TECH GEMS TENS : FOUR STARS

 

1.-  Sotheby's : Auctioning digital gems

The 278-year-old auction house sold a record $7.3 billion worth of art in 2021, thanks in part to its willingness to plunge into the hot nonfungible token [NFT] business.

Most of Sotheby's sales still involve more familiar form of art, like works by Botticelli or Banksy, but $100 million in NFTs were sold at Sotheby's auctions last year, from cartoon monkeys known as Bored Apes to the source code of the World Wide Web.

While Christie's and other auction houses also showed interest in this new tech, Sotheby's became the first major auction house to open a virtual gallery in the metaverse, helping it stand out from rivals as technological revolution upends centuries-old norms of bidding and selling. [ Andrew R. Chow ]

2.-  Sony : Entertaining The World

If there was ever any doubt that Sony is a global entertainment behemoth, the past many months have erased it.

Spider Man : No Way Home, a joint Sony Pictures-Disney mash up that came out in December, featuring three different Spider-Men from three different universes, grossed $1.9 billion worldwide and had the second biggest U.S. opening weekend ever.

Meanwhile, supply-chain issues means the company's gaming can't make enough Playstation 5 consoles to meet the huge global demand, but analysts still expect sales to handily outstrip those of chief rival Xbox. [ Eliana Dockterman ].

3.-  Reddit : R / GOINGPUBLIC

Once freewheeling ''internet homepage'' Reddit has grown up, with 100,000 active communities serving 50 million daily visitors.

'' People come to Reddit with intention and find spaces for camaraderie and conversations that can spark change that extends beyond the online and into real life,'' says CEO Steve Hufffman.

Reddit, which also served as the catalyst for last year's ''meme stock'' investment craze, now hopes to cash in - last valued at $10 billion, it filed to go public this year even as it struggles to fight hate speech. [ A.R.C. ]

4.-  Revolut : Refugee Accounts

Revolut - Britain biggest financial technology startup, worth $33 billion - has captured global attention, amid Russia's war in Ukraine by allowing refugees from the region to sign up for accounts without the usual documentation, like proof of European citizenship.

'' We felt it was imperative to help those most affected by providing a service that gives them easy, quick access to their money,'' says co-founder and CTO Vlad Yatsenko, whose company offers money transfers, prepaid cards, and currency swaps.

While drawing widespread praise, the gesture has failed to paper over high staff turnover amid accusations of cutthroat corporate culture, not to mention a balance sheet that remains firmly in the red.  [ Charlie Campbell ].