iWar

The wildly enthralling and entertaining story of Apple's monopolistic impulses and the global business and political forces arrayed against its $3 trillion empire.

iWar is a saga of corporate intrigue, control, and competition, featuring some of the world's most brilliant and powerful minds. It is the story of Apple, the tech corporation which has built near unassailable market power through its iPhone and app ecosystem and controls not only commerce, but also culture, and—increasingly—the flow of ideas. And it is the story of a powerful cadre of tech moguls determined to take it down.

Over time, a loose and disparate group of billionaires, each driven by their own reasons, has formed to challenge Apple’s supremacy, including Daniel Ek (Spotify), Tim Sweeney (Epic Games/Fortnite), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook/Meta) and Elon Musk (Twitter/X). With in-depth reporting, Wall Street Journal business columnist Tim Higgins chronicles these tech moguls and their quest to weaken a powerful rival, aiming at destroying the Walled Garden around Apple’s iPhone Empire, while telling a larger story of the global digital and information economy.

But can this rebellion of billionaires actually topple a $3 trillion empire?
Corporate Intrigue: Go behind the scenes of Silicon Valley boardrooms and Brussels courtrooms as Apple defends its empire against rivals and regulators.The Walled Garden: Explore the strategy behind Apple’s closed ecosystem and the fight to break down the digital walls that control the flow of commerce and ideas.A Tech Mogul Rebellion: Discover the motivations behind the unlikely alliance of Tim Sweeney, Daniel Ek, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg in their battle against Tim Cook’s Apple.The “Apple Tax”: Uncover the high-stakes fight over the controversial 30% commission that pits a coalition of developers and creators against one of the world’s most powerful companies.