A.I.
Theodore Schleifer
•
January 11, 2022
Inside MacKenzie Scott’s Zillion-Dollar Giving Machine
Ever since Scott split with her ex, Jeff Bezos, she has embarked on an utterly mysterious, totally disruptive, $9 billion-and-counting philanthropy spree. Here’s an inside guide to her aides and her checkbook.
Theodore Schleifer
•
January 4, 2022
Bill & Melinda Get Political
Among the under-appreciated stories of modern politics is how key relationships with a Silicon Valley benefactor or two can transform long-shot candidates into bonafide contenders. And with more money than ever, tech titans are discovering new battlefields to assert their will.
Theodore Schleifer
•
December 28, 2021
Elon vs. The Libs & Media Asset Moneyball
Some deep thoughts and burning concerns about MacKenzie, Jack, Bezos and other card-carrying members of the new establishment.
Theodore Schleifer
•
December 21, 2021
Silicon Valley’s Biden Beef & Zuckerberg’s Hired Gun
Notes on the latest tech industry gossip, fundraising, and political power plays.
Theodore Schleifer
•
December 14, 2021
Tech’s Looming Radical Chic Throwdown
The recall election of Chesa Boudin, San Francisco’s avant-garde D.A., has turned bitter, pitting tech’s billionaires against one another—and forcing the city to look at itself, and its past, in the mirror.
Theodore Schleifer
•
December 7, 2021
The Great Holiday Billionaire Sell-Off
A year-end guide to billionaire gifting, Zuck’s $3 billion stocking stuffer, and the return of Brock Pierce (this time without Akon).
Matthew Belloni
•
December 3, 2021
Facebook and Hollywood: A Match Made in the Metaverse?
Premium video didn’t work for Facebook before, and it doesn’t want to be a player in that world now. But the metaverse might change Zuckerberg’s strategic thinking.
Baratunde Thurston
•
December 2, 2021
Rittenhouse in the Zuckerverse
Reflections on our gun violence epidemic, blockchain democracy, buying the Constitution, and rebuilding America in the metaverse.
Theodore Schleifer
•
November 30, 2021
Inside the Dems’ Dark Money Machine
Neither party's functionaries admit it, but the line between philanthropy and politics has been obliterated. The upshot is that even more money is moving into the shadows.
Theodore Schleifer
•
November 22, 2021
Bezos and Obama’s Surprise $100 Million Marriage
A nine-figure gift from Jeff Bezos to the Obama Foundation, midwifed by Jay Carney, marks another evolution in Bezos’ remarkable career as the Amazon founder seeks new causes (and friends) in politics and philanthropy.
Dylan Byers
•
November 17, 2021
Inside the Bobby Kotick Saga
Amid federal and state investigations, allegations of a “frat boy” culture, and a damning report in the Journal, Activision employees have staged a walkout, and the media has called for a blood sacrifice, as Logan Roy might say. But the Sun Valley crowd thinks Kotick isn’t going anywhere—yet.
Theodore Schleifer
•
November 16, 2021
A Google God Defends the Bezosification of the World
John Doerr, the legendary venture capitalist turned climate evangelist, defends Big Tech, Jeff Bezos, and Joe Manchin as part of his realpolitik climate change vision.
Theodore Schleifer
•
November 12, 2021
Who’s Funding Bari Weiss?
Plus: Inside Tim Draper’s quixotic scheme to kill California’s unions and how Blake Masters and J.D. Vance converged on more than just Peter Thiel.
Theodore Schleifer
•
November 5, 2021
Zuck’s “Meta” Twist & Kamala Hits the Trenches
Plus: What Elon Musk gets right in his $6 billion social-media beef.
Theodore Schleifer
•
November 3, 2021
Eric Schmidt Ponders the End of the C.E.O. as We Know It
A candid conversation with Eric Schmidt about the A.I. apocalypse, his relationship with Joe Biden, and how “woke-ism” has changed the C-suite.
Matthew Belloni
•
October 29, 2021
How Hollywood Fits Into Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse
A conversation with Matthew Ball about how Hollywood botched the rise of the internet, digital gaming, online distribution—and how Disney could turn Robert Downey Jr. into a metaverse billionaire.
Dylan Byers
•
October 28, 2021
“We’re Running Toward Something”: My Chat with Mark Zuckerberg
In the middle of perhaps the most consequential scandal of his career, Mark Zuckerberg unveiled his new vision for the metaverse and revealed the name of his new parent company, Meta, which will comprise all of his social platforms, including Facebook. We chatted about all this, and what the internet will look like in a decade, among other things.