What cooled the DTC market? In short, low barriers to entry, high customer acquisition costs, and the need to generate venture-sized returns brought the entire D2C investment model into question. However, investors seem to be turning their attention back toward the D2C space as we slowly...

Wall Street Won’t Intimidate Walmart This Time

The retailer’s fintech partnership — and poaching of Goldman Sachs leaders — signals it’s serious about encroaching on Wall Street’s turf. For two years before the 2008 financial crisis, Walmart Inc. was embroiled in controversy over a plan to open its own bank, eventually withdrawing amid pressure from regulators and Wall Street lobbies. Some 14 years later, the retail giant is gearing up for an even more serious fight.

Walmart announced in January that it formed a partnership with Ribbit...

Salesforce announces permanent remote work for most employees

The largest private employer in San Francisco announced today that more than half of its workforce will continue working remotely or on a flexible schedule after the pandemic is over. Salesforce introduced its “Work From Anywhere” strategy, estimating that more than 65% of employees will adopt the new system, based on a company survey. For those that will be coming into an office, the current spaces will be redesigned to accommodate more of a “community hub” feel, focusing on collaboration and breakout...

Chinese billionaire Jack Ma suspected missing

Ant Group founder Jack Ma has reportedly not been seen in public for months.

Speculation has swirled around Chinese billionaire Jack Ma’s whereabouts after reports surfaced that the high-profile businessman has not made a public appearance in more than two months. The Alibaba founder also failed to appear as scheduled in the final episode of his own talent show, Africa’s Business Heroes, which gives budding African entrepreneurs...

San Francisco board rebukes naming hospital for Facebook CEO

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Supervisors in San Francisco overwhelmingly approved a resolution Tuesday condemning the naming of the city's public hospital for Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, in 2015 after the couple gave $75 million toward a new acute care and trauma center. The nonbinding resolution does not have the force of law and does not require the hospital to do anything. The hospital was the first in San Francisco to administer vaccines protecting against the...

EU reveals plan to regulate Big Tech

Big tech firms face yearly checks on how they are tackling illegal and harmful content under new rules unveiled by the European Commission.

Fresh restrictions are also planned to govern their use of customers' data, and to prevent the firms ranking their own services above competitors' in search results and app stores.

The measures are intended to overhaul how the EU regulates digital...

U.S. and States Say Facebook Illegally Crushed Competition

Regulators are accusing the company of buying up rising rivals to cement its dominance over social media.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Trade Commission and more than 40 states accused Facebook on Wednesday of buying up its rivals to illegally squash competition, and they called for the deals to be unwound, escalating regulators’ battle against the biggest tech companies in a way that could remake the social media industry.

Federal and state regulators of both parties, who have investigated...