The Strategic Structure of Media & Tech

I didn’t expect this chart to be so revealing.

I plotted media and tech companies on a log-log scale: revenue vs. market cap.

What emerged wasn’t just a scatter plot - it was structure.

Market cap reflects how a company is expected to convert revenue into durable, long-term gross profit. The log-log format levels the playing field and exposes how business models cluster.

When you look at the groupings, they tell a clear story:

- Social Media (Snap, Pinterest) are small but focused. They serve specific audiences with sharp use cases and trade at higher multiples than their size might suggest.

- Legacy Media (WBD, Paramount, Fox) remains tethered to traditional models: linear TV, bundled distribution, cable-based monetization. These companies built the industry, but those models now weigh them down.

- Diversified Media (Disney, Comcast) sit near the trendline. They’re burdened by some of the same legacy dynamics, but their range of businesses gives them optionality. Theme parks, broadband, streaming, IP - they have multiple ways to navigate a changing media landscape.

- Category Disruptors (Netflix, Spotify) didn’t just succeed, they changed the game. Each one reinvented their category, and now they own it. Netflix is the default for long-form video. Spotify for music. They built the new model, and everyone else is chasing them.

- The Platforms (Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, Amazon) anchor the top right. They deliver broad, multi-industry solutions - hardware, cloud, ads, commerce, marketplaces - and dominate on both revenue and market cap.

This isn’t just a chart about valuation.
It’s a map of the media and tech ecosystem.

One quick tip when reading log-log:
Don’t think in absolutes. Think multiples.
Meta is ~4x Netflix’s revenue. Amazon is ~4x Meta. That's the scale.