private equity to real estate. It’s a booming area crying out for more transparency – and spurring plenty of competition on data.

Breakdown: EU gains new powers for Big Tech fight

21 May 2018

Europe’s new privacy rule, the GDPR, prohibits covert data gathering and allows users to have information moved or deleted. The likes of Google and Facebook may initially find it easier to comply than smaller companies. But over time they’ll face a hostile EU with new weapons.