Plus, Uber hires its first chief diversity officer, Stripe is giving up on bitcoin, and HomePod at last.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk may have the most radical pay plan in corporate history. Musk, who has agreed to stay on as chief executive for a decade, will be paid only if he reaches a series of jaw-dropping milestones based on the company’s market value and operations. Otherwise, he will be paid nothing. Meanwhile, Musk’s other company, SpaceX, is preparing for the imminent launch of its biggest rocket, the Falcon Heavy — its cross-promotional payload will include a cherry-red Roadster built by Tesla. [Andrew Ross Sorkin / The New York Times]
Twitter COO Anthony Noto is taking the job of CEO at finance startup SoFi, filling the spot vacated by Mike Cagney, who resigned after sexual harassment allegations. Noto was the most important full-time exec at Twitter; CEO Jack Dorsey, who also runs Square, hasn’t announced a replacement for Noto. Meanwhile Facebook is seeing a rare senior executive departure — CMO Gary Briggs is retiring; he wants to advise a few companies, sit on some boards and help the Democratic Party on the ramp-up to the U.S. midterm elections. [Kurt Wagner / Recode]
Uber has hired its first chief diversity and inclusion officer. Bo Young Lee will fill the role that was recommended by the Holder Report, which investigated the company’s toxic culture. It’s the third executive appointment under new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.[Johana Bhuiyan / Recode]
Stripe was ahead of the curve on bitcoin, but it’s giving up on it as a payment method. Four years ago, the online payments platform was the first to accept the wildly popular but volatile alternative currency; after a rise in transaction fees made a bitcoin transactions about as expensive as bank wires, Stripe concluded that bitcoin is meant to be more of an asset and less of a currency for daily payments. [Theodore Schleifer / Recode]
The media ecosystem is up for grabs right now: Netflix buys content from the studios but makes its own stuff, too. Older media companies are trying to compete by consolidating, new distributors like Verizon and AT&T and giant tech companies like Google, Amazon and Apple are all getting in on the action. Here’s a diagram of what the Big Media universe currently looks like. And if you like that chart, you’ll love this one, tracking the incredible 10-year rise of Netflix, from mailboxes to David Letterman.[Rani Molla and Peter Kafka / Recode]
HomePod, Apple’s late-to-the-party entrant into the smart-speaker market, finally has a shipping date, after its scheduled December launch was delayed. The $ 349 device is available for preorder on Friday, and will hit Apple Store shelves on Feb. 9.[Dieter Bohn / The Verge]
Code Media — Recode’s annual conference featuring the most interesting and influential people in media and technology — is coming up on Feb. 12 and 13 in Huntington Beach, Calif. Joining the already amazing lineup of speakers are four media entrepreneurs and executives with unique insight into the media landscape: Brit + Co CEO Brit Morin, theSkimm co-founders Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg, and Hollywood Reporter part owner Janice Min. You can join us, too — click here for registration info.
Top stories from Recode
Democrats are demanding to know if Russian trolls or bots have tried to “manipulate public opinion” on Facebook and Twitter again.
This time, the fear is that they’re trying to discredit an investigation into Russia’s potential election meddling.
A lobbying group for Amazon, Facebook and Google is kicking off a new diversity initiative thanks to pressure from Congress The Internet Association told lawmakers this week that its new campaign aims to “improve diversity and inclusion in the tech industry.”ct.
Facebook bought a startup that specializes in remotely verifying government-issued IDs.
Confirm is joining Facebook’s office in Boston.
AT&T says it supports net neutrality — but it’s staying quiet on whether it could charge more for faster access It’s part of a new ad blitz, as the company suggests new regulation should target tech giants.of dollars required of a public-private partnership to fund the project.
Why people are buying more expensive smartphones than they have in years.
The average selling price for a smartphone is now $ 363.
How Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petri finds the funny in Trump’s chaotic White House.
On the latest episode of Recode Decode, Petri says, “You laugh, but then people’s lives are being destroyed.”
This is cool
The 1968 book that tried to predict the world of 2018.
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