Business Longreads for the week of May 11, 2013

From the continuing subsidies for the nation’s biggest banks to the story behind the billion dollar sale of Instagram, the Daily Beast brings you the best in business and finance for the week of May 11.

Six banks that were rescued from the precipice in 2008 have advantages over their competitors – advantages provided by the public. Just how big? According to one calculation, $102 billion over the last four years.

Subprime bond bounces back, leaving behind a subprime borrowerCarrick Mollenkamp, Reuters

One of the most profitable trades on Wall Street has been scooping up the toxic assets – securities stuffed with subprime mortgages – at bargain basement prices. But there hasn’t been any recover for many of the borrowers whose mortgages made those securities in the first place.

Netflix, Reed Hastings Survive Missteps to Join Silicon Valley's EliteAshlee Vance, Bloomberg Businessweek

Less than two years ago, Netflix’s corporate image and stock were floundering, and the company was thinking of splitting off the DVD ordering business from its internet-dominating movie streaming. Then came House of Cards.

Why we’ll never meet aliensPaul Tyma, Quartz

By the time any aliens – or us – have the technology to reach another planet light years away, there wouldn’t be any point.

The Money ShotKara Swisher, Vanity Fair

Instagram’s co-founder and CEO was an intern for Twitter creator Jack Dorsey. But when it came time to sell his insanely popular photo app to Facebook for a cool billion, he didn’t even give Dorsey a heads up.

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