Amazon told employees at its Seattle headquarters to work from home if they can for the rest of the month amid the coronavirus outbreak.Amazon advised employees "who work in a role that can be done from home, do so starting now through the end of March."The guidance came the same day that the company alerted staff that an employee in the area had tested positive for the virus, but Amazon said that individual had not come to work since they started feeling sick.Washington has become the state hit hardest by the coronavirus: The virus has killed 11 people in the US so far, 10 of which were in Washington. It has 39 cases of the virus.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Amazon told employees in Seattle to avoid coming into their offices for the rest of the month, as Washington state emerged as the area of the US hit hardest by the coronavirus.

It came the same day the company confirmed that an Amazon employee in the area had tested positive for the virus.

Amazon issued the work-from-home guidance in an internal email on Wednesday, seen by The Seattle Times and GeekWire.

It said that any employee based in Seattle or nearby Bellevue who can work from home should do so until the end of March — a period of almost four weeks.

The email acknowledged that not everyone can easily work from home, and advised employees to talk to their managers to work out if it was practical for them to do so.

The message said: "every team is different and not all work may be conducive to working from home, so please talk with your manager and your team to establish expectations on working remotely."

Amazon boxes. Reuters

The Guardian obtained a company internal memo earlier Wednesday that confirmed an employee had tested positive and said that any employees who worked physically near to that person had been notified.

That memo said that the employee went home sick on February 25, and had not returned to the company's offices since.

It also said that the employee worked in an Amazon location called the Brazil Building, one of the more than 40 buildings that makes up the company's Seattle headquarters.

It is separate from the building made up of three glass spheres that is the company's most distinctive presence in the city.

The spheres at Amazon's headquarters in Seattle, Washington. Elaine Thompson/AP

Amazon's guidance cited guidance from health officials in Washington state, the state hit hardest by the coronavirus.

The virus has killed 11 people in the US so far, 10 of which were in Washington. The state also has 39 cases, according to the Washington State Department of Health.

Washington has declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus, as has California, which has recorded one death.

This means the states can receive emergency federal funding to battle the coronavirus.

Worldwide it has killed almost 3,300 people, the vast majority in China.

Facebook and Microsoft have given similar guidance to their employees in the city.

Original author: Sinéad Baker

Facebook is the latest big tech firm to see one its employees contract the coronavirus. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Thursday.

Facebook has confirmed that a contractor at its Seattle office tested positive for coronavirus. The announcement comes a day after Amazon confirmed that one of its employees in Seattle tested positive for coronavirus.IBM has canceled its biggest event of the year over coronavirus fears, as it makes a new rule that employees can't go to a conference with over 1,000 attendees. It follows Google Cloud, Facebook, and other tech companies in doing so.Etsy has pulled thousands of coronavirus-themed products from its website to prevent people from exploiting the outbreak for profit. E-commerce sites like Etsy and Amazon have been scrambling to stop opportunistic sellers from exploiting the outbreak to mislead customers about their products or jack up prices.Angry Robinhood users say they missed out on making thousands during the stock-trading app's outages, but a big class-action suit is unlikely. The commission-free trading app, popular among millennials, was offline for almost all of trading Monday — and half of Tuesday — due to infrastructure issues as the markets made their biggest rally in over a decade.Microsoft has asked all Seattle and Bay Area employees to work from home until March 25 due to coronavirus fears. The news comes after Business Insider on Monday reported that some employees were concerned Microsoft's internal response to the outbreak was insufficient. The CEO of Zoom says that the coronavirus outbreak is going to drive more companies to remote work even after it's all over. Zoom CEO Eric Yuan said that he expects the coronavirus outbreak to make remote work, which was already gaining traction, even more popular.British police scanned 8,600 people's faces in London without their consent, resulting in just 1 arrest and 7 false positives. London's Met Police announced early this year that it would start rolling out facial recognition in London despite pushback from advocacy groups.SoftBank-backed Improbable deepened its operating loss to $82 million in 2019 thanks to hiring, R&D spend, and expansion. The firm's gross margin percentage stood at a whopping -1,332% over the period, meaning the firm is spending a high amount for every pound earned.Apple is telling retail store workers to expect a limited supply of replacement iPhones for the next several weeks. Employees at Apple's retail stores were warned that replacement iPhones could be in short supply for weeks, according to Bloomberg.A leaked recording of an Amazon retail executive has shed light on its vision for physical stores and the future of retail. Change in physical retail doesn't happen overnight — it could take years, if not decades, Amazon's former physical-stores boss Steve Kessel said.

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Original author: Charlie Wood

FrontlineX is a new $80 million fund from London and Dublin-based VC Frontline Ventures. The firm previously focused on early stage European investments but this new fund will exclusively work with growth stage US SaaS startups looking to expand into Europe. The fund has identified four reasons why US software startups often fail when expanding to Europe, highlighting timing, hiring, and choice of country."This is novel, nobody else is doing this and getting into the detail," Frontline partner and former Twitter and Google exec Stephen McIntyre told Business Insider in an interview. Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Frontline Ventures, a London and Dublin-based VC fund has launched FrontlineX, an $80 million fund that will be used to invest in growth-stage US B2B SaaS startups. 

