Alec Hogg: Washington’s attack on Big Tech may boost their share prices
The 449-page report that followed a 16-month investigation by US politicians into big tech, landed on Tuesday with a whimper rather than a bang. Also, the likely consequences of lawmakers' proposals will, ironically, help rather than hurt the share prices of the four giants targeted – Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Alphabet.
The report highlighted the power of these Big Four exponential companies by referring to their combined market cap of over $5-trillion – for local context, that's 14 times South Africa's GDP. Compiled by Democratic Party members of the House of Representatives' antitrust subcommittee, the report argues for the Big Four to be broken up. But such is the antagonism between the US's two major political parties that a united effort from Washington is unlikely.
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