The Story of Money

Trevor Milton and his electric vehicle start-up Nikola became Spac darlings in 2020 with his plan to transform the trucking industry. Then it all came crashing down. The FT’s Claire Bushey explains the boom and bust of entrepreneur Trevor Milton’s career and what we can learn from his story.  Clips from Nikola - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  For further reading: Niko...

Years of low interest rates sent investors hunting for creative ways to generate returns. One unlikely place they found was inside the song catalogues of some of the top musicians and songwriters of the last few decades. But now, as interest rates rise and the possibility of a global recession looms, the FT’s Anna Nicolaou and Kaye Wiggins explain how one of the hottest recent trends on Wall Stree...

As the rollout of bivalent boosters for Covid-19 continues, experts are concerned that the US isn’t doing enough to support the development of the next wave of vaccines and treatments that the world needs. In this week’s episode, we hear from White House Covid coordinator Ashish Jha, professor of molecular medicine and cardiologist Eric Topol and the FT’s US pharmaceuticals correspondent Jami...

Over the last year, Starbucks baristas across the US banded together to form unions at the stores where they work. And workers at other big name companies like Amazon have joined in to organise their own workplaces, too. But the FT’s labour and equality correspondent Taylor Nicole Rogers explains how these and other new unions around the US are running up against a classic problem in labour....

Construction of a massive oil pipeline in east Africa is underway. For the governments of the countries it will run through, it promises new economic opportunities. But for many others, it could spell trouble. Like the fight over North America’s Keystone Pipeline, this one has become an important battleground for environmental groups around the world. The FT’s Leslie Hook explains the approach act...

Tech Tonic is back with a new season all about crypto! We wanted to share with you the second episode of the latest season of Tech Tonic. FT columnist and host Jemima Kelly tries to understand why an influential Silicon Valley investment firm thinks that Web3 is a good bet. Will blockchain technology really be the foundation of a new internet era? Is Web3’s promise to decentralise the internet goi...

Buying carbon credits is a way for companies to show they’re serious about fighting climate change. But keeping track of these credits is tricky. Now, advocates of the blockchain - the technology that underpins cryptocurrency - say that its digital ledger could be a possible solution to bring transparency to the market. On today’s episode, the FT’s Camilla Hodgson explores whether this technology...

Early in his tenure the new Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon presented a grand new vision for what the massive bank should become. How has it panned out since? And is there still time for Solomon to make the changes it needs? The FT’s US banking editor Joshua Franklin examines what Solomon has and hasn’t achieved in his four years at the helm.  Clips from CBS   - - - - - - - - - - - - - -...

The FT’s south Asia correspondent Ben Parkin explains how Afghanistan’s economy has changed in the year since US forces left the country and the Taliban retook control of the government.    Clips from CBS, BBC  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  For further reading: The Taliban’s black gold: militants seize on coal to reboot economy Life under the Taliban...

The Federal Reserve has spent more than a decade buying up government debt as part of a post-2008 program to support the economy, also known as quantitative easing. Now with inflation reaching record highs, those days are over, and a new era of quantitative tightening is emerging. On this week’s episode, the FT’s markets editor Katie Martin explains how markets expect to grapple with the change.&n...

Venture capital fundraising hit a record-high last year. There were more deals, and more money poured into startups last year than at any other time in history. Now, the FT’s Richard Waters says the fundraising bonanza is over. On this week’s episode, we explore what that means for the future of startups.  Clips from Looney Tunes: ⓒ Warner Bros.  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -...

Since the 2008 financial crisis, it’s become more and more difficult for Americans to chart a path toward financial security. Things like buying a house and paying off student loans have become more challenging for young people to do. And that’s given rise to a new generation of investors the FT’s Madison Darbyshire calls “generation moonshot.”   Clips courtesy of NBC News, CNBC, ABC New...