The goal is to help US software startups expanding into Europe, with Frontline finding that American firms expanding onto the continent often repeat the same errors.

The VC firm, founded in 2012, has crunched the data from hundreds of US startups expanding into Europe to identify the common mistakes. Among the four key issues that Frontline has identified are timing, hiring mistakes, country choice, and amnesia about what made a company successful in the US. 

Frontline Ventures partner Stephen McIntyre helped Google and Twitter scale their European operations over a 10-year career before moving into VC and says that US software startups often underestimate expansion. 

"This is novel, nobody else is doing this and getting into the detail," McIntyre told Business Insider in an interview. "Specialization is one of the few weapons that VCs have in a world of plenty of capital."

The fund isn't aiming to lead the rounds of buzzy US software startups but will instead partner with larger firms to help provide expertise. 

McIntyre says that some software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies try to expand to Europe at Series A stage when their teams are threadbare and expansion doesn't make sense, while others will move too late and be forced to fight copycat competitors in foreign markets. 

Similarly, Frontline found that some SaaS startups tended to assume that getting boots on the ground in Europe in any capacity would be enough to build a successful revenue base. "The machine will be working well in the US and then in Europe they assume machine will work well from third gear but that's not how it works, there's usually no brand awareness, no hardcore community of product advocates, so you can't leapfrog product development," he said.

Another issue US startups face is where to base their expansion.

For obvious linguistic reasons, London and Dublin are popular choices, with the former possessing the majority of the best engineers and sales talent, according to McIntyre. However, many companies struggle in Germany and France, the continent's other largest economies, despite the massive revenue opportunities available to them.

"If you want short term success you can operate out of the UK but you need to crack Germany and France," McIntyre added. Germany is reputedly harder given a divide in SaaS adoption between the north and south of the country.

Finally, a bugbear for all startups is hiring. For US companies expanding into Europe, hiring mistakes can be harder to rectify. Hiring too junior or too senior early on is an issue but equally the multiple time zones and predominant email contact makes it harder for US-based management to realize a hiring issue or correct poor habits in situ. 

McIntyre says the first six months of a startup's expansion are crucial, with his team working on timing, hiring, marketing, pricing, alongside office location and organizational design for the companies they work with. As part of the fundraise, FrontlineX has hired a partner in San Francisco, Brennan O'Donnell.

"Our plan is substance over marketing, there's of plenty of talk about value add but less actual work being done sometimes," he added.

FrontlineX has already made several investments from its fund including participating in the Series B of TripActions, a company that has gone on to raise from Andreessen Horowitz at a $4 billion valuation; People.ai's $100 million Series C together with Lightspeed, Andreessen Horowitz and ICONIQ; and Clearbanc's $50 million Series B with Emergence and Highland.

Original author: Callum Burroughs

Facebook confirmed on Wednesday that a contractor at its Seattle location tested positive for COVID-19, a respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus. 

"A contractor based in our Stadium East office has been diagnosed with the COVID-19," Anthony Harrison, Facebook company spokesperson, told Business Insider's Rob Price. "We've notified our employees and are following the advice of public health officials to prioritize everyone's health and safety." 

No further details were provided on when the contractor tested positive for the disease and if other employees came into contact with the individual. 

The Seattle office is closed until Monday, March 9, and employees are being encouraged to work from home until March 31. 

The announcement comes a day after Amazon confirmed that one of its employees in Seattle tested positive for coronavirus. 

In an email to employees in Seattle and Bellevue, Amazon's health and safety office confirmed that an employee of the company's Brazil office building, which is part of the South Lake Union Campus in Seattle, had contracted the virus. 

"The employee went home feeling unwell on Tuesday, February 25 and has not entered Amazon offices since then," the email said.

The employee remains in quarantine, the email wrote, and employees who were in close contact with the person were notified.

Two Amazon employees in Milan, Italy, also tested positive for the virus.

Several US tech companies are enforcing strict travel laws in order to prevent the spread of disease. Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft have put restrictions on its employees flying to and from China. 

The US has reported more than 150 COVID-19 cases, including 39 cases of the virus and 10 deaths in Washington state. Globally, the virus has killed more than 3,250 people and infected more than 95,000.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency last month after the first coronavirus death was confirmed.

"Washingtonians can be assured we've taken this threat seriously and have been working in collaboration with our health care partners to develop plans and procedures to prepare for what could likely be a worldwide pandemic," Inslee said. 

Rob Price contributed to this reporting.

Original author: Rosie Perper

Online marketplace Etsy has removed all items that mention coronavirus or the disease it causes, COVID-19, from it site, Buzzfeed News first reported on Wednesday.

Etsy, which focuses primarily on homemade and vintage goods, said it had taken down thousands of items that made claims about protecting against coronavirus — as well as hundreds of items attempting to exploit the outbreak, according to Buzzfeed.

Some of the items included coronavirus-themed apparel and novelty items poking fun at the rapidly spreading epidemic as well as products making various medical claims, while others were meant to serve an educational purpose.

However, Etsy told Buzzfeed it decided to take down products making any reference at all to the outbreak, though it would be prioritizing those making medical claims.

