The Closer: Deals Change the World

Florida owns a massive property insurance company that’s been gobbling up policies while rates rise and some private insurers leave the state. A deal struck by the state legislature last year aims to fix this insurance market meltdown. To understand what’s happening – and what’s being done to fix it – we talked to former State Senator Jeff Brandes and insurance industry expert Mark Friedlander. Fo...

Last summer, a Mexican beer overtook the longtime favorite Bud Light as America’s best-selling beer. It happened amid a customer boycott against Bud Light for a marketing campaign featuring transgender social media personality Dylan Mulvaney. But the story of how Modelo knocked Bud Light from its perch is about much more than a marketing u-turn. It’s an antitrust tale that includes the Department...

The Disney we know today came about in a series of game-changing deals led by CEO Bob Iger. But before the entertainment juggernaut bought properties like Pixar and Marvel, Disney, and former CEO Michael Eisner, inked an $19 billion deal for Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. The acquisition kick-started Disney’s transformation from a theme park and animated film business to one of the largest companies in...

Ray Dalio founded the firm that became the world’s largest hedge fund more than 40 years ago. For years, he promised to retire. Rob Copeland, author of The Fund: Ray Dalio, Bridgewater Associates, and the Unraveling of a Wall Street Legend, takes us inside the fight to succeed him – a negotiation that lasted almost two decades – exposing Bridgewater’s bizarre culture and Dalio’s leadership failure...

Once a “unicorn”, WeWork has filed for bankruptcy. The co-working company was once valued at $47 billion, but it’s had a rocky few years, including a failed IPO (it later went public through a special purpose acquisition company) and was battered by the pandemic. But what set WeWork on this falling-from-grace path can be traced back to a failed deal between co-founder Adam Neumann and SoftBank’s M...

Back in 2019, an unlikely deal took Wall Street and the oil industry by surprise. Occidental Petroleum, commonly called Oxy, acquired Anadarko for $38 billion, beating out oil supermajor Chevron. But before the company triumphed, CEO Vicki Hollub chased Anadarko for nearly two years in pursuit of further expanding Oxy’s footprint in the Permian Basin. Hear how Hollub stunned the oil world and clos...

Google’s path to going public was rather untraditional from the start. The IPO included secret meetings at Denny’s, an infamous Playboy interview and something known as a “dirty” Dutch Auction. The listing ruffled feathers on Wall Street, and set new precedents for tech companies making their market debuts. Featuring Lise Buyer, partner and founder of Class V Group and one of the architects of Goo...

When luxury behemoth LVMH tapped Marc Jacobs to lead Louis Vuitton back in 1997, it also acquired the designer’s eponymous label. Hear how the double deal set a new precedent in the industry and helped usher in the era of celebrity and pop culture within the world of high fashion. Featuring Lauren Sherman, fashion journalist for Puck and writer of the Line Sheet newsletter. For more from The Close...

Fearing an energy crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a little-known policy wonk convinced the Biden Administration to help drive down oil prices by using the US’s government emergency supply of oil in a radical new way. Featuring Skanda Amarnath (@IrvingSwisher), Executive Director of the think tank, Employ America. For more from The Closer and to subscribe to our newsletter, visit www...

The story of Jet.com, its founder Marc Lore, and how the startup helped retail giant Walmart sharpen its ecommerce edge against Amazon. Featuring Jason Del Rey, author of Winner Sells All: Amazon, Walmart and the battle for our wallets. For more from The Closer and to subscribe to our newsletter, visit www.thecloser.fm. The Closer is a Project Brazen production. Subscribe to Brazen+ on Apple Podca...

Deals change the world, and season 3 of The Closer brings you the inside story of those deals, as told by the people who know how it all went down. Each episode features the story of one deal, as host Aimee Keane talks to guests who bring insight into how and why the deal was done, and its broader impact. The Closer is a Project Brazen production. Subscribe to Brazen+ on Apple Podcasts or at braze...

There’s a new season of The Closer coming soon — but before it does, we have a special episode to share from our friends over at The Negotiators podcast. Last season, we talked to Jeffrey Kessler, the lawyer who represented the US Women's National Team in their equal pay lawsuit against the US Soccer Federation. He said one of the main obstacles was bad leadership. Until it changed. Today, Cindy P...

