blonde, future Vogue photo feature. It’s no accident Google sent Ms.
Mayer to Senate hearings to opine regarding the slaughter of
newspapers at the hands of Google... Oops, I mean the future. When
faced with tough questions like “How is the fourth estate going to
survive if Google kills the newspaper classified business?” Ms. Mayer
responded: “It’s still early.”^8 Early? It was the two-minute warning in
the fourth quarter for newspapers. The gray-haired senators ate it up.
Who wants to be the insurance salesman elected to Congress (the
most prevalent career of the House of Representatives)^9 who raises his
hand and says, “I’m the guy who does NOT get it. I don’t like Apple.”
Apple is the largest tax avoider in the history of U.S. business,^10 but
Apple is hip, and everyone wants to be friends with the cool kid. Same
with Amazon, because e-commerce is hip and cool vs. lame and old,
traditional retail. In March 2017 Amazon decided to pay sales tax in
every state.^11 Here’s a company now worth more than Walmart that
until 2014 was only paying state sales tax in five states. The benefit of
the subsidy has eclipsed $1 billion. Did Amazon need a $1 billion
government subsidy? By purposefully managing their business at
breakeven, Amazon has built a firm approaching half a trillion dollars
in value, that has paid little corporate income tax.
Facebook: Nobody wants to be seen as a company not on board
with Facebook. Old CEOs want to put Mark Zuckerberg on stage with
his hoodie. It doesn’t matter that he is neither charming nor a good
speaker—he’s the equivalent of skinny jeans and makes every company
that tries on Facebook look younger. Sheryl Sandberg also has been
key—she’s hugely likable, and is seen as the archetype of the modern,
successful woman: “Hey everybody! Lean in!”
Facebook has not come under the same scrutiny as Microsoft
because it’s more likable. Most recently, Facebook has attempted to
skirt responsibility for fake news, claiming it’s “not a media company,
but a platform.” Hiding behind freedom of speech and a word,
Facebook may have committed involuntary manslaughter of the truth
on an unprecedented scale.
It’s good to be prom queen.