Late Wednesday, an Etsy spokesperson emailed the following statement to Business Insider: "In order to keep our marketplace safe, our team is prioritizing taking down any listings that claim to protect against coronavirus. In the past few days alone, we have removed thousands of items that make such medical claims. We have also taken down hundreds of items that attempt to exploit the developing coronavirus situation. Our teams continue to automatically and manually review and remove items that violate our policies."

Etsy is not the only e-commerce site that has been scrambling to deal with the wave of exploitative and misleading products as well as the spike in demand for legitimate products like face masks. Amazon has recently taken similar steps, removing more than one million listings that make false medical claims as well as cracking down on sellers who engage in price gouging.

The coronavirus has already killed more than 3,200 people, mostly in China, and infected more than 95,000 around the world. It has spread to every province and region in China as well as at least 80 other countries. The outbreak has already had a major impact on the stock market as companies' global supply chains and operations face disruptions.

Original author: Tyler Sonnemaker

Zoom CEO Eric Yuan said that he expects the coronavirus outbreak to show companies that remote working is the future, and it will "dramatically change the landscape." Yuan said that even before coronavirus started driving more remote work, it was an increasing trend, especially in Silicon Valley, and other companies are now just starting to realize the benefits it offers.Zoom stock has been up dramatically in recent weeks, as Wall Street bets that coronavirus will drive more usage of the videoconferencing tool and services like it. But Zoom is striking a more cautious tone about the potential impact on its business."We have definitely seen an uptick in usage, but a lot of that is on the free side, so it's very early to tell whether or not that's going to convert long term into paying customers," CFO Kelly Steckelberg said.Zoom is now also asking all employees based at its headquarters in San Jose, CA to work from home. Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Zoom CEO Eric Yuan said that he expects the coronavirus outbreak to change the landscape for videoconferencing tools, as more companies start to have employees work remotely in a bid to stem the spread of the virus.

"Video is the future of communication...given the coronavirus, I think overnight, almost everybody really understands they needed a tool like this," Yuan said on a call with analysts after releasing fourth quarter earnings results. "This will dramatically change the landscape." 

As the coronavirus disease, COVID-19, spreads, more and more companies are asking employees to work from home. Schools in affected areas like Hong Kong and Vietnam have been closed to try and prevent the spread of the virus. Even in the San Francisco Bay Area, where Zoom is based, some companies like Twitter have expanded their work-from-home policies.

Under those circumstances, companies are increasingly relying on tools like Zoom to help employees stay connected.

However, Yuan said that even before coronavirus started driving more remote work, it was a trend that was already gaining popularity, especially in Silicon Valley. Companies like Zapier and GitLab have all-remote workforces, something many see as one way work will change in the future.

Coronavirus shown that that future many come sooner than some thought. It has forced larger companies to see that they needed to make it possible for employees to work remotely in order to keep the business running when crises like coronavirus hit, Yuan added. 

Yuan said that if he were to start Zoom over from scratch today, he wouldn't have a single physical office and would make it an  all-remote company.

Zoom said it has seen an big increase in users for the free version of its product due to coronavirus. However, the earnings results reported Wednesday didn't show much of that increased usage because much of the increase has been for the free version of its product, CFO Kelly Steckelberg said on the call. 

"We have definitely seen an uptick in usage, but a lot of that is on the free side, so it's very early to tell whether or not that's going to convert long term into paying customers," Steckelberg said.

When asked if Zoom has a strategy to convert those new free users to paid users in the future, Yuan said at the moment he is just focused on providing the best product to customers and making sure people impacted by coronavirus are able to benefit. 

"I would say, empathy, humanity and support for each other is more important, not revenue," Yuan said, adding that if Zoom focuses on giving its customers the best product it can, money and profits will eventually follow.

Zoom recently lifted the 40-minute time limit per video meeting for its free product in China in an effort to help those affected by the coronavirus outbreak. Yuan also said that Zoom is scaling its servers to be able to handle the increased usage. 

Yuan, who grew up in China's Shandong province, said in a blog post last week that he wanted to do something to help those affected as the virus continues to disrupt daily affairs, business operations, and school classes. 

Zoom itself has part of its research and development team based in China, but Yuan said they were not impacted by the coronavirus in China. Employees already know how to work remotely so they were able to continue working without disruption. 

Given a number of cases in Zoom's home state of California, Zoom is now asking all employees based at its headquarters in San Jose, CA to work from home as well. 

"Given the recent emergence and growing number of coronavirus cases in the US, we have directed our HQ employees to work from home, unless there is a business-critical need for them to be in the office," Yuan said on the call. 

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Original author: Paayal Zaveri

Microsoft has asked employees in the Seattle area and San Francisco Bay Area to work from home until March 25, according to an email reviewed by Business Insider.

Microsoft Executive Vice President Kurt DelBene sent an email to asking "all employees who are in a job that can be done from home" to work from home after King County — where Microsoft is based — advised employers on Wednesday to allow remote work.

"Consistent with King County guidance, we are recommending all employees who are in a job that can be done from home should do so through March 25th. Taking these measures will ensure your safety and also make the workplace safer for those that need to be onsite," the email said. Please let your manager know that you will be working from home, so all our teams remain well coordinated."

It's unclear how many employees DelBene's guidance impacts. Microsoft declined to say, but posted DelBene's email on the company's blog.

The news comes after Business Insider on Monday reported that some employees were concerned Microsoft's internal response to the outbreak was insufficient. 

