A major reason why Big Tech firms have achieved such scale and become the gatekeepers to entire markets is that they have been able to obscure most of their financial and operating data. There are obvious steps that regulators can take to close the reporting loopholes that the industry has been exploiting.
LONDON – In 2021, Alphabet (Google’s parent), Amazon, Apple, Meta (Facebook’s new alias), and Microsoft were among the world’s largest companies in terms of revenue and profit. These five companies alone increased their market capitalization by an amount greater than Italy’s GDP ($2.5 trillion vs. $2.1 trillion). Big Tech now accounts for nearly a quarter of the S&P 500’s index and a quarter of research and development spending by US publicly listed non-financial firms. Amazon is the world’s fifth-largest employer, and it is still growing.
LONDON – In 2021, Alphabet (Google’s parent), Amazon, Apple, Meta (Facebook’s new alias), and Microsoft were among the world’s largest companies in terms of revenue and profit. These five companies alone increased their market capitalization by an amount greater than Italy’s GDP ($2.5 trillion vs. $2.1 trillion). Big Tech now accounts for nearly a quarter of the S&P 500’s index and a quarter of research and development spending by US publicly listed non-financial firms. Amazon is the world’s fifth-largest employer, and it is still growing.