ENTERTAINMENT

Disney Plus, Indeed

Yesterday, Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced that streaming service Disney+ has notched over 100 million subscribers just 16 months after launch. 

That's "your cousin who just turned 15" growth—or in more relevant terms, "halfway to Netflix" growth. It took Netflix nearly six years (after it first began reporting streaming sub numbers) to hit 100 million subscribers. It only recently hit 200 million.

• Disney+ had initially targeted 60–90 million subscribers by 2024, but it smashed that goal in November. Now it's projecting 230–260 million by 2024, which would mean surpassing Netflix.
• Speaking of Netflix, co-CEO Reed Hastings has named Disney his top competitor. He told Bloomberg last September, “If you’d asked us a year ago, ‘What are the odds that [Disney+ is] going to get to 60 million subscribers in the first year?’ I’d be like 0. I mean how can that happen? It’s been super impressive execution.” 

How we got here

Disney+ series including The Mandalorian and WandaVision, plus films such as Soul, drew even more eyeballs than anticipated—likely because of the pandemic. When the WandaVision season finale dropped on Friday, so many people rushed to watch it that the service crashed for some users. 

The company is adjusting for that unexpected popularity, which means going from an entertainment company with a streaming service to a streaming service that sells Mickey Mouse hats. Disney is restructuring its media and entertainment divisions to focus on the platform, and it announced plans for about 100 new projects, 80% of which are for Disney+. 

• "Our direct-to-consumer business is the company's top priority," Chapek said yesterday. 

Disney hasn't forgotten about parks, though 

With California relaxing restrictions on theme parks, Chapek said Disneyland will open in late April, while the company's Florida parks are currently open at 35% capacity. And people are hankering for some magic—all four Walt Disney World parks are completely booked next week. 

Bottom line: Though Disney+ is growing rapidly, Disney isn't making nearly as much money per subscriber as Netflix does. Its first price bump is coming March 26. 

TECH

Checking in on Microsoft's Cyber Team

After disclosing that Chinese hackers infiltrated its Exchange email server, Microsoft's hack has escalated this week from bad (stolen emails) to worse (hackers installing backdoors) to a Fyre Fest sequel.

An estimated 60,000 organizations are compromised, including many US small businesses and local governments—the very groups least able to afford this kind of breach, per former US cybersecurity director Chris Krebs. 

• Tens of thousands of Asian and European organizations are also affected, including the European Banking Authority. 

Last Tuesday, Microsoft issued security patches (which users must manually install) to prevent further intrusions. But like if Tiffany announced it left the jewelry cases unlocked, bad guys descended: At least five different hacker groups are now also exploiting Microsoft clients who haven't secured their systems.

Zoom out: Cyberspace is the new frontline for two of President Biden's top geopolitical foes. His administration is weighing sanctions or a counterattack against Russia for last year's SolarWinds hack, which compromised ~18,000 organizations and several US agencies. Now, it may have to do the same with China. 

ENERGY

Martha's Windy Vineyard

Come 2023, summers in Martha's Vineyard won't be complete without a trip to Larsen's Fish Market, an Obama spotting, and some grumbling about the new view: a landmark $2.8 billion offshore wind project that's nearing federal approval.

The specs: Up to 84 turbines located 12 nautical miles (~14 normal miles + motion sickness) off the island. It'll generate enough power for 400,000 homes and connect to the New England grid via Cape Cod.  

This project has been two decades in the making as developers wrestled with fishing industry concerns and the Not on My Beach crew (it was relocated several miles south to remain out of sight of the Kennedy compound). 

It'd be a breakthrough for domestic offshore wind in the US, and the Biden administration hopes this project will kick the industry into high gear. 

• About two dozen East Coast wind projects are in various stages of development, and several states in the region have promised to purchase at least 25,000 MW of offshore power by 2035.

Zoom out: It's progress, but the US is far behind Europe, which has thousands of offshore turbines and posted a record $32 billion in investment last year. The EU is trying to increase its wind capacity twelve-fold by 2050.

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GRAB BAG

Key Performance Indicators

Stat: One of the racing yachts competing in the America's Cup, a sailing competition that began today in New Zealand, hit a max speed of 61.5 miles per hour in training. These things fly.

Quote: "A global economic recovery is in sight." 

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a group of wealthy countries, raised its global economic forecast thanks to momentum with vaccine rollouts and the new round of US government stimulus. Biden's relief plan alone will lift global economic growth by one whole percentage point this year, the OECD's chief economist told the FT.

Read: Microsoft Excel is undefeated. (Not Boring)

Speaking of, what a snub by the Brew's Selection Committee for the GPOAT bracket. 

Q&A

Reader Q&A: And for That Reason I’m In

Every Wednesday, we answer a reader-submitted question about business and the economy. Got something to ask us? Click here.

Q from Maggie: How does startup funding, such as Series A, B, C, etc., work? 

The Brew's A: Startups typically fund themselves by raising money from outside investors, and each time they do, it's called a funding "round." Each round represents another stage in the startup's life.

Pre-seed funding round: Think of this as the Steve Jobs's garage stage. Your startup doesn't have a concrete product, but you have a good concept. Your funders aren't professional investors, just friends or family who want to see you succeed.

Seed: You’ve shown there’s a market for your product, which attracts interest from "angel investors," individuals who fund early-stage companies. 

Series A: Launch time. You've achieved proof of concept, and investors known as venture capitalists are analyzing data on what you achieved with past investments. 

Series B: Your business model has proven itself, but you need to expand. You might use the funds to explore new markets, grow teams, or hire a really expensive person on Cameo to make an appearance at an all-hands. 

Series C: Press that scalerator to the floor. You're an established business, but you want to eat up more market share, develop new products, or even make acquisitions. 

Then, it might be time to IPO (or SPAC?) into the public markets. 

Hope this helps—and if you'd like a video version of this explainer that will make you giggle, watch this. If you have any other questions on business or the economy, ask here.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Unilever, the consumer goods giant, is removing the word "normal" from its packaging to be more inclusive.
• Boeing last month received more orders for its planes than cancellations for the first time since November 2019.
• Piers Morgan resigned from the show Good Morning Britain following comments he made about Meghan Markle's mental health. 
• Four pharma companies will use tax breaks to offset the $26 billion settlement they're paying for their role in the opioid crisis.
• Online game platform Roblox is going public via a direct listing today. It was valued at $29.5 billion in January.

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I Am Legend vibes: Listen to "Africa," "Somebody That I Used to Know," and "Redbone" echo through abandoned shopping malls. 

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Cool companies: Fast Company's world's most innovative company list is here. 

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GAMES

A Starboard Is Born

On a bit of a sailing kick right now, which means you all will be subjected to sailing trivia. Can you name the following parts of a sailboat? 

Improve Sailing

ANSWER

A. Mast
B. Jib
C. Deck
D. Bow 
E. Hull
F. Keel
G. Rudder
H. Stern
I. Cockpit
J. Boom
K. Mainsail