The Information

The Information
Name	The Information
Type	Subscription news website
Founded	2013
Founders	Jessica Lessin
Headquarters	San Francisco, California
Industry	Journalism, Media
Products	Investigative reporting, Newsletters, Podcasts

The Information

The Information is a subscription-based digital news outlet focused on technology, startups, and Silicon Valley affairs, known for investigative reporting, deep analysis, and premium newsletters. It emphasizes exclusive scoops and paywalled content aimed at professionals in venture capital, entrepreneurship, and technology policy. The publication has influenced discourse around major firms, investment rounds, executive departures, and regulatory debates.

Overview

The outlet operates in the media landscape alongside The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg L.P., Financial Times, Wired (magazine), TechCrunch, Recode, Vox, BuzzFeed News and Axios. Its reporting often intersects with actors such as Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc., Meta Platforms, Amazon (company), Microsoft, Tesla, Inc., Uber Technologies, Airbnb, Inc., Stripe, Inc., Dropbox, Snap Inc. and Pinterest. Coverage extends to institutions and events including Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Benchmark (venture capital firm), Y Combinator, TechCrunch Disrupt, South by Southwest, Code Conference, World Economic Forum, and regulatory bodies like the Federal Trade Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission. Journalists at the outlet have reported on phenomena tied to venture capital funding, initial public offering, mergers and acquisitions, and leadership changes at major corporations.

Background and Founding

The site was founded in 2013 by Jessica Lessin, a former reporter at The Wall Street Journal and alumna of Harvard University, who assembled a team drawn from outlets such as The New York Times, Bloomberg L.P., Financial Times, CNBC, Reuters, Axios, WIRED (magazine), Fortune (magazine), Vanity Fair, The Washington Post and Politico. Early investors and supporters included figures and firms from Sequoia Capital, Benchmark (venture capital firm), Kleiner Perkins, Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners and individual angels linked to PayPal and Twitter. The founding narrative referenced the rise of subscription journalism exemplified by The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Economist and newer digital experiments like Medium (website). Initial launches and investor rounds took place against the backdrop of debates involving Silicon Valley Bank and the broader startup ecosystem.

Content and Coverage

Editorially, the outlet emphasizes long-form investigations, data-driven reporting, beat coverage of companies such as Apple Inc., Google LLC, Facebook, Inc. (now Meta Platforms), Amazon (company), Microsoft, Intel Corporation, NVIDIA Corporation, Palantir Technologies, Stripe, Inc., Robinhood Markets, Inc., Coinbase Global, Inc., Theranos-adjacent reporting, and personnel moves involving executives like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai, Tim Cook, Satya Nadella, Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Reid Hoffman. It has produced coverage tying technology firms to policy matters before bodies such as the Federal Communications Commission, Department of Justice (United States), European Commission, Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, and international tribunals. The outlet runs newsletters, podcasts, investigative series, and subscriber-only databases that track funding rounds, board changes, layoffs, and patent activity, intersecting with events like Initial Public Offering, SPACs, Series A funding, Series B funding, and major trade shows.

Impact and Reception

Reporting has prompted reactions from executives, investors, and regulators; scoops have moved markets, influenced board decisions, and contributed to enforcement actions by agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Trade Commission. The publication has been cited by mainstream outlets like The New York Times, Bloomberg L.P., CNBC, Reuters, Associated Press, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal and referenced in analyses by think tanks and academic centers including Stanford University, Harvard Kennedy School, Brookings Institution and Columbia Journalism Review. It has been discussed at industry forums such as TechCrunch Disrupt, Code Conference and panels hosted by The Aspen Institute. Critical reception has noted its influence on startup valuations, investor sentiment, and the practices of tech reporting.

Business Model and Operations

The outlet uses a subscription revenue model with tiered plans for individual professionals, corporate subscribers, and enterprise licensing, similar in approach to The New York Times Company’s digital strategy and Financial Times’s paywall experiments. It has attracted subscription purchases from personnel at Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, SoftBank Group, Tiger Global Management and corporate communications teams at Apple Inc., Google LLC and Meta Platforms. Operations include editorial teams, research analysts, events, and a sales organization that negotiates corporate access and licensing deals with institutions like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase, BlackRock, Accel Partners and Kleiner Perkins. Technology infrastructure partners have included cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform and Microsoft Azure.

Controversies and Legal Issues

The outlet has been involved in disputes over sourcing, anonymous tip handling, and smartphone security reporting, drawing responses from companies including Apple Inc., Uber Technologies, Facebook, Inc./Meta Platforms and Theranos-adjacent figures. Legal threats and litigation-related correspondence have arisen involving parties represented by firms like Gibson Dunn, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Latham & Watkins and Cooley LLP. Debates have occurred about newsroom ethics paralleling discussions at The New Yorker, The Atlantic, ProPublica, BuzzFeed News and The Guardian. Issues of data privacy, trade secrets and reporter-source protections have intersected with statutes and proceedings before the Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general.

Category:American news websites