Bloomberg BusinessWeek
Brad Stone is a senior writer for Bloomberg BusinessWeek. He is the author of The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon and The Upstarts: How Uber, Airbnb, and the Killer Companies of the New Silicon Valley Are Changing the World.
Is Big Tech on the defensive? Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon have amassed incomparable power over the US economy, political discourse and social interactions. Now they're being targeted as monopolies, which determine -- intentionally or otherwise — not just what we buy but how we think. Both the Left and the Right are now talking Regulation, but is Big Tech insulated by its ubiquitous services, popularity with consumers — and its lobbying power?
The story of startups that changed our culture Many of the companies now at the center of Silicon Valley didn’t exist 10 years ago. We learn how Uber and AirBnB started, and why this generation of tech CEOs is different.
The "Everything Store" and the Changing Economy As another holiday season reaches a frenzied climax, more American shopping takes place on line than ever before. Amazon, the major force in e-commerce, is leaving Best Buy, Target and even WalMart far behind -- not just now but for the foreseeable future. Massive investment is finally paying off for consumers who want stuff now, although relentless cost cutting creates a "dark side" for many workers. But the big story may be Jeff Bezos' vision of a new economy with Amazon the dominant player.
The Bruising Workplace Culture at Amazon The founder of one of America’s largest online retailers is taking exception to a lengthy report that called Amazon a “bruising workplace” for both executives and rank and file employees. Saturday's New York Times described Amazon as a workplace where employees are so harshly treated they cry at their desks and where executives are regularly managed out rather than being allowed to recover from cancer, miscarriages or other personal crises. Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and chief executive, says he didn’t recognize the Amazon he knows—and that “tolerance for such lack of empathy needs to be zero.”
Google, Uber and the Ridesharing Wars The ride-sharing service Uber is said to be worth $40 billion, but local regulations, pending lawsuits and organized taxi drivers are threats to its global expansion plans. Now comes an even bigger tech titan—Google, a friendly investor with competitive plans. Google’s investment wing, Google Ventures, has poured millions into Uber, and Google’s chief legal officer sits on Uber’s board of directors. But now the companies may be on a collision course. Brad Stone is a senior writer for Bloomberg Businessweek. He’s also author of The Everything Store : Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon.
Amazon Grows, But Not Profits Amazon is always finding new ways to expand. The company is reportedly looking into the mobile payment business, and it just released a new 3-D printing service. The company’s been tiptoeing into pretty much every service you can think of over the past few years. But this never-ending diversification has Amazon watchers asking whether Bezos’ gambles will ever pay off.
Questions for Coal Country People in California want to know: "Do West Virginians really believe that coal is coming back?"
Voter Suppression, Climate Change and the President As America prepares to vote again, a question remains from 2016: are the Russians still “meddling” with US elections? Meantime, are Republican election officials in Georgia and Kansas suppressing the vote to serve their own interests? Those updates and the latest on climate change: President Trump says, maybe it’s not a hoax after all.
Rebecca Traister and the Power of Women’s Anger One of America’s leading feminist writers says women have changed history since Ancient Greece. And, she says, they’ll do it again. The backlash to President Trump was just the beginning. Record numbers of women are running for congress, state governorships and local offices. She tells Warren about her latest book,“Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger.”
