Google Fiber loses another boss, Netflix hits a new high, and China cracks down on Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging platform in the country.
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And, Next: Google Fiber. Remember that? It was Google’s plan to upend the broadband market by offering gigabit internet service. It got up and running in Kansas City and Austin. It became part of Access, a business unit of Google’s parent Alphabet. Everything was going well. Until it wasn’ t.
To recap, in late 2016, Craig Barratt stepped down as the boss of Access. His departure was largely due to Alphabet cutting back on plans that Barratt had put in place to expand Google Fiber’s offerings. Barratt was replaced as the chief executive of Access in February by Gregory McCray. And now, McCray is out, too.
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Biz Break: Amazon’s Prime push; Ads to show up in Facebook Messenger McCray’s departure was reportedly due to a number of things. Starting off with a company meeting in which he said his wife called his boat his “mistress.” He then reportedly said that every man deserved to have a mistress, too. Remember, this was at a Google meeting. Despite how it sounds, it did not happen at an Uber corporate gathering.
It’s hard to say how much of an impact McCray had at Access, as his term was short and Alphabet hasn’ t said a lot lately about how well the fiber business is doing. Alphabet Chief Executive Larry Page is saying the kinds of things you might expect to hear from a CEO when there’s an upheaval in a company’s executive ranks. In a statement, Page said Alphabet is committed to “the success of Google Fiber” and that he expects Alphabet “will find an amazing person to lead this important business.”
But whoever ends up leading Google Fiber will have to be amazing enough to make do with less, and watch his or her tongue, too.
Middle Innings:
Netflix Rising: And rising some more. On Tuesday, Netflix shares surged 13.5 percent, to a record-high close of $183.60. The impetus for investors’ enthusiasm over Netflix was the company on Monday reporting better-than-expected gains in new subscribers during its second quarter, which ended in June. Those additions gave Netflix almost 104 million total subscribers. And Wall Street analysts almost couldn’ t help themselves when it came to raising their price targets on Netflix’s stock.
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WhatsApp? Not Much, in China: It looks like there’s a case of the Chinese government cracking down on how its people communicate with and send messages to each other. China is said to have been putting in place tools to limit the use of WhatsApp, the Faceboook-owned messaging platform that is popular across Asia, in particular. The crackdown is said to be part of a recent law requiring domestic and foreign companies to store their data on Chinese customers in China, and which also puts in place security checks on some industries doing business in the country.
Quote of the Day: “We’ re trying to put out fires.” — Debora LaPina Goldwater, owner of Dori Anne Veils Bridal Salon in Castro Valley. Goldwater was speaking about how her store is scrambling to help brides left in the lurch by the unexpected closing of all Alfred Angels bridal stores.
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