A NOTE FROM OUR EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ALYSON SHONTELL

Zuckerberg launched his highly anticipated Twitter clone, Threads. Musk’s lawyer promptly followed up with a lawsuit threat.

I’m not sure how much—if anything—Threads has to do with Musk. Zuckerberg has long envied Twitter and wanted to own the “virtual town square” space.

In the early 2010s, Zuckerberg reportedly tried to buy Twitter twice. Then there was a rumor that Facebook started spraying traffic to publishers at least partially to woo journalists away from Twitter and earn more favorable media coverage.

Of all the Twitter clones in recent months—and there have been a bunch—Threads clearly has the best shot. Twitter’s best piece of IP is its large network and built-out followings. Facebook has both in droves. When you have billions of active users in your network like Instagram does, it turns out getting 70 million users in 48 hours is possible. And Zuckerberg—perhaps the most competitive person on the planet—struck at a strategic moment, right as Musk enraged users by threatening to cap their number of daily tweets.

Creating initial buzz is the easy part. Now Zuckerberg and his team need to keep the momentum.

I already feel it fading. After signing up Thursday evening, I’ve hardly checked Threads since. Meanwhile my Tweetdeck—a tool I use to routinely digest lots of news and reactions—has been running since I woke up.

In the end, maybe there is a place for both products. Adam Mosseri, the Threads head at Meta, claims “the goal isn’t to replace Twitter,” but to create a “less angry place for conversations.”

In other words, Threads may become the “safe space” for sharing thoughts with friends in an echo chamber—which Musk feels is lame and has no interest in pursuing.

“My guess is we may end up with two sites for two different audiences and different content,” a former Twitter executive told Fortune‘s Kylie Robison. “Sort of like CNN and Fox News. Some people will be on both and some will pick the one they feel more comfortable with.”

It all comes down to execution. As Zuckerberg has said on his very active Threads account, this cage match is only in “round one.”

JULY 7, 2023

TECH

‘Huge blow for Meta’ as EU’s top court sinks legal basis for targeted advertising on Facebook

The Court of Justice of the European Union says Meta can’t profile users across its platforms and the web without real consent.

TikTok is now paying creators for long-form content, and it’s going shockingly well

TikTok is opening its cash coffers to creators in the hopes of attracting bigger ad spend.

Crypto

Blockchain to the moon! Crypto companies’ outer space plans are less silly than you think

A small set of crypto companies want to bring blockchain to the next great frontier.

Crypto lender Cred collapsed in 2020 after pulling in $135 million from customers. Its shady dealings foreshadowed FTX’s downfall—but regulators didn’t notice

Cred and its successor Earnity have been accused of using many of the same sloppy tactics that FTX used.

SUCCESS

The 10 best cities to work remotely while you still can

California is apparently a no-go for nomads with the two worst cities on the list from the Golden State.

A.I.

A.I. hype could signal the start of the ‘fourth industrial revolution’—or it could be investor ‘FOMO’ warping the market with trillions at stake

The A.I. “hype curve” could be nearing its peak, and investors expecting the “greatest thing since sliced bread” may end up disappointed.

LEADERSHIP

A 39-year-old CEO who was Harvard Law’s youngest-ever grad earned over $100 million in pay last year—more than Apple’s Tim Cook

Kiwi Camara earned $110 million in pay last year as CEO of CS Disco, a legal tech company worth just $500 million.

Employee well-being is so critical to some organizations that they’re turning it into a new C-suite role

Several companies have hired chief well-being officers over the past few years as their workforce grapples with the long legacy of the COVID pandemic.

The Body Shop asked a group of Gen Zers to critique the company and it was a disaster, so it rolled to Plan B: Create a whole board of 20-somethings

Bringing under-30-year-olds into the boardroom isn’t a trend that employers can copy on a whim.

POLITICS

Wall Street buys into Bidenomics, with top economists at Goldman and other banks saying we could really dodge a recession

The White House is taking a victory lap, and economists at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are offering rosier economic forecasts.

Your essential guide to the trends shaping corporate finance.

Sign up now.