The Story of Money

Late last year, Warren Buffett’s close business confidant Charlie Munger died at 99. Munger’s death and Buffett’s upcoming 94th birthday have renewed questions about the future of Berkshire Hathaway. What will the empire he’s built look like after he’s no longer at the helm?  Behind the Money and the FT’s senior corporate finance correspondent Eric Platt travel to Omaha, Nebraska for Berkshir...

In a new season of Tech Tonic, longtime FT China reporter Jame Kynge travels around the world to see how China is pushing towards tech supremacy. Will China be able to get an edge in crucial technological areas? What does China’s attempt to leapfrog the west look like on the ground? A 6-part series looking at China’s tech industry. Presented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is the senior producer. The p...

Three years ago, chaos struck Wall Street. Companies saw their share prices tumble, seemingly out of nowhere. Major banks lost billions of dollars in the fallout. Eventually, that chaos was linked to a family office, Archegos Capital Management, and its founder Bill Hwang.  This week, Hwang heads to trial in New York, where he faces charges including racketeering, and securities and wire frau...

For decades, countries in the Middle East have dominated the oil market, pumping large quantities of the world’s supply. Along with that has come a pattern: when there’s conflict in the region, oil prices rise. The pattern seems to be breaking though, mainly because of one thing: US shale. The FT’s Myles McCormick explains how production in the country shifted oil’s epicentre away from the Middle...

When a company is sold there tends to be a standard playbook: There’s some tough negotiations. Then, the buyer gets a business and the seller gets a check. Everyone’s happy. That’s not what happened when a private equity firm recently bought a California grocery store chain. The FT’s Wall Street editor Sujeet Indap explains how the deal went off the rails , and how the supermarket’s owners might e...

A few years ago, four men went on a hunting trip to Wyoming. That trip would end up changing their lives — and possibly, the future of the public’s access to millions of acres of land in America's western states. The FT’s Oliver Roeder expands on the saga that’s played out since 2021 inside courtrooms and within thousands of pages of legal documents.   Clips from KGWN, Ludlow Music and T...

Introducing Money Clinic’s Five Minute Investor, a miniseries hosted by Claer Barrett, the FT’s consumer editor. In each episode, Claer challenges top financial commentators to break down financial jargon in just five minutes, making you a smarter, and hopefully richer, investor. Tune in every Tuesday, and subscribe to Money Clinic wherever you get your podcasts. If you would like Claer to demysti...

WeightWatchers is struggling. Launched in the early 1960s, the brand grew by helping members shed pounds through behavioural change programmes. Then, GLP-1 anti-obesity drugs hit the market, long-time spokesperson and board member Oprah Winfrey announced her departure, and the company’s credit rating was downgraded. FT reporter Anna Mutoh examines whether WeightWatchers’ latest strategy can produc...

The US and China’s battle for dominance in the semiconductor industry is having some surprising knock-on effects: Companies are looking to insulate their supply chains from rising geopolitical tensions. And many from around the world are setting their sights on Malaysia to set up or expand their chip factories. FT correspondent Mercedes Ruehl explains how the country earned a prized spot in the su...

The past several years in the US Treasury market have not been what you’d call smooth sailing. Three crises in a decade recently pushed regulators to introduce important changes to the world’s largest and most liquid market. The Securities and Exchange Commission passed the most significant reform a few months ago. The FT’s capital markets correspondent Kate Duguid examines that change — plus the...

More questions — more answers! We’ve partnered with the FT’s Unhedged podcast for a special two-part episode, fielding questions you have submitted about markets and finance. The host of Unhedged , Ethan Wu, plus the FT’s US financial commentator Rob Armstrong and markets editor Katie Martin join Michela to traverse topics ranging from the longevity of the Magnificent Seven stocks to Japan’s econo...

Penny stocks are having a moment. In recent months, little-known companies with names such as Bit Brother and Phunware have been among the most traded stocks in America’s public markets, surpassing companies like Tesla and popular exchange traded funds. The FT’s US markets editor Jennifer Hughes explores why this is happening, and whether retail investors should think twice before diving in. Clip...