Ten of the 11 U.S. deaths related to the illness caused by coronavirus have happened in Microsoft's home state of Washington, nine of them in King County.

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Original author: Ashley Stewart

IBM has canceled its biggest developer conference of the year over coronavirus concerns.IBM Think was set to be held in San Francisco in May, but it will instead it will hold a digital event. IBM also placed restrictions on employee travel, including limits on domestic work travel and a ban on attending events with more than 1,000 people.
In a statement, IBM said: "The health of IBM's clients, employees and partners is our primary concern. In light of global precautions for the COVID-19 Coronavirus, and building upon recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO), IBM is taking a new approach to its signature events and adopting new travel policies."Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As the coronavirus continues to spread around the globe, IBM is canceling its biggest developer conference, limiting employee travel, and restricting employees from participating in events with more than 1,000 attendees.

IBM's client and developer conference IBM Think, which brought 30,000 attendees last year, was supposed to take place May 5-7 in San Francisco. Instead, IBM announced Wednesday that it will now hold a digital event with "live streamed content, interactive sessions and certifications and locally hosted events, which will highlight IBM's technology and industry expertise for developers and clients without the risk of travel."

IBM is also placing new travel restrictions on employees through the end of March. IBM plans to suspend all domestic travel for internal meetings, and it plans to cut back on international travel to only "business-critical situations when virtual methods are insufficient."

IBM is still allowing domestic travel for work with clients, although employees are encouraged to hold meetings virtually.

In addition, if IBM employees have traveled recently to any restricted locations, they must inform their manager and self-quarantine for 14 days after their trip.

"The health of IBM's clients, employees and partners is our primary concern," IBM said in a blog post. "In light of global precautions for the COVID-19 Coronavirus, and building upon recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO), IBM is taking a new approach to its signature events and adopting new travel policies."

IBM is also withdrawing its attendance in the HIMSS health care conference in Orlando next week.

Recently, there has been a false rumor spreading around about an IBM employee in Austin who has coronavirus, and IBM has been working to assure employees that it's not true. IBM's cancellation and new rules highlights how COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has been causing widespread disruption and uncertainty for major tech companies. The outbreak has infected more than 95,000 people and killed more than 3,250, mostly in China. 

Companies like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon have taken measures in response to the spread of coronavirus, such as canceling conferences, encouraging employees to work remotely, and conducting interviews virtually.

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Original author: Rosalie Chan

Apple has warned its retail store employees that it is facing a shortage of replacement iPhones, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

Retail staffers received an email notifying them that the devices, which are used to replace customers' phones when they're too badly damaged to fix easily, will be in limited supply for several weeks, according to Bloomberg. Employees at several stores also told Bloomberg they were running low on some individual replacement parts.

Workers were instructed instead to offer customers loaner devices or mail out replacement devices when they become available, Bloomberg reported.

Apple's internal note is the latest sign that the coronavirus outbreak is having a material impact on its business, and one of the first times Apple customers will be directly affected by the situation.

Apple closed all 42 of its retail store locations in China in early February as the number of cases of the coronavirus disease, COVID-19, skyrocketed within the region. The company's supply chain, which is heavily dependent on factories in mainland China, has also been strained as many of those factories were forced to close temporarily.

Following the closures, Apple reported that it did not expect to meet its revenue goals for the quarter, which it attributed to slowed iPhone production and reduced Chinese demand resulting from the outbreak.

Apple has also, like many companies, restricted employee travel and has implemented additional measures to keep its retail stores clean, as companies take more aggressive steps to protect workers and customers.

So far, the coronavirus has killed more than 3,200 people, mostly in China, and infected more than 95,000 around the world. It has spread to every province and region in China as well as at least 80 other countries. The outbreak has already had a major impact on the stock market as companies' global supply chains and operations face disruptions.

Apple did not immediately return Business Insider's request for comment.

Original author: Tyler Sonnemaker

Video-conferencing company Zoom is asking its employees at its headquarters in San Jose, CA to work from home due to concerns over the coronavirus disease, COVID-19, which has spread to the company's home state of California.

This comes as Zoom reported fourth quarter earnings that beat Wall Street estimates but still saw the stock falling over 10 percent before recovering some of the losses — a drop that apparently comes from investors expecting a higher rate of growth.

"I am happy to report that all of our employees in the affected areas are healthy," CEO Eric Yuan said on a call with analysts after the earnings were released. "Given the recent emergence and growing number of coronavirus cases in the US, we have directed our HQ employees to work from home, unless there is a business-critical need for them to be in the office."

Employees based at offices in China, Japan, London, Amsterdam and Paris are also working from home. 

Zoom has seen its stock has skyrocket since the coronavirus outbreak started, with investors betting that more people will use video-conferencing tools, thus sending user numbers up. Zoom stock is up about 70 percent year-to-date. 

Zoom lifted the 40-minute time limit per video meeting for its free product in China last week, in an effort to help those affected by the coronavirus outbreak. Zoom CEO Eric Yuan, who grew up in China's Shandong province, said he wanted to do something to help those affected as the virus disrupts daily affairs, business operations, and school classes.

Wall Street firm Bernstein Research estimates that Zoom has already brought in more new active users this year than last year due to coronavirus, according to CNBC.