Season 3 of The Closer is coming very soon — and we want to know what you want to hear this season, and why? It can be a specific deal, or it can be something broad, like a takeover by an underdog, or a question, like: what’s the strangest thing a CEO has said at a closing dinner? You give us a prompt or a challenge and we’ll see if we can find that story for you. Send us a voice memo now to hello...

Vince McMahon took over his father’s regional wrestling business in the 1980s, and made it into an international media and entertainment juggernaut valued at billions of dollars. This is the story of how McMahon cleverly bulldozed competitors, acquired rivals and capitalized on the public’s hatred of his tactics, as told by writer Abraham Josephine Riesman. The Closer is a Project Brazen productio...

The Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest private equity firms, has quietly built a deal-making machine that's gobbling up apartments in desirable and gentrifying neighborhoods. A real estate broker working at the center of these deals takes us inside the machine as we explore the trends driving this big bet on scarce, expensive housing. The Closer is a Project Brazen production. Subscribe to...

In early 2020, the home-sharing platform was poised to make a splashy debut on the public markets later that year. But within just a few weeks, coronavirus brought travel - and Airbnb business - to a halt. Journalist Liz Hoffman takes us inside the financing that saved the Silicon Valley darling and became one of the defining Wall Street deals of the pandemic. The Closer is a Project Brazen produc...

When private equity-backed PetSmart bought Chewy.com for more than $3bn in 2017, people thought the retailer was doomed. Within just a few years, though, it was one of the most successful private equity turnarounds in history thanks to an executive who stuck to his guns. Reporter Miriam Gottfried takes us inside the transformation. The Closer is a Project Brazen production. Subscribe to Brazen+ on...

We take you inside the final days of Toys R Us with Lauren Hirsch, the reporter who first revealed the iconic company’s impending bankruptcy, and explain what drove the company out of business. The Closer is a Project Brazen production. Subscribe to Brazen+ on Apple Podcasts or at brazen.fm/plus and get exclusive bonus episodes for The Closer and all our shows, as well as ad-free listening and ear...

The US Women's National Soccer Team is among the most decorated teams in the game but, until recently, was paid a fraction of what the men took home. When the players decided to take up the fight for equal pay, they turned to sports attorney Jeffrey Kessler, who built a career out of representing some of the most high-profile athletes in labor disputes with professional leagues. He takes us inside...

From Project Brazen and PRX, this is season 2 of The Closer, out now. The Closer returns with six dramatic new stories of groundbreaking deals. An epic fight from soccer's biggest stars, a private equity redemption story, the end of a toy empire, and so much more. For more, visit www.thecloser.fm. The Closer is a Project Brazen production. Subscribe to Brazen+ on Apple Podcasts or at brazen.fm/plu...

A new kind of money is flooding into professional sports: sovereign wealth. Aimee and Ben check in on Saudi Arabia's ownership of Newcastle United – who have now qualified for the Champions League – and why sportswashing is so prevalent and successful for these investors. Is there a business or deal story that you’d like Aimee and Ben to cover? Get in touch! You can email us at hello@thecloser.fm...

HBO and Discovery are getting a new streaming home. This week, Warner Bros Discovery rolled out "Max," its new unified app, as part of a push to compete with platforms like Hulu, Netflix and Disney+. Aimee and Ben discuss how it could signal a new front in the competition among streamers. Is there a business or deal story that you’d like Aimee and Ben to cover? Get in touch! You can email us at he...

Hundreds of thousands of Japanese companies have a problem – their founders are aging without a successor in sight. One entrepreneur has built his $1.3 billion fortune on a solution. Is there a business or deal story that you’d like Aimee and Ben to cover? Get in touch! You can email us at hello@thecloser.fm or find us on Twitter or Instagram @thecloserpod. The Closer is a Project Brazen productio...

The Oakland A’s are one step closer to a move to Las Vegas, reaching a deal this week for a new plot of land that would house a brand new ballpark. Aimee and Ben discuss the developing deal and what it tells us about the state of the business of professional sports. Is there a business or deal story that you’d like Aimee and Ben to cover? Get in touch! You can email us at hello@thecloser.fm or fin...

The financial press has been reporting on a big trend in dealmaking: it's way down this year, especially in comparison to the M&A activity of 2021. Aimee and Ben discuss the winners and losers of this new environment, and what it might mean for the types of deals to expect in the months to come. Is there a business or deal story that you’d like Aimee and Ben to cover? Get in touch! You can email u...