The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google by Scott Galloway

Chapter 1
The Four
OVER THE LAST TWENTY YEARS, four technology giants have inspired
more joy, connections, prosperity, and discovery than any entity in
history. Along the way, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google have
created hundreds of thousands of high-paying jobs. The Four are
responsible for an array of products and services that are entwined into
the daily lives of billions of people. They’ve put a supercomputer in your
pocket, are bringing the internet into developing countries, and are
mapping the Earth’s land mass and oceans. The Four have generated
unprecedented wealth ($2.3 trillion) that, via stock ownership, has helped
millions of families across the planet build economic security. In sum,
they make the world a better place.
The above is true, and this narrative is espoused, repeatedly, across
thousands of media outlets and gatherings of the innovation class
(universities, conferences, congressional hearings, boardrooms).
However, consider another view.
The Four Horsemen
Imagine: a retailer that refuses to pay sales tax, treats its employees
poorly, destroys hundreds of thousands of jobs, and yet is celebrated as a
paragon of business innovation.
A computer company that withholds information about a domestic
act of terrorism from federal investigators, with the support of a fan
following that views the firm similar to a religion.
A social media firm that analyzes thousands of images of your
children, activates your phone as a listening device, and sells this
information to Fortune 500 companies.
An ad platform that commands, in some markets, a 90 percent share
of the most lucrative sector in media, yet avoids anticompetitive
regulation through aggressive litigation and lobbyists.
This narrative is also heard around the world, but in hushed tones.
We know these companies aren’t benevolent beings, yet we invite them
into the most intimate areas of our lives. We willingly divulge personal
updates, knowing they’ll be used for profit. Our media elevate the
executives running these companies to hero status—geniuses to be
trusted and emulated. Our governments grant them special treatment
regarding antitrust regulation, taxes, even labor laws. And investors bid
their stocks up, providing near-infinite capital and firepower to attract
the most talented people on the planet or crush adversaries.
So, are these entities the Four Horsemen of god, love, sex, and
consumption? Or are they the Four Horsemen of the apocalypse? The
answer is yes to both questions. I’ll just call them the Four Horsemen.
How did these companies aggregate so much power? How can an
inanimate, for-profit enterprise become so deeply ingrained in our
psyche that it reshapes the rules of what a company can do and be? What
does unprecedented scale and influence mean for the future of business
and the global economy? Are they destined, like other business titans
before them, to be eclipsed by younger, sexier rivals? Or have they
become so entrenched that nobody—individual, enterprise, government,
or otherwise—stands a chance?
State of Affairs
This is where the Four stand at the time of this writing:
Amazon: Shopping for a Porsche Panamera Turbo S or a pair of
Louboutin lace pumps is fun. Shopping for toothpaste and eco-friendly
diapers is not. As the online retailer of choice for most Americans, and
increasingly, the world, Amazon eases the pain of drudgery—getting the
stuff you need to survive.1,2
 No great effort: no hunting, little gathering,
just (one) clicking. Their formula: an unparalleled investment in last-

mile infrastructure, made possible by an irrationally generous lender—

The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google by Scott Galloway