Social Media

Twitter is the new, virtual picket line

9 Jun 2020

Employees and customers are taking to social media to vent grievances. Executives at Facebook, the New York Times, CrossFit and more have come under fire. It’s a way to show worker solidarity that was once provided by organized labor. But it's also easily misdirected.

Complacency is as much a disruptor as antitrust

8 Jun 2020

Big Tech critics credit the 1969 push to break up IBM for spurring the today’s software industry. But it was as much Big Blue’s shortsightedness that led to others’ power. As probes of newer tech companies ramp up, Microsoft, with similar challenges, tells a more promising story.

Only losing users will get Zuckerberg’s attention

2 Jun 2020

Facebook workers and civil rights groups criticized the social network’s hands-off approach to President Trump’s inflammatory posts. Its co-founder says he’s listening, but Zuckerberg has little incentive to act. Covid-19 has boosted the company, and reduced employees’ leverage.

Twitter can’t please everyone but still has to try

28 May 2020

Fact-checking a President Trump tweet has put founder Jack Dorsey in a political spotlight he had previously avoided. A spring clean of tweets is good for business in the long term. But unlike peers, Dorsey needs to please shorter-term investors too, like activist fund Elliott.

TikTok’s best move is a clean break from ByteDance

28 May 2020

The video app’s Chinese parent is shifting power away from the People’s Republic. That’s unlikely to win over American lawmakers suspicious TikTok will collect consumer data and send it back to Beijing. ByteDance’s most realistic political option is to sell its rising star.

Corona Capital: GE cash burn, Macy’s lifeline

28 May 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: General Electric’s cash flow will be more negative than expected as Covid-19 damages its aviation and power businesses; and U.S. department-store chain Macy’s borrows more, buying time but not much else.

TikTok’s new boss will be hitting the road to D.C.

19 May 2020

Former Disney streaming-video exec Kevin Mayer is to become boss of ByteDance’s popular video app. He was the M&A maestro behind the Magic Kingdom’s acquisitions of Fox and the Star Wars empire. But he may have to learn some new moves to navigate U.S.-China tensions.

Silicon Valley gears up to leave Silicon Valley

13 May 2020

Remote work has highlighted the Bay Area’s high costs. Some startups are closing San Francisco offices; giants like Facebook were already expanding their national footprint. Covid-19 will hasten the planting of tech flags across America, altering recruiting and local economies.

Facebook goes on viral offensive

29 Apr 2020

While Alphabet is cutting costs, Facebook will hire 10,000 people and just did its biggest deal since 2014 in India. Revenue growth fell to 18% last quarter, but the $550 bln social network is not slowing down. Mark Zuckerberg can afford to ignore any reluctant shareholders.

Big Tech will emerge from virus too big to fail

28 Apr 2020

Amazon is an essential service keeping families supplied in a pandemic. The Apple-Google alliance on contact tracing will aid efforts to reopen economies. Facebook’s reach has disrupted virus disinformation. Their size is an asset in a crisis, making it harder to break them up.

Snap’s $750 mln offering shows its staying power

23 Apr 2020

The disappearing-message app is the latest company to raise money through a convertible bond. This version includes capped calls, which will limit the upside for investors. Its nearly 45% revenue jump in the first quarter gives the $24 bln issuer some leverage others don’t have.

Viewsroom: The F’d up oil market

23 Apr 2020

Breakingviews columnists in London, Mumbai and Brooklyn discuss what’s going on in the global energy markets amid the coronavirus crisis, as well as Facebook’s big Indian deal and the U.S. government’s attempt to prop up small businesses with the Paycheck Protection Program.

Tech’s virus pain would have trustbusters Yelping

21 Apr 2020

The online-review site helped spur D.C. probes of ad giants like Google. Now it, Groupon and other mid-size Silicon Valley firms can’t get small-business aid, are laying off thousands and may not survive the crisis. That’d leave Big Tech’s worrying dominance more entrenched.

Bad news could travel fast for Facebook and Google

20 Apr 2020

Australia is forcing the tech goliaths to share revenue with local media. The virus was the last straw after years of digital destruction and fake news scandals. Whatever the financial formula, the costs should be bearable. The trouble is that Canberra headlines will go global.

Review: Facebook and Instagram deserve each other

17 Apr 2020

The social network had a tense relationship with the photo-sharing app it bought in 2012. Sarah Frier’s “No Filter” offers fresh insight into the troubled $1 bln deal. A bigger problem was that their common pursuit of a higher purpose obscured the threat they posed to society.

Viewsroom: Freebies no more

16 Apr 2020

Breakingviews columnists check in from home in New York, San Francisco and Hong Kong to discuss disappearing Silicon Valley perks like free meals and booze, office activism at tech firms, the mystery of China’s 20 million lost mobile-phone subscribers and an ascendant TikTok.

Corona Capital: Lufthansa, JPMorgan, Foursquare

7 Apr 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Lufthansa parks hopes of a quick airline-industry recovery in the hanger; JPMorgan skirts close to committing an early earnings faux pas; and Foursquare checks into the M&A market.

Facebook finds all Indian roads lead to Ambani

25 Mar 2020

Mark Zuckerberg is eyeing a 10% stake in Reliance Industries’ upstart telecom operator. The social network would join the likes of Saudi Aramco helping India’s richest man deleverage his oil-to-retail empire. Mukesh Ambani is building an enviable network of partners.

Twitter’s revenue problem is bigger than Covid-19

24 Mar 2020

Users of the social network are flocking but advertisers are bailing as coronavirus content proliferates. But for revenue, it’s the ads that matter most. Twitter may hope to turn its new users into advertising dollars, but being widely read doesn’t guarantee being profitable.

Activists leave Twitter with unspoken ultimatum

9 Mar 2020

The $26 bln social network struck a deal with Elliott and Silver Lake involving board seats, fresh capital and a $2 bln share buyback. Twitter also effectively pledged to grow users by 20%. If CEO Jack Dorsey can’t deliver, he may find himself under pressure to sell the company.