In its earnings released Wednesday, Zoom said revenue increased 78 percent from a year prior, to $188.3 million. The number of customers paying over $100,000 annually was 641 for the quarter, up 86 percent from a year prior. 

Here is what Zoom reported:

Revenue: $188.3 million. Analysts were expecting $175.8 million.Earnings per share (adjusted): $0.15. Analysts predicted $0.07.Revenue (next quarter): $199.0 million to $201.0 million, estimated. Analysts had predicted $185.4 million.Earnings per share (adjusted, next quarter): $0.10 estimated. Analysts predicted $0.06. Customers paying more than $100K in trailing 12 months revenue: 641 customers up 86% from the same quarter last fiscal year.

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Original author: Paayal Zaveri

Facebook launched in February 2004, and it's come a long way in the last 16 years. Notably, almost all of the company's first 20 employees have since left the company. Only two remain, and you can probably guess who one of them is. Some have become venture capitalists: Kevin Colleran opened Slow Ventures, while Sean Parker worked at Founders Fund for eight years. Others have founded their own companies: Dustin Moskovitz launched Asana, while Steve Chen created YouTube. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Who were the people behind Facebook when it was just a startup? And where are they now?

Only two of Facebook's first 20 employees still work at the company — and you can probably guess one of them.

Most left during the social network's early days to work at other tech companies or start their own. Several have become successful investors at large VC firms; many are now absurdly rich following Facebook's IPO in 2012.

Here's where Facebook's first 20 employees are now.

Alex Heath contributed to an earlier version of this article.

Original author: Alyson Shontell and Avery Hartmans

Angry Robinhood users say they lost or missed out on thousands of dollars while the app experienced outages Monday and Tuesday.The commission-free trading app, popular among millennials, was offline for almost all of trading Monday — and half of Tuesday — due to infrastructure issues as the markets made their biggest rally in over a decade.Some people have threatened legal action against Robinhood and are asking regulators to investigate the company — but federal rules make it difficult for customers to pool complaints in arbitration.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

When Robinhood faced outages Monday and Tuesday, users were locked out of the biggest market rally in 12 years. Now, some users are calling on federal regulators to investigate the commission-free trading app.

Robinhood cited problems with its infrastructure as the reason the app went offline amid a high volume of trading requests. In a letter to users Tuesday night, Robinhood offered to address concerns of lost money "on a case by case basis" and said some users would be offered three months of its premium "gold" service for free.

As rage mounted over the app's downtime, many users said they would file complaints with the Financial Industry Regulatory Agency. Others threatened to join a class-action lawsuit against the app, and a Twitter account named "Robinhood Class Action" racked up more than 6,600 followers this week.

But federal guidelines indicate that pooling complaints against the company in arbitration is unlikely. A FINRA spokesperson told Business Insider that, in general, investors can't bundle complaints and file a joint class-action complaint during arbitration (FINRA doesn't comment on existing or potential cases). 

FINRA rules set forth narrow circumstances for joint complaints stemming from shared transactions, meaning complainants against Robinhood would likely have to go it alone.

The Robinhood Class Action Twitter account seemed to acknowledge as much Wednesday afternoon, telling its followers that individual cases were the most likely path forward. The person running the Twitter account did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

James Koncar, a Robinhood user from Tampa, told Business Insider that he's upset at missing out on trades because of being locked out of the rally. Koncar said he reported Robinhood to the Securities and Exchange Commission and is considering filing a complaint with FINRA — and added that he won't be using Robinhood in the future.

"Sure, I lost money, but there's no guarantee that I would've sold at open Monday. The point was I was completely unable to until it was too late," he said. "They opened the door for other brokers to offer commission free trading and I will be taking advantage of that with another broker."

Original author: Aaron Holmes and Dan DeFrancesco

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Original author: Christian de Looper

Disney broke multiple box-office records last year with mega hits like "Avengers: Endgame" and "The Lion King."The company's film executives, from Walt Disney Studios cochairman Alan Horn to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, have built an empire of lucrative assets.Here are the 14 power players that have shaped Disney into the studio that everyone else is trying to catch up to.Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Disney is a box-office titan with some of the most popular movie franchises in history at its disposal.

The company earned $3.76 billion domestically and $11.12 billion globally in 2019, both box-office records. It made up 33% of the domestic market share last year — 38% if you count its releases from Fox, which the studio acquired last March (it has since been renamed 20th Century Studios). 

It's thanks to a film team that has positioned Disney's lucrative assets as the entertainment properties to beat. Under former CEO Bob Iger's leadership and in the span of under 15 years, Disney has acquired animation studio Pixar, home of "Toy Story" and "The Incredibles"; Marvel, home of the Avengers; Lucasfilm, home of the "Star Wars" franchise; and 20th Century, which houses the upcoming "Avatar" sequels.

Iger stepped down as CEO in late February and was succeeded by Bob Chapek, the former chairman of Disney parks, experiences, and products. Iger will remain with the company through 2021 as executive chairman, focusing on the creative side of the business. During an investor call, Iger called that his first priority now that there's a strategy in place for the Fox integration and Disney Plus has launched.

But Disney's success wasn't all on Iger. There's a group of executives in charge of those valuable assets.

