Jan 5, 2019 - Technology

"Superstars" could take on a negative connotation in 2019

Steve LeVine

Illustration of a star — Illustration: Rebecca Zisser/Axios

For a year, the term "superstar" — in a business context — has referred to outsized cities, companies and individuals who stand heads and shoulders above their peers in terms of achievements like wealth and stature.

Over the coming year, look for the description to assume a more pejorative connotation, as "superstar" and "inequality" meld into one negative new zeitgeist.

What's next: We have already seen Big Tech creating more jobs outside the coasts — in Dallas and Austin, Charlotte and Nashville, and elsewhere.

But look for pressure on big companies across industries to share the wealth by creating affiliates and more jobs outside the biggest cities.
Also expect a drumbeat for a breakup of some of these same companies, along with a rollback of mergers — the knives are already out for Amazon and Google, for instance — against what some economists say is the greatest concentration of economic power since the 1930s.

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"Superstars" could take on a negative connotation in 2019

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