“Google’s parent company Alphabet is scaling back its support for money-losing ‘moonshot’ ventures that had little to do with its core search advertising business, as the company’s chief financial officer, Ruth Porat, reins in costs,” Jonathan Berr reports for CBS News.
“According to media reports, the Mountain View, Calif.-based tech giant recently pulled the plug on Titan Aerospace, a maker of solar-powered drones, which it acquired in 2014. Management told the business’ employees to look for other jobs in the company,” Berr reports. “Google Fiber, the company’s Internet service provider, reportedly cut 9 percent of its staff, and is pausing or ending operations in 10 cities where it hasn’t fully deployed its service. The venture’s chief executive officer, Craig Barratt, left in October and hasn’t been replaced.”
“Google reportedly has tried to sell its Boston Dynamics robotics business that it acquired in 2013. Alphabet’s Nest Ventures, which makes Internet-connected thermostats, restructured its operations last year,” Berr reports. “Nest co-founder and CEO Tony Fadell stepped down last June. Google acquired the company for $3.2 billion in 2014.”
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote back in January 2014:
Apple didn’t want Tony enough to keep him the first time. Why would they pay the fargin’ ridiculous sum of $3.2 billion to get him back? If they really wanted him, they could have kept him at Apple for his entire natural life – built him his own building and given him his own engineering staff to make thermostats, smoke alarms, and whatever else – for far, far less than that.
“In response to investors’ concerns, Alphabet began reporting the results from its moonshots last year as ‘Other Bets’ in its corporate earnings,” Berr reports. “In the three months ended last Sept. 30, these ventures lost $865 million.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote back in November 2014 when Fortune ludicrously named Larry Page Businessperson of the Year:
Before being credited with “revolutionizing transportation” and “upending medicine,” don’t you, you know, have to actually do them? What kind of alternate reality is this? You sucking down ‘shrooms again, Fortune?
Fortune mistakes fanciful promises for actual accomplishments.
Congrats for taking “moonshots,” Larry, even if you’ve never come close to hitting, and likely will never, hit the moon. You’re #1 in our book of delusion!
What a fscking joke.
You must be kidding, Google can do no wrong.
Soon they’ll be able to open a, “Craptacular Museum”, but visitors will need a full day to experience every, ‘Moonshot’.
At least the entry fee will fund future money wasting projects the kids and creepster Eric, may conjure up.
Apple should reveal these ‘moonshot’ plans. Wall Street seems to like this bullshit, even though you don’t have actually have to develop any products.
The Apple Car hit a tree. No survivors.
The only thing different between Apple’s money pits and Google’s is that Google is more transparent and therefore more friendly to investors. I guess MDN doesn’t want to know what “Other” means on Apple’s financial reports.
Can’t trust these tech journos anymore….