For instance, Walt Disney Studios cochairman Alan Horn, a former Warner Bros. executive, has spearheaded Disney's film strategy since 2012. He now has Alan Bergman, the former Walt Disney Studios president, at his side as cochairman.

Disney is unlikely to come close to its unprecedented 2019 box office this year, especially if the coronavirus continues to spread, and the market could be more evenly distributed between studios. But the company still has a stacked lineup, both in 2020 and beyond, that could guarantee its dominance for the next decade. With the growing Marvel Cinematic Universe, "Avatar" sequels on the way, and more, Disney isn't slowing down any time soon.

That doesn't mean it hasn't experienced hiccups, though.

In January, Emma Watts, who oversaw 20th Century during the acquisition, resigned, leaving one of the key positions currently vacant in the Disney empire. Her departure comes at a time when Disney is dealing with box-office disappointments it inherited from the studio, such as last year's "Dark Phoenix" and, more recently, "The Call of the Wild."

Iger knew that the integration would take time.

"It will probably take a solid year, maybe two years, before we can have an impact on the films in production," Iger said during a Q3 earnings call last year. "We're all confident we're going to turn around the results of Fox live action."

Fortunately, there are more than enough key executives to pick up the slack until Disney decides on Watts' replacement.

If you have a tip about Disney, Marvel, or "Star Wars," contact the author at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or DM him on Twitter @TravClark2.

Here are the main players who handle the feature film side at Disney:

Original author: Jason Guerrasio and Travis Clark

Chinese President Xi Jinping. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Tuesday.

China enacted a sweeping new law that bars people from posting negative content online, and it could be used to suppress coronavirus news. The new law, which took effect Sunday, bans "dissemination of rumors" and anything "destroying national unity."Facebook is pulling out of SXSW due to coronavirus fears. It's the latest company to pull out of the SXSW tech and culture festival due to fears around the COVID-19 outbreak.Two Amazon employees in Italy have contracted the coronavirus. The affected employees are based in Milan, Italy, and are now in quarantine.Apple will pay up to $500 million to end a lawsuit claiming it intentionally slowed down iPhones. The company faced intense backlash in 2017 after admitting the updates slowed down phones, and has faced fines previously over the same issue.China is reportedly making people download an Alibaba-backed app that decides whether they'll be quarantined for coronavirus. The app represents an unprecedented use of consumer smartphone technology in a public health crisis — and privacy advocates are worried.Google, Coinbase, and Twitter are all telling some employees to work from home this week amid the spread of coronavirus. Google isn't the only tech company to test such a policy, as Silicon Valley begins to adapt its practices around the coronavirus outbreak.Self-driving tech developer Waymo announced its first-ever outside funding with $2.25 billion — and its CEO said spinning off from Alphabet is 'certainly a possibility'. The round was led by investors Silver Lake, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and Mubadala Investment Company, the company said.Elon Musk is vowing to support Twitter boss Jack Dorsey against the activist hedge fund trying to oust him. Musk voiced his support for Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who is under attack from activist investor Elliott Management — and so did Twitter employees.Another VP has fled Uber amid a spate of high-level departures. Matthew Mengerink is the latest in a string of vice presidents to leave the ride-hailing giant after the heads of New Mobility and Uber Eats departed in recent months.Google scientists built an adorable four-legged robot that taught itself to walk without human help. The little robot learned to walk in just 1.5 hours — eat your heart out, Bambi.

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Original author: Charlie Wood

Elon Musk voiced his support for Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who is under attack from activist investor Elliott Management.Musk is CEO of two companies — Tesla and SpaceX — similar to Dorsey, whose role as dual CEO is one of the reasons activist investors are seeking to replace him.Twitter employees have also been voicing their support for Dorsey, using the hashtag #webackjack.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey won a high-profile ally on Monday, as Elon Musk voiced his support for Dorsey amid an escalating battle to oust him from the top job. 

"Just want to say that I support @jack as Twitter CEO," Musk tweeted, adding that Dorsey has a good heart, using the heart emoji.

Dorsey is under attack from billionaire Paul Singer's activist hedge fund Elliott Management, which has amassed a nearly 5% stake in Twitter and is launching a pressure campaign to replace Dorsey in the top job, according to media reports. Elliott will make that case that Dorsey, who is also CEO at Square, is not focused enough on Twitter, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the news.  

Musk is also the chief executive of two companies, wearing the CEO hat at electric car maker Tesla and space exploration company SpaceX. And Musk has a long history of picking fights with financial foes, particularly the short-sellers that have long targeted Tesla's stock.

 

On Monday, Twitter employees rushed to defend their leader, firing off tweets with the hashtag #webackjack. 

"I can't stand people that make it difficult for good people to do good," wrote one Twitter employee. "With everything going on in the world we deserve more good people." 

Earlier this year, Musk made a virtual appearance at a Twitter employee event, telling Dorsey and the audience how he would fix the social network, recommending action against the trolls and bots on the platform.

