Page 25 - March 2018 Disruption Report

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The Cambridge Analytica case was not just a breach of private data, according to Jourova. “This
is much more serious, because here we witness the threat to democracy, to democratic plurality,” she said. (Los Angeles Times, Patt Morrison, 03/28/18; New York Times, David Steitfeld, Natasha Singer and Steven Erlanger, 03/24/18; TechCrunch.com, Jordan Cook, 03/30/18; TechCrunch.com, Josh Constine, 03/30/18; Washington Post, Ryan Avent, 03/30/18)
Is it time to break-up big tech?
In a presentation at IGNITION 2018, Scott Galloway, marketing professor at New York University, argued that “big tech” companies should be broken up, saying:
These companies [e.g., Facebook, Amazon Google and Apple] ...in the form of for-pro t companies [have] created more shareholder value and in uence and any other entities with the exception of the U.S. and China. In 2008 they had the GDP of Niger in terms of the market cap. As of today (December 21, 2017), they have the GDP of India. They’ve blown past Canada, they’ve blown past Russia and I would argue they have more in uence than any entities, maybe with the exception of Russia or China.
If you look at where the most value has accreted, it’s changed dramatically. [In 2006,
the highest market cap companies were] ...petroleum companies, conglomerates [ExxonMobile ($540 billion), GE ($463 billion), Microsoft ($355 billion), Citi ($331 billion and Bank of America ($290 billion)].
Now, it’s all tech companies, including the Big Four [Apple ($870 billion), Alphabet/Google ($714 billion), Microsoft ($643 billion), Amazon ($560 billion) and Facebook ($509 billion)...
...[A]fter studying these companies pretty intensely for two years and working in and around them for the last ten, I believe—actually I know—these companies should be broken up.
...We personi ed these brands. We feel that we’re in a relationship with them and we’ve also come to believe that technology is ultimately a weapon of betterment for humanity.
I know why these companies have come together. I know their singular mission of the greatest concentration of IQ capital and technology in history. Simply put, it’s to sell another f***ing Nissan. I think we are really disappointed. I think we got spoiled. I think we’re used to technology being 99% the betterment of humanity, 1% the pursuit of shareholder value,
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