Zoë Schiffer (born 1992) is an American technology journalist and author. She currently serves as the director of business and industry at Wired magazine, overseeing coverage of corporate affairs, finance, and market trends within the technology sector.
Early life and education
Schiffer was raised in Mission Canyon, California, a suburb of Santa Barbara. Her parents are Howard Schiffer, founder of the nonprofit Vitamin Angels, and Kim Schiffer, a chef. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of California, Berkeley after attending Seattle University. In 2019 she completed a Master of Arts in journalism at Stanford University.
Career
Schiffer began her professional life as a content manager and user‑experience writer for Uber. Transitioning to journalism, she contributed freelance pieces to outlets such as Vox and the San Francisco Chronicle, and reported on technology for public radio station KQED‑FM while in graduate school.
In 2019 she joined The Verge as a reporter, focusing on labor issues within Silicon Valley. Her investigative work highlighted employee concerns at companies including Apple and Away. Briefly in 2021 she moved to NBC News’s tech investigations team before returning to The Verge as a senior reporter later that year.
In 2022 Schiffer became managing editor of Platformer, the technology newsletter founded by Casey Newton, where she covered major industry developments such as Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter. Her reporting on this event formed the basis of her first book, Extremely Hardcore: Inside Elon Musk’s Twitter, published in February 2024.
In early 2024 Wired appointed Schiffer as director of business and industry, a senior newsroom leadership position responsible for guiding coverage of corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and regulatory matters across the tech ecosystem.
Publications
- Extremely Hardcore: Inside Elon Musk’s Twitter (2024) – a nonfiction account of the internal dynamics surrounding Musk’s takeover of the social‑media platform.
Personal life
Schiffer resides in Santa Barbara, California. She is married and has one daughter.
(All information sourced from publicly available biographical entries and reputable news outlets.)