Original author: Alexei Oreskovic

Google has instructed its Dublin office to work from home on Tuesday as a "precautionary measure," after one of its employees reported flu-like symptoms, a Google spokesperson told Business Insider. The advertising giant isn't the only tech company to test such a policy, as Silicon Valley begins to adapt its practices around the coronavirus outbreak. So far, Twitter has recommended its 5,000 employees all begin working from home, while cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has asked that its employees who consider themselves susceptible to the flu also work from home. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Most of Google's 8,000-strong office in Dublin, Ireland — the tech giant's European headquarters  — have been told to work from home on Tuesday after a member of its staff reported flu-like symptoms. Other tech companies like Twitter and Coinbase are also following suit. 

Google stressed that the day-long measure was precautionary, and in accordance with the advice of medical experts. 

"We continue to take precautionary measures to protect the health and safety of our workforce, in accordance with the advice of medical experts, and as part of that effort we have asked our Dublin teams to work from home tomorrow," a Google spokesperson told Business Insider.  

COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, has spread well outside its place of origin in Wuhan, China since its outbreak at the end of last year. The disease, which has infected around 88,000 people around the world, with the vast majority of cases in China, is now also disrupting businesses as multinational businesses reconsider their conferences, travel, and their employees' daily commutes.  

Google has been tightening up its policies after a Google employee tested positive for the coronavirus in Zurich last week. It has restricted its employee travel and cancelled Google Cloud's biggest event of the year as concerns around the outbreak grow. 

Precautionary work-from-home policies are now also being adopted among other tech companies, like Twitter and Coinbase. 

Twitter is now recommending that all employees around the world, nearly 5,000 in total, work from home. The company announced its recommendation out of an "abundance of caution" in a blog post on Monday, after it suspended all non-critical travel for employees and its CEO Jack Dorsey opted out of attending the SXSW conference in Austin later this month. 

"We are strongly encouraging all employees globally to work from home if they're able. Our goal is to lower the probability of the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus for us  — and the world around us," the post said. 

Dorsey is already a big proponent of remote work, and hinted that the company would be taking more steps to support a more global, remote workforce earlier this year. Twitter's blog post referred back to that announcement, noting, "while this is a big change for us, we have already been moving towards a more distributed workforce that's increasingly remote." 

Cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase also announced a similar measure, according to a document that Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong linked to Twitter. 

"We're asking some employees to start working home this week," Armstrong tweeted. "Working from home is not a complete solution but it may help slow the growth of infections." 

A linked document elaborates on Coinbase's updated policies. 

"Employees that are likely to get sick more easily or for whom getting sick would be particularly problematic should now work with their manager to move to 100% Work From Home (WFH)," Coinbase's communications document said. It also says that business travel will be restricted to "essential travel only," and travel to China, Hong Kong, Japan, Italy and South Korea will be completely restricted. 

Other Silicon Valley tech companies have yet to ask its employees to work from home, but they have instituted other measures to lessen the likelihood of infection spreading. Facebook is asking its employees to stop bringing guests to work, and a Gizmodo report says Amazon is putting on-site job interviews on hold. 

Meanwhile, Business Insider reported on Monday that some Microsoft employees don't feel that the company is doing enough to help employees stay safe amid the outbreak.

Original author: Bani Sapra

Olivia Jade Giannulli, whose parents Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannull have been charged in the college-admissions scandal, appears to be ramping up her influencer-marketing efforts on Instagram.In the past 24 hours, Jade posted links to two Amazon pages in her Instagram Story using affiliate-marketing links that suggest she could earn a commission from resulting sales. Jade also reshared a photo of herself posted by Kim Kardashian West's shapewear brand, Skims.Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Influencer Olivia Jade Giannulli — whose parents, Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli, have been charged in the college-admissions scandal — appears to be ramping up her influencer-marketing efforts.

In the last 24 hours, the social-media star, who goes by Olivia Jade to her more than three million followers across YouTube and Instagram, added two affiliate-marketing links to her Instagram Story from the company RewardStyle. Jade also reshared a photo of herself promoting Kim Kardashian West's new shapewear brand, Skims.

Jade and Skims did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

In Jade's Instagram Story, she promoted a light that projects a version of the night sky onto a ceiling. "My lights are from Amazon!" Jade wrote in her Instagram Story. "I'll have a swipe up link if u want em," she added. 

Jade's links both briefly redirect to the domain RStyle.me, owned by RewardStyle, before landing on Amazon. If one of her followers ends up buying a BlissLights Sky Lite for $59.99, the use of the affiliate-marketing links from RewardStyle suggests Jade would receive a commission.

RewardStyle has a partnership with Amazon, in which Amazon pays RewardStyle and influencers it works with a percentage of any completed sale. RewardStyle did not comment on the particular rate for Amazon, but said each retailer had a different negotiated rate, typically between 5% and 20%.

Jade's parents were accused of paying $500,000 to guarantee her (and her sister's) admission to USC. They have pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against them and will likely start their trial in October. 

Jade has been active on Instagram while her parents' case has worked its way through the legal system, but the influencer has been relatively quiet on YouTube, only posting one video there in the past three months after announcing she was going to begin vlogging again.

She has also periodically posted links to brands on Instagram, like Adina's Jewels and Boys Lie, though it was unclear in those instances whether it was a paid promotion.

But the use of affiliate-marketing links, and Jade being featured in an Instagram Story from a high-profile brand like Kardashian West's Skims, suggests a more concerted effort to reenter the influencer economy. 

Jade previously had deals with Sephora, TRESemmé, and Amazon, but they cut ties with her after the college-admissions scandal broke.

