Amazon’s $950 million investment in Lord of the Rings spinoffs isn’t about selling subscriptions or ad slots. According to media analyst Alan Lasky, the real motive is soft power: the ability to shape cultural narratives.
Lasky argues that trillion-dollar tech companies like Amazon and Apple are acquiring media properties not for direct financial returns, but for influence. Apple is currently producing Neuromancer, while Amazon secured the Melania Trump documentary. These moves are about owning the story, not the bottom line.
To back his claim, Lasky points to Disney’s stock performance: a five-year weighted moving average shows shares bought at $103 in 2018 are still at $103 today. “It’s not a business,” he says. “It’s a platform for influence.”
This perspective challenges the traditional view of media acquisitions as purely commercial plays. Instead, Lasky suggests that for tech giants, controlling the cultural conversation is worth billions, even if the TV business itself barely breaks even.