Decrypted

Charles Chao knew his social media platform had potential. But the parent company of Weibo, often referred to as the Twitter of China, was getting slammed in the stock market. That's when Chao decided to go all in. This week, Bloomberg Technology's David Ramli meets the man who cobbled together much of his personal wealth, and took out a loan for a quarter of a billion dollars, to bet on his business' rise just as others were predicting its decline. The gamble paid off, and Chao today is on track to become one of China's newest billionaires.

Masayoshi Son is already one of the Japan's most successful businessmen, and now he's making his biggest gamble yet: To invest a record $100 billion in the technology that will power our future. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Peter Elstrom and Brad Stone trace the life of the billionaire, from his childhood as an immigrant and outsider in Southern Japan to the huge risks that Son took to grow SoftBank into an ever larger company. Peter and Brad also play some old tapes of Son from 30 years ago, back when he was a relatively unknown entrepreneur, that have never been released before.

In the U.S., free content -- whether that's cooking tutorials on YouTube or the latest news on Twitter -- is supported by advertising. In China, however, companies have succeeded in getting people to directly pay for what they consume, opening up a new source of revenue for the booming app industry and lucrative opportunities for content creators. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Selina Wang speaks to a former magazine editor who has earned millions of dollars from the weekly column that he publishes on the app De Dao. We'll also hear from two of China’s top tech investors on whether U.S. companies can learn from China’s success.

If you have young kids, you may already know the mobile game Talking Tom. What you might not know is that in January a Chinese hydrogen peroxide company announced plans to buy the maker of the app for $1 billion. This is just one of several similar deals. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Adam Satariano and Aki Ito take a look at why a slew of unlikely Chinese buyers - mining and construction firms, even a poultry company - are buying up mobile gaming businesses. This search takes Adam to the home of Lisa Pan, a young Beijing investor who has made millions from gaming investments and is now helping a Chinese chemicals company make the same leap. Is this a smart business strategy to adapt to a new economy, or is it a sign of a bubble?

When Francisco Riordan suspected his company of breaking the law last year, he secretly reached out to government regulators. His actions set in motion events that left Rothenberg Ventures the object of a government investigation and multiple lawsuits -- and, according to Riordan, cost him his own job. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Adam Satariano and Aki Ito meet Riordan, who's now ready to speak publicly about his experiences for the very first time. In an industry where corporate governance sometimes takes a backseat to rapid growth, Riordan says he wants to encourage more people to speak up when they see signs of wrongdoing.

After the U.S. elections in November, our favorite internet companies faced a torrent of criticism for not doing more to curb the spread of fake news -- and responded by deploying a series of tools to combat the problem. This week, as French voters prepare to pick their next president, Bloomberg Technology's Pia Gadkari and Brad Stone ask whether Facebook's, Google's and Twitter's initiatives have worked. Will France turn out to be another repeat of what happened in the run-up to the U.S. elections, or has the internet finally figured out how to deal with false information?

We still think of Silicon Valley as the world's technology hub, but China's quickly catching up. For one, consider this stat: China has created as many billion-dollar startups this year as the U.S. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Peter Elstrom and David Ramli travel to Shanghai to visit Colin Huang, the man behind the latest business to join this rarefied club of unicorns. Huang recounts his humble origins in Hangzhou and the various turning points in his life that took him to where he is today, at the center of China's bustling tech scene. At 37, now leading his fourth startup, Huang's just getting started.

Remember Pinterest? Only a few years ago, the pinboard of the internet was one of the buzziest startups in Silicon Valley. Since then, the company's grown quietly, overshadowed in the news by other businesses in the industry. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Sarah Frier visits Pinterest for a rare interview with co-founders Ben Silbermann and Evan Sharp, as well as president Tim Kendall. The three executives discuss what they have been working on, as well as what they have struggled with. Will their new vision be enough to put Pinterest back on the map?

Around the world, people suffer from a genetic condition called hemophilia. Even with expensive and time-consuming treatments, simple injuries for these patients hold the threat of turning into serious complications and even life-threatening events. But now, one biotech company has stumbled upon what very early trials suggest could be a "cure" -- something that, with a single intravenous drip, essentially corrects the genetic mutation that causes the disorder. This week, Bloomberg's Doni Bloomfield visits the scientists behind this treatment and a patient who has actually tried it. If it works, researchers may have pushed the door open to a whole new world of treatments that tackle these diseases at their source: our DNA.