Sri Lanka is facing dire fuel and food shortages amid ongoing economic and political crises. In this week’s episode, the FT’s Antoni Slodkowski shares what he’s seen after a week of reporting in Sri Lanka. And then, emerging markets correspondent Jonathan Wheatley explains how the crises in Sri Lanka may impact the rest of the world.   Clips courtesy of Voice of America - - - - - - - - -...

Greedflation. Price gouging. Pandemic profiteering. What happens when turning a profit is considered a bad thing? In this week’s episode, the FT’s US business editor Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson explains how a new message around corporate profits is resonating with the American public and causing headaches for executives.  Clip courtesy of Bloomberg - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -...

A few years ago a Peruvian farmer filed a lawsuit against a German utility company thousands of miles away. The reason? A glacier is melting near his hometown. If it melts enough, it could cause a flood that may catastrophically damage his city. He says that over years the company's pollution has contributed to climate change, and because of this, it should help pay for protections against the pot...

Spacs, or special purpose acquisition companies, were all the rage at the start of the pandemic. These shell companies raise cash by listing on the stock market, and then seek a merger with a private company. This created a novel way for companies to list on the stock market without having to go through the traditional initial public offering process. Now, Spacs are floundering. The FT’s Ortenca A...

Late last year Unilever reached a $5 billion deal to sell part of its tea business, including brands like Lipton and PG Tips, to private equity giant CVC Capital. But the tea sector is a complicated one. With roots in colonialism, tea plantations around the world have faced many issues, including accusations of human rights abuses.  In this week’s episode, we’re hearing from one worker whose...

When Financial Times reporter Patricia Nilsson started digging into the porn industry, she made a shocking discovery: nobody knew who controlled the biggest porn company in the world. Now, Nilsson and her editor, Alex Barker, reveal who is behind it and much more. This eight-part investigative podcast, published weekly, reveals the secret history of the adult business and the billionaires and fina...

The Federal Reserve announced its largest interest rate increase since 1994. And it's the equivalent of the US central bank taking a baseball bat to the economy, according to the FT’s US financial commentator Robert Armstrong.    In this week’s episode, Armstrong is helping us to make sense of the Fed’s announcement. He’ll explain what the recent hike means for the economy and for invest...

Johnson & Johnson, one of the world’s largest healthcare companies, is facing thousands of lawsuits from people alleging they got cancer from using one of their oldest products: talc-based baby powder.  To manage the growing liability, J&J recently deployed a controversial new bankruptcy manoeuvre known as the Texas Two-Step.  In this week’s episode, we explore whether J&J’s...

Last week authorities raided the offices of Germany’s top asset manager DWS Group and its majority owner Deutsche Bank. The raid was spurred by allegations of greenwashing. That is, that DWS had made misleading claims about how sustainable or “green” some of its financial products were. DWS says it denies those allegations and has cooperated with regulators and authorities, but this move has promp...

We’re diving back into the world of stablecoins for part 2 of 2 in our miniseries on crypto. This time, it’s a story filled with troubled companies and a real life fire that sends a business up in smoke. With the help of FT reporters Kadhim Shubber and Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan, we dig into the professional histories of two executives who sit atop two of crypto’s most important businesses: sta...

Behind the Money is back! Our first episode is part 1 of 2 in a miniseries on crypto. First up, we're wondering: is a crypto vibe shift underway? Bitcoin’s price has been dropping for weeks and earlier this month, a popular stablecoin collapsed. FT reporter Ethan Wu explains how the effects of that rippled into other areas of the crypto universe. Michela and Ethan will talk about what stablecoins...

Behind the Money is back with all-new episodes! 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. The podcast returns May 25. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new six-part series of Tech Tonic brings you stories from the frontlines of the battle between the US and China for global technological supremacy. At stake is the future of technologies that will shape all our lives, from the way the internet is used to the way we govern our societies. Join the FT’s Global China Editor James Kynge as he charts China’s dramatic transformation into a global tech...