Book Review: The dark shadows of “The Four”

According to serial entrepreneur and NYU business professor Scott Galloway, they’re The Four Horsemen of technology and digital media.

In his best-selling “The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google,” Galloway casts a harsh light on the dark features of their business models and impact on society.
He calls out Apple for its eagerness to become a luxury brand that maintains high prices for its devices.

Google, he writes, seeks the image of a public utility.

Amazon continues to devour the retail marketplace while leaving local shopping mails deserted if not already closed.

Facebook? According to Galloway’s book, it’s now “the world’s biggest seller of display advertising – an extraordinary achievement, given Google’s brilliant takeover of advertising revenues from traditional media just a few years ago.”

Indeed, Galloway foresees Google and Facebook ultimately in command of more advertising media spending than any two firms in history.

Less taxes
According to the book, from 2007 to 2015–when the average tax rate for the S&P 500 was 27 percent, The Four Horsemen paid much less.

Apple paid 17 percent of its profits in taxes, Google 16 percent, Amazon 13 percent, and Facebook 4 percent.

Meanwhile, the overall impact of The Big Four continues to alter the economy, impede the growth of innovation, and stifle competition. They don’t have many employees, but they do have millions to spend on D.C. lobbyists.

Nevertheless, Galloway believes the breakup of Big Tech will occur because “We’re capitalists.”

This book is a worthy read, especially for those in or starting a new business competing with even a segment of The Four.