For more on how brands and influencers are interacting on Instagram and other platforms, check out these other Business Insider Prime stories:

An Instagram influencer with 100,000 followers shares the 9-page media kit she uses to pitch brands, which includes how much money she charges: Influencer Macy Mariano shares a copy of the most up-to-date version of her media kit, which she sends to brands when pitching sponsorship deals.The best ways to make money on Instagram, according to 4 influencers: We spoke with four Instagram influencers: Caitlin Patton, Jehava Brown, Katy Bellotte, and Julia Engel — about their digital businesses. How to edit Instagram photos according to 'Tezza,' the professional influencer and creator of a photo app with over 3 million downloads: Tezza created the app as a way to share her photo-editing tips and the photo filters she uses with her followers.How TalentX plans to rule TikTok, starting with 32 influencers and a Los Angeles mansion: TalentX Entertainment is eyeing brand partnerships, merchandising, live events, and television and film development for its roster of TikTok stars.How Cash App went viral on TikTok by leveraging an original song and hiring influencers who it advised to make fun of 'how broke you are': Cash App generated millions of impressions on TikTok by hiring members of the Hype House and other influencers to promote a song about the app.

Original author: Dan Whateley

Microsoft Executive Vice President Kurt DelBene sent an email to employees on Monday instructing them to discuss with their manager any concerns they might have with work travel amid the spread of coronavirus.Some Microsoft employees expressed concerns to Business Insider that the company's response is insufficient. Salesforce, for example, has paused nonessential travel for its 50,000 employees. DelBene in his email said "global health authorities have communicated to us that the risk to the general public outside of Mainland China and those specific affected regions is presently low."Each of the six deaths from COVID-19 – the illness caused by coronavirus – in the US at the time of this writing have occurred in Washington state, five of them in King County, home to Microsoft's headquarters.Click here to read more BI Prime stories.

Microsoft's internal response to managing the coronavirus outbreak has included asking employees to discuss with their managers any travel concerns, according to an email reviewed by Business Insider.

"Any employee who feels uncomfortable travelling or attending any event (whether it be 1st or 3rd party, external or internal) should feel empowered to work with their manager to make the decision that is best for them and their family," Microsoft Executive Vice President Kurt DelBene said in an email to employees on Monday.

Each of the six deaths from COVID-19 – the illness caused by coronavirus – in the US at the time of this writing have occurred in Washington state, five of them in King County, home to Microsoft's headquarters.

"While there has been an increase in cases in specific regions of some countries like South Korea and Italy, global health authorities have communicated to us that the risk to the general public outside of Mainland China and those specific affected regions is presently low," DelBene wrote.

"The health and safety of our employees is our top priority at Microsoft. We are providing real-time guidance to employees in all affected regions," a Microsoft spokesperson said. "We will continue to monitor the situation and take action as necessary to help protect employees."

Some employees have expressed concerns that Microsoft's response is insufficient. Two employees who spoke to Business Insider and wished to remain anonymous said the company's response is "disappointing" and doesn't measure up to the steps taken by other companies. Salesforce, for example, has paused nonessential travel for its 50,000 employees. 

Meanwhile, other employees discussed on Twitter whether it's appropriate to leave the decision about whether or not it's appropriate to travel up to managers rather than employees.

DelBene in the email also discussed Microsoft's decision to cancel events. Microsoft on Monday also announced it would make the company's Most Valuable Professional Summit online-only.

"Global health authorities have not issued guidance to cancel events," DelBene wrote in the email. "At Microsoft, we are looking very thoughtfully at our event calendar, and in some cases shifting to digital-only experiences. Ultimately, the final decision to cancel, remain, or reduce our presence at events rests with the business owner of each event. Guidance has been prepared to inform these decision makers."

Original author: Ashley Stewart

Facebook is pulling out of SXSW due to coronavirus fears.The tech giant said on Monday it was pulling out of the buzzy Austin, Texas tech and culture festival.Twitter previously pulled out of the event, and its prospects look increasingly uncertain.The COVID-19 outbreak has caused disruption to businesses and events around the globe.

Facebook is dropping out of the buzzy SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, due to concerns around the growing coronavirus outbreak.

In a statement, a spokesperson told Business Insider: "Due to concerns related to coronavirus, our company and employees will not be participating in SXSW this year."

Since its outbreak in Wuhan, China, in late 2019, COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has spread to dozens of countries around the world, sickening more than 88,000 people globally and killing more than 3,000, with the vast majority of cases and deaths in China. It is also causing mounting disruption for global business, interrupting supply chains and forcing the cancellation of major events.

Facebook's withdrawal from SXSW is a major blow for the tech and culture festival, which Twitter also recently announced it would not attend this year. Earlier on Monday, SXSW said the event was still going ahead, and is "working closely on a daily basis with local, state, and federal agencies to plan for a safe event."

Facebook recently canceled its F8 developer conference that was scheduled for May and set to be its biggest event of the year. It has also said that the production of its Oculus Quest virtual-reality headset has been affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

Earlier on Monday, Facebook announced it was blocking employees from bringing social guests to work and cutting down on its on-site job interviews as fears mount over the spread of the coronavirus.

This story is developing...

Original author: Rob Price