Page 36 - Fortune-November 01, 2018

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HIGH
REWARDS, SAMSUNG TESLA FACEBOOK
REAL RISKS BIOLOGICS U.S. [TSLA, $257] U.S. [FB, $151]
SOUTH KOREA [$428]

THE COMPANIESfeatured here THIS BIOTECH manufacturer, a ONE OFTEN-CITED statis- FACEBOOK HAS upended the
have great forward-looking publicly listed joint venture of tic encapsulates the poten- media industry, rewritten
two companies affiliated with tial of this electric-car pio- the rules of advertising, and
DNA, by the metrics of the the Samsung conglomerate, neer: On multiple occasions changed the way many of its
Future50. But each of the brought in only $400 million in over the past two years, 1.47 billion daily active us-
four faces legal actions or revenue in 2017. But through Tesla, which delivered about ers relate to friends and fam-
tensions with regulators partnerships with Biogen and 100,000 vehicles in 2017, en- ily. Even as growth slackens for
AstraZeneca, it holds a stake joyed a higher market value Facebook’s core product, Wall
that threaten to hamstring in the world’s largest pipeline than General Motors, which Street believes its other units—
its progress. Sometimes for biosimilar generic drugs— sold 9.6 million that year. In including photo hub Instagram
those problems are a a pipeline that analysts believe the most recent quarter, Tes- and the WhatsApp messaging
can generate annual revenue la’s mid-price Model 3 ranked service—can fuel revenue in-
consequence of their own
growth of 40% to 60% for years for the first time among the creases of 20% to 30% a year.
breakneck success; other to come. In July, South Korean five top-selling sedans in the Still, Facebook’s vast reach has
times they’re the result of regulators ruled that the com- U.S.—a milestone in founder magnified scrutiny of its flaws,
pany violated accounting stan- and CEO Elon Musk’s quest to including shaky protections for
allegations against their
dards in structuring one of its make electric vehicles ubiqui- user data and a troubling role
leaders. Not coinciden- partnerships and referred the tous and affordable. The ques- in spreading fake news. Fears
tally, all four have seen their case to prosecutors. In a state- tion is whether Musk can steer of user backlash and tighter
shares tumble this year— ment, the company said its ac- Tesla in a straight line. This regulation have helped send its
tions were legal. fall, the SEC sued him for mis- shares down 30% since July.
creating opportunities for
Future 50 Score: 6.3 leading investors in a Twitter Future 50 Score: 4.7
risk-takers. Market value: $28.3 billion post about taking the com- Market value: $437.1 billion
pany private (one of numerous
impolitic Musk tweets). In a
settlement, Musk gave up Tes-
la’s chairmanship. Production 50
problems and executive turn-
TOO FAST,
TOO FURIOUS over, meanwhile, have fueled JD.COM
Cofounder and doubts about Tesla’s stability. CHINA [JD, $23]
CEO Elon Musk Future 50 Score: 5.5
has turned Market value: $43.8 billion
Tesla into one
of the world’s
most promising ALIBABA GETS most of the at-
companies— tention in conversations about
but his public e-commerce in China, but
behavior has JD.com has been a potent No.2.
exacerbated The company has become a
doubts about
its future. $64 billion juggernaut, thanks
to an emphasis on “high touch”
relationships with its sellers
and a concerted effort to reach
neglected consumers in China’s
rural areas and so-called lower-
tier cities. Founder and CEO
Richard Liu has been the driving
force behind its success, but
he now faces uncomfortable
scrutiny; prosecutors in Minne-
sota are reviewing allegations
that Liu raped a college student
during a visit to Minneapolis in T. FA LLON—BLOOMBERG V I A GE T T Y IM AGES
August. (Liu’s attorneys say he
is innocent.)
Future 50 Score: 3.6
Market value: $32.8 billion

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