Technology

Mark Zuckerberg will split Meta, take the ‘verse

21 Dec 2022

The Facebook founder’s belief in the promise of a virtual world is failing to sway investors. He may control the company, but capital flight is a problem. The solution will be to break off his pet project and find someone else to run and rebuild the social media empire.

Netflix will be next on Microsoft’s shopping list

20 Dec 2022

The video-streaming service is expanding into gaming as the software titan fights for Activision Blizzard. Ever-bigger deals, including LinkedIn and Nuance, have been a staple of boss Satya Nadella’s tenure. And there’s logic behind fortifying its Xbox even more.

Apple finds a happy home in India

20 Dec 2022

IPhone makers Foxconn, Pegatron and Wistron are ramping up factories: $30 bln of official handouts help to make India an attractive place to set up. Trade tensions between Beijing and Washington only speed up a shift that will place India at the core of Apple’s supply chain.

Capital Calls: Satellites deal, EU gas price cap

16 Dec 2022

Concise views on global finance: Private equity firm Advent is paying a 129% premium for Maxar, indicating that the volatile, costly satellite construction business could soar away from public markets; the EU is edging towards a controversial cap for gas future contracts.

A solo Ticketmaster might attract financial fans

15 Dec 2022

Drums are beating to break up $17 bln Live Nation after it flubbed ticket sales for Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny. Lawmakers reckon a 2010 merger with Ticketmaster made the company too powerful. Setting aside legal and regulatory questions, there’s an investment case for a split.

Tesla has lost its fantasy premium

14 Dec 2022

The electric-vehicle leader’s valuation has halved this year. That’s still compatible with Tesla growing to rival Toyota in size. But it ascribes no value for boss Elon Musk’s futuristic ideas, such as humanoid robots and self-driving taxis. At $500 bln, Tesla is just a carmaker.

Capital Calls: Lucky LBOs, Byron Trott

12 Dec 2022

Concise views on global finance: Coupa Software, a business that tracks expenses has a message for investors weighing its sale to Thoma Bravo: it is doing terribly. Byron Trott’s BDT is taking grill-maker Weber private again for $3.7 bln, a discount to last year’s IPO valuation.

The ghost of Instagram haunts Microsoft’s future

9 Dec 2022

When Facebook bought the photo-sharing site in 2012, regulators failed to see Mark Zuckerberg’s larger vision. Now the FTC is trying to block Microsoft’s $69 bln Activision deal, partly to stop future domination. Fighting on qualitative terms seems unfair but is inevitable.

Asia debt craze spawns vicious tech funding circle

9 Dec 2022

India’s Byju’s wants easier terms on an existing $1.2 bln loan, one of a series of punchy deals the region’s hottest money-losing firms sold to BlackRock and others ahead of planned listings. Poor results and rising funding costs raise the stakes on getting IPOs across the line.

Friendshoring makes sense if done in the right way

5 Dec 2022

The United States and its allies want to build up suppliers of goods such as solar panels in friendly countries so they’re not vulnerable to Chinese disruptions or blackmail. To avoid self-harm they should define friends broadly and not attack China economically, says Hugo Dixon.

Salesforce shakeup puts co-CEOs under a cloud

1 Dec 2022

Bret Taylor is stepping down after just a year of running the $140 bln software developer alongside founder Marc Benioff. Another former copilot lasted less than two years. Because entrepreneurs typically struggle to surrender the reins, sharing them is often a terrible idea.

Yandex split marks end of Russian tech hopes

1 Dec 2022

The group once known as the “Russian Google” may split its international and Russian businesses. Ex-finance minister Alexei Kudrin will head the shrunken local arm. The company’s founders can start anew, but investors in the former Nasdaq darling will likely remain bereft.

Musk’s Apple fight could be his Twitter legacy

29 Nov 2022

The billionaire isn’t the first to criticize the smartphone maker for taking a cut from transactions on its app store. But owning Twitter gives Elon Musk a powerful megaphone. Taking a chunk out of Apple could even be the most durable outcome of Musk’s social media foray.

Big Tech layoffs are dystopian job-market fiction

18 Nov 2022

Twitter, Amazon and Meta Platforms are driving the largest wave of U.S. layoffs since early 2020. Yet tech firms were also quick to hire; other industries are still playing catch-up. With inflation cooling off, the chances of widespread job losses are dwindling fast.

Capital Calls: Ticketmaster and Taylor Swift

18 Nov 2022

Concise views on global finance: A meltdown involving the pop star’s upcoming “Eras” concert tour is attracting an audience on Capitol Hill and risks an unwanted corporate fight with the artist herself.

Capital Calls: Nexperia’s UK woes

17 Nov 2022

Concise views on global finance: The British government’s order to the Chinese group to sell its Welsh chip factory may prove an empty gesture without a plan to go forward.

Crypto watchdogs have a giant offshore problem

17 Nov 2022

FTX’s collapse should trigger tougher oversight of digital-asset groups in the Unites States and elsewhere. Yet big players, like Binance and the $40 bln decentralised-finance system, may stay out of reach. Clearer rules could bring more business onshore, but not all of it.

Naspers swaps one Tencent headache for another

17 Nov 2022

The South African investor’s valuation discount to its $100 bln stake in the Chinese tech giant has narrowed since it started selling the shares to fund buybacks. But Tencent's plunging value is another factor. Though Naspers' prized asset has become a drag, exiting is tough.

Feedback loops power Elon Musk’s SpaceX

16 Nov 2022

Even as tech valuations fall, including that of Tesla, the rocket maker’s may rise 20%, to $150 bln. Its growing Starlink service is more appealing than lunar expeditions. The bigger the satellite business gets, the worse the economics become for rivals such as Amazon.

Scooterverse collides with financial reality

16 Nov 2022

Bird’s scooter-share business attracted investors on the understanding that it would disrupt transportation and eventually turn a profit. It got part way there, but the capital markets seized up before Bird really got going. Even good ideas can run out of road.