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Financial Times

From hostile takeovers to C-suite intrigue, Behind the Money takes you inside the business and financial stories of the moment with reporting from Financial Times journalists around the world. 
 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Behind the Money

Publicly-listed Oklo sits at the intersection of two hot areas for Wall Street: artificial intelligence and energy companies. This year alone, Oklo’s share price has jumped more than 400 per cent. But the business hasn’t generated any revenue. It hasn’t built a nuclear reactor, and it hasn’t secured any binding contracts with customers. The FT’s US energy editor Jamie Smyth explains the enthusiasm for Oklo, its links to the Trump administration and whether it can live up to the hype.

Clips from New York Stock Exchange, The White House, a16z

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For further reading:

Inside Oklo: the $20bn nuclear start-up without any revenue

US and investors gambling on unproven nuclear technology, warn experts

Donald Trump’s assault on US nuclear watchdog raises safety concerns

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Attend the FT Global Banking Summit, 2-4 December in London: Enter SAVE20 for a 20% discount, register here.

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Follow Jamie Smyth on X (@JamieSmythF), or on Bluesky (@jamiesmythft.bsky.social). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The $17bn nuclear start-up without any revenue

Some of the world’s biggest financial institutions are reeling after the collapse of a little-known car parts supplier: First Brands Group. The company filed for bankruptcy last month, and since then, FT reporters have shone a spotlight on billions of dollars of hidden debt and a secretive founder whose borrowing habits left creditors exposed. The FT’s corporate finance editor Robert Smith and banking editor Ortenca Aliaj walk through their investigation and explain how this event has raised questions about potential cracks in private credit. 

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For further reading:

The secretive First Brands founder, his $12bn debt and the future of private credit

First Brands Group: dude, where’s my cash?

First Brands bankruptcy: the losers — and winners

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Follow Robert Smith on X (@BondHack), or on Bluesky (@bondhack.ft.com). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

$12bn of debt: How First Brands Group collapsed

The world’s largest listed hedge fund manager, Man Group, is at a crossroads. After years of high flying thanks to its innovative quant trading strategies, the company’s hedge fund unit has been faltering. Recently, the performance of Man Group’s core business has been lacklustre, and some institutional investors have pulled their money. The FT’s hedge fund correspondent Costas Mourselas analyses which strategies Man Group may pursue to rebound. 

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For further reading:

Can the world’s largest listed hedge fund rebound?

Man Group’s hedge fund blues

Robyn Grew: the ‘force of nature’ named Man Group chief executive

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Follow Costas Mourselas on X (@CostasMourselas). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can the world’s largest listed hedge fund rebound?

Introducing Toxic Legacy, a new season of Untold from the Financial Times. Host Laura Hughes uncovers a lead poisoning epidemic across the UK. You might be living with lead and not know it: the toxin is often invisible to the human eye, but wreaks havoc on our bodies once we’re exposed. The first episode of Untold: Toxic Legacy launches October 22. 

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you get your podcasts.

For information on how to live safely with lead, please visit the LEAPP Alliance website.

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Introducing Untold: Toxic Legacy

In recent weeks, satellite business EchoStar has clinched multibillion-dollar deals with SpaceX and AT&T. It may sound like boom times for founder Charlie Ergen, but these deals illustrate something different: the abandoning of an ambitious, decades-long quest to build his own mobile phone network. The FT’s Wall Street editor Sujeet Indap and US trading and crypto correspondent Jill R Shah explain how Ergen’s fortunes changed, and the role Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump played in that. 

Clips from CNBC, Reuters, Yahoo Finance, Echostar/Vimeo

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For further reading:

How a deal with Elon Musk helped a telecoms tycoon save his company from bankruptcy

Trump forces billionaire to fold

Charlie Ergen: Media mogul at a Sprint

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Behind the Money has been nominated for a Signal Award in the Money & Finance category! It's a Listener Choice award, which means we need your help. Vote for us to win here. We appreciate your support!

Follow Sujeet Indap on X (@sindap), or on Bluesky (@sindap.bsky.social). Follow Jill Shah on X (@jillrshah). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elon Musk and the end of a telecom tycoon’s dream

US President Donald Trump has pledged to “plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars”, China could send its first crewed mission to Mars within a decade, and Elon Musk wants people to actually settle on Mars, transforming the human race into an interplanetary species. 

