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Alibaba has a new CEO, but it’s still Jack’s house

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By John Ruwitch SHANGHAI (Reuters) – When Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's eccentric founder Jack Ma stepped down as CEO two years ago, he declared “the Internet belongs to young people,” and promised that most of the company's leaders born in the 1960s would soon retreat from management. On Thursday, that transition at the e-commerce behemoth appeared complete as Ma trumpeted the appointment of a fresh chief executive, Daniel Zhang, born in 1972, as part of a broader reshuffle.

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Music streamer Spotify revenues topped 1 billion euros in 2014

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Online music streaming service Spotify's revenues leapt 45 percent to top 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) last year, though its operating loss widened due to product development and expansion costs, its holding company said. The company, founded in 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon, was reportedly valued at about $8 billion in a recent fundraising. It said the increased loss was due to substantial investments in product development and international expansion, as well as an increase in staffing.

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Exclusive: Microsoft has no plans to pursue Salesforce – sources

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Microsoft Corp currently is not weighing an offer for Salesforce.com Inc , two people familiar with the matter said on Thursday, dampening speculation that Microsoft could be drawn into bidding for the cloud software company. Bloomberg News, citing people with knowledge of the matter, reported earlier this week that Microsoft was evaluating a bid for Salesforce after the latter was approached by another unnamed would-be buyer. Microsoft considers Salesforce's current market valuation expensive, one of the people said

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Facebook’s Seattle site leader leaves company

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By Bill Rigby SEATTLE (Reuters) – The leader of Facebook Inc's fast-growing Seattle office left the company last month, a spokeswoman for the online social network told Reuters on Wednesday, a crucial personnel change at Facebook's largest engineering office outside of its Silicon Valley headquarters. Engineering manager Paul Carduner, who took over leadership of the Seattle office about six months ago, was in charge of more than 600 people.

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Zynga reports higher-than-expected bookings, to cut jobs

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By Devika Krishna Kumar (Reuters) – “Farmville” creator Zynga Inc reported higher-than-expected bookings as titles such as “Words With Friends” attracted more gamers, and the company announced the elimination of another 364 jobs as it tries to turn around its business.

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TripAdvisor revenue up 29.2 percent on higher click-based advertising

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(Reuters) – Travel review website operator TripAdvisor Inc reported a 29.2 percent rise in quarterly revenue as it earned more from click-based advertising and display ads. Shares of the company, which owns websites such as tripadvisor.com and oyster.com, rose about 5.8 percent to $81.30 in extended trading on Wednesday. Revenue from click-based advertising rose 20 percent to $249 million in the first quarter ended March 31 from a year earlier and accounted for 69 percent of total revenue, the company said

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‘Team Juncker’ ham for cameras to push EU digital market

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By Alastair Macdonald BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Can a bunch of graying politicians in Brussels really get with it and give Europe a revolutionary open market in digital technology? Jean-Claude Juncker and other EU executives poked fun at their own generation in an online video posted on Twitter on Wednesday to try and convince younger Europeans that they can.

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EU aims to cut sales tax on online newspapers: Juncker

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The EU executive will propose cutting the bloc’s sales tax on online newspapers, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Wednesday, in a move that would bring them into line with print media. Addressing Germany’s newspaper publishers federation BDZV in Brussels, Juncker said the Commission would put forward draft legislation in the first half of next year to extend national governments’ right to set reduced rates of value-added tax (VAT) on newspapers to their digital versions

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Telecom Italia agrees broadband test deal with Swisscom unit

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Telecom Italia has signed an agreement with Swisscom unit Fastweb to test technologies that can bring ultra high speed broadband connections into Italian households using copper wires. Telecom Italia's current investment plan is centered on upgrading its existing network and the company has been resisting calls by government officials to develop a wholly new fiber optic network.

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