RakeTayo

Why Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg went to war over WordPress

Today, I’m talking with Matt Mullenweg, the founder and CEO of Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com, Tumblr, and a whole host of other products like the new cross-platform messaging service Beeper.  This is Matt’s third time on Decoder; back in 2022, we had him on twice, first to talk about Automattic and WordPress broadly and then to talk about Tumblr and the future of social networking. He’s back now because Automattic just turned 20, and I really wanted to ...

Intel is closing its automotive chipmaking business

Intel is shutting down its business dedicated to making processors for cars. In a memo seen by The Oregonian, Intel tells workers that it plans to lay off “most” employees in the division, citing plans to shift focus to its “core client and data center portfolio.” “As part of this work, we have decided to wind down the automotive business within our client computing group,” Intel writes in the memo. “We are committed to ensuring a smooth transition for our customers.” Intel...

Even Klarna is launching a mobile phone service now

Klarna, the buy-now-pay-later service, is launching a mobile phone service. The $40 per month phone plan is launching in the US in the “coming weeks,” offering unlimited 5G data, calls, and texts on AT&T’s network — making it yet another MVNO in an increasingly crowded space. MNVOs, or mobile virtual network operators, are companies that sell phone service on another carrier’s network. They’ve become more popular in recent years, and include brands like Mint Mobile...

Warner Bros. Discovery is splitting into two companies

Warner Bros. Discovery has announced plans to split itself into two companies, separating its streaming and studios divisions from its linear television businesses. The split is expected to be completed by mid-2026 and is supposed to help “maximize the potential” of its portfolio of brands, according to the company. Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, DC Studios, HBO, and HBO Max, alongside their respective film and television libraries, will fall under a new “St...

How private equity kills companies and communities

Today, I’m talking with Megan Greenwell, a former top editor at Wired and Deadspin, about her new book Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream. It comes out on June 10th, and it’s a searing account of how private equity goes far beyond impacting failing businesses and deeply affects and transforms the lives of everyday Americans.  Decoder is very much a show about the systems and frameworks that explain tech, policy, and business, and that means we’v...

23andMe and its user data will soon belong to a pharmaceutical giant

Verizon’s $20 billion Frontier acquisition wins FCC approval

Verizon’s $20 billion deal to acquire the fiber internet provider Frontier is officially happening. On Friday, the Federal Communications Commission signed off on the merger, which will allow Verizon to “upgrade and expand” Frontier’s existing fiber networks. Verizon expects to bring fiber to 1 million homes each year following the acquisition. The deal went through after Verizon “committed to ending DEI-related practices,” according to the FCC. Earlier this year, FCC Cha...

Workday’s new head of product wants you to like Workday as much as he does

Today, I’m talking with Gerrit Kazmaier, the new president of product and technology at Workday, an enterprise software company. Decoder listeners probably know the name Workday; a lot of companies use its platform for HR and finance management, which the suits have started bundling into a phrase they call “human capital management.” I invite you to have whatever feelings you want about that. Anyhow, if you’ve been applying to jobs lately, you have certainly run into Workday, ...