In a new series of Tech Tonic, the FT’s Peggy Hollinger asks if we’re really about to land, and even live, on the red planet. 

Free to read:

Musk’s mission to Mars

Three days with America’s rocket chasers

Tech Tonic is produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. The senior producer is Edwin Lane. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming soon from Tech Tonic: Mission to Mars

India’s tech hub Bangalore has experienced huge growth of companies and employees in the past two decades. But the city’s infrastructure is not keeping up with such rapid growth. With the tech sector contributing more than $300bn to the nation’s economy, what happens to the country’s growth if Bangalore can’t solve its issues? The FT’s Mumbai bureau chief Chris Kay and Mumbai correspondent Krishn Kaushik travelled to Bangalore to try to find out.

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For further reading:

The unsustainable boom in India’s Silicon Valley

Multinationals turn to India’s back offices for AI engineers

Indian IT shares fall over fears from Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee

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Behind the Money has been nominated for a Signal Award in the Money & Finance category! It's a Listener Choice award, which means we need your help. Vote for us to win here. We appreciate your support!

Follow Chris Kay on X (@christopherkay) or on Bluesky (@christopherkay.ft.com), and Krishn Kaushik on X (@Krishn_) Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The unsustainable boom in India’s Silicon Valley

Behind the Money has been nominated for a Signal Award in the Money & Finance category! It's a Listener Choice award, which means we need your help. Vote for us to win here. We appreciate your support!

And while you're at it, vote for some other FT podcasts that have also been nominated. The FT News Briefing podcast was nominated for best daily podcast category. Vote here. And our Tech Tonic podcast was nominated for best technology podcast. Vote here. 

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vote for Behind the Money in the Signal Awards!

The recent collapse of Tricolor Holdings, a subprime auto lender in Texas, has left a trail of losses and questions from Wall Street to low-income immigrant communities throughout the American south-west. The FT’s US banking correspondent Akila Quinio, and Amelia Pollard, US investment correspondent, explain what they’ve found.

Clip from Fifth Third

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For further reading:

Tricolor collapse sparks concern about health of US subprime auto sector

Debt linked to collapsed subprime auto lender Tricolor tumbles

JPMorgan and Fifth Third face losses tied to collapsed subprime car lender

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Follow Amelia Pollard on X (@ameliajpollard) and Bluesky (@pollard.bsky.social) and Akila Quinio on X (@akilazoe). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A subprime auto lender collapsed. Wall Street has questions

Ecommerce start-up Jumia was supposed to become the “Amazon of Africa”. Its prospects seemed promising after raising close to $800mn prior to its IPO in 2019 — more than any African start-up. But in the years since, things haven’t gone the way investors probably hoped. The FT’s west and central Africa correspondent Aanu Adeoye explains Jumia’s plans to turn the business around, and what its challenges say about applying western business models in Africa. 

Clip from New York Stock Exchange 

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For further reading:

Is there a future for the ‘Amazon of Africa’?

‘Amazon of Africa’ Jumia fights to rebuild investor trust 

Complaints that Jumia is not African ring hollow

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Follow Aanu Adeoye on X (@aanuadeoye). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is there a future for the ‘Amazon of Africa’?

In September 2014, the FT’s Dan McCrum received a tip about a fast-growing German fintech group, Wirecard. Over the next couple of years Dan and his colleagues uncovered the secret behind the payment company’s meteoric growth: many of the customers listed in company documents did not exist. In this episode Dan tells the story of the whistleblowers, shoe-leather reporting, hacking, suspected surveillance and legal threats that led to Wirecard’s downfall. 

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Review clips: CNBC, Deutsche Welle 

Further reading:

The double life of Wirecard’s Jan Marsalek https://www.ft.com/content/511ecf86-ab40-486c-8f76-b8ebda4cc669

Inside Wirecard

https://www.ft.com/wirecard

Dan’s 2015 story for Alphaville

https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2015/04/27/2127427/the-house-of-wirecard/

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Wirecard: how to find a €2bn hole

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