It’s been a year since Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse left everyone worried that the US’s banking sector sat on shaky ground. Despite that turmoil, one bank stands out: JPMorgan Chase. The largest bank in the country, JPMorgan took home record profits in 2023, and its dominance looks set to continue. The FT’s US banking editor Joshua Franklin walks through the reasons why JPMorgan flew past i...

OpenAI is one of the fastest-growing companies ever, thanks to its artificial intelligence chatbot, ChatGPT. But costs to train and run the models that underpin that technology are steep. And chief executive Sam Altman has said he has even bigger aims. The FT’s Madhumita Murgia and George Hammond examine whether the start-up’s existing business model can achieve its long-term goals.  Plus, do...

Billionaire financiers such as Ken Griffin pioneered what’s known as the multi-manager model for hedge funds, where big spending begets big returns. In 2022, Griffin’s Citadel became the best-performing hedge fund of all time. But now, cracks in the sector are beginning to form. The FT’s Harriet Agnew and Ortenca Aliaj examine what a downturn could mean for investors and the broader financial sect...

A Delaware court recently struck down Elon Musk’s $56 billion Tesla pay package. Soon after, Musk took to his social network X and offered some advice: “Never incorporate your company in the state of Delaware.” But will anyone take it? The FT’s Wall Street editor Sujeet Indap explains how Delaware became the favourite place for big companies to incorporate and why that’s unlikely to change. ...

Baidu made it big as China’s go-to search engine. But in the past decade the tech giant has struggled, while competitors such as Alibaba and Tencent have soared ahead. The FT’s China tech correspondent Ryan McMorrow looks at chief executive Robin Li’s latest venture, in artificial intelligence, and whether this will be enough to turn the company around.   - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -...

The nuclear power industry is receiving a lot of attention recently thanks in part to new technological advancements. That’s excited venture capital groups and private investors, such as Bill Gates and OpenAI’s Sam Altman. But the industry is also known for its boom-and-bust cycles. The FT’s US energy editor Jamie Smyth explains there are many challenges that lie ahead for an industry, which has l...

If you have questions about this year's US presidential election, we have answers. Swamp Notes is a new podcast from the FT News Briefing. Listen every Saturday morning as our journalists analyse and discuss the latest happenings in US politics. We’ll go beyond the horse race for the White House and offer a global perspective on the election.   You can subscribe to Swamp Notes here or wh...

BlackRock chief executive Larry Fink has been on the hunt for the money manager’s next “transformational” deal. Earlier this month, Fink revealed that he had finally found it with the acquisition of a private capital firm, Global Infrastructure Partners. The FT’s US financial editor Brooke Masters and US private capital correspondent Antoine Gara explain why BlackRock wanted GIP, and how this deal...

In Silicon Valley, the promise of a massive payday for a start-up’s early employees and investors has hinged on those companies eventually going public or being sold off. But with the slowdown in initial public offerings and acquisitions, a different marketplace is set to heat up this year. It is called the venture secondary market, and it’s where both investors and early employees can trade their...

Introducing Untold, a new podcast from the special investigations team at the Financial Times. In its first series, The Retreat, host Madison Marriage examines the world of the Goenka network, which promotes a type of intensive meditation known as Vipassana. Thousands of people go on Goenka retreats every year. People rave about them. But some people go to these meditation retreats, and they suffe...

The runaway success of diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy have turned their maker, Novo Nordisk, into a juggernaut. Last year the Danish drugmaker claimed the title of Europe’s most valuable company. But the development of these drugs was a long, uphill battle. The FT’s global pharmaceutical editor Hannah Kuchler explains how the company’s unique ownership structure played a critica...

You asked us questions, we’ve got your answers. FT columnists and editors such as Martin Wolf and Robert Armstrong respond to listener questions about everything from finance to markets to the economy. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  For further reading: Five questions for 2024 The region at the heart of Germany’s economic stagnation FT writers’ predictions for the world...

Who runs the world? Political scientist Ian Bremmer argues it’s not as simple as it used to be. With some eye-opening questions about the nature of influence, he asks us to consider the impact of the evolving global order — and our choices as participants in the future of democracy. This is an episode from TED Talks Daily. Every weekday, TED Talks Daily goes beyond the headlines and explores a new...