Tech companies face a harsh reality: You're only as good as your latest product. The scramble to identify and lure the best talent has taken recruiters to unusual places. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Lizette Chapman visits a recent hackathon at Stanford, watching as high school and college students code through the night. All the while, corporate representatives and investors are watching, eying the kids who will become future stars.

A crisis is brewing at the world's largest video service. YouTube has seen big advertisers from AT&T to Wal-Mart pull their ads off the platform over fears that their brand will appear next to offensive or extremist content. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Mark Bergen and Aki Ito plunge into one of the thorniest corners of the modern Internet and ask: How do you police the unwieldy, ever-expanding mess that is the world wide web? Please note: some short examples of offensive material have been included in this episode.

If you own an iPhone, chances are you've used Apple's App Store to buy and download apps. For years, while iPhones were flying off the shelves, Apple had the power to dictate the rules of how software developers all over the world made those apps-- and made money from them. Now, with the global market for smartphones slowing, the iPhone maker is looking to sweeten its relationship with the 13 million developers it relies on to generate revenue from the App Store. The inner workings of Apple's business are notoriously opaque, but this week Bloomberg Technology's Alex Webb and Brad Stone take you into the world of the developers themselves, to hear what it's actually been like to work with Apple-- and to find out how the world's most valuable company is trying to change that.

When Amazon opened a warehouse in the Minneapolis suburb of Shakopee last year, a thousand people got new jobs. In return, Amazon got millions of dollars in tax breaks. This week, Spencer Soper visits Shakopee to examine the impact the e-commerce giant has had on the area's residents and businesses. For Shakopee, was it worth the investment? And what happens when cities and states across the country compete against each other to lure big corporations like Amazon, with increasingly bigger subsidies? Spencer and Aki hear from people on both sides as a national debate intensifies over how to create more American jobs.

Do you ever spend time online watching people compete with each other at playing video games? Perhaps not (yet), but this pastime known as esports is turning into a popular and potentially lucrative category of sports entertainment. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Joshua Brustein meets a team of professional gamers, as well as the team owners (including former NBA star Rick Fox) helping them battle their way to the top of a League of Legends championship. In the process, Josh and Aki explore what it takes to build an esports league from scratch.

When Jase Wilson launched his startup in Kansas City, Missouri, he didn't intend on leaving. But he struggled to get the funding he needed from local investors, and he decided to try his luck in California. Before long, Jase won the backing of, among others, the movie star Ashton Kutcher. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Sarah McBride visits Kansas City to figure out why Jase, and other founders like him across the country, find it so hard to thrive outside the big coastal tech hubs.

Ever since it was a tiny startup, Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, has been based in the quirky, bohemian Los Angeles beach town of Venice. Now, the social media app maker employs almost 2,000 workers and is about to become a publicly traded company. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Sarah Frier and Aki Ito visit Venice to hear from longtime residents and business owners, some of whom worry they're getting priced out of their neighborhood. They also speak to community members who say the company is doing its best to offset the pains that economic success can bring. As Snap prepares for its March IPO, which will turn some of its young employees into overnight millionaires, tensions are reaching a fever pitch.

In the past two years, Cuba has started rolling out public access to the internet. Wifi is now available through a network of hotspots-- but access is expensive, and the connection can be patchy and slow. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Pia Gadkari visits Cuba, exploring what life looks like when a country's just starting to get online. Pia and Aki hear from local entrepreneurs how the Internet is helping them grow their businesses, and discuss the potential for U.S. tech companies on the island.

On his eighth day in office, President Trump signed an executive order banning the U.S. entry of people from seven Muslim-majority countries. The move sparked outrage from several tech companies, which rely heavily on the talent of skilled foreigners. This week, Bloomberg Technology’s Aki Ito and Olivia Zaleski speak to both tech workers directly affected by this ban as well as company executives who fear the order will hurt their businesses. More restrictions could be on the horizon, and Aki and Olivia discuss what those might mean for the industry.

More than 1.5 million people drive for Uber in cities all over the world. And yet, as the company finds new ways to make rides cheaper for customers, it's become harder for the app's contractors to make a decent living. This week, Brad visits one of Uber's very first drivers, and, together, they explore the complicated history between the ride-sharing app and its workers. Brad and Bloomberg Technology's startups reporter Eric Newcomer also discuss where that relationship is headed.

We still don't know what Trump's presidency means for the broader tech industry, but one thing is clear: He loves Twitter. On the one hand, a president speaking directly with the people seems like a good thing. But will there be unintended consequences? This week, Bloomberg Technology's Brad Stone and Josh Brustein dig deep with two former Twitter employees, and also ask why a tool that's cemented its role in our public discourse is still struggling as a business.