The Story of Money

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LVMH, Tiffany and a case of buyer’s remorse Oct 14, 2020

Show notes

Bernard Arnault built a €210bn luxury empire through an unflinching acquisition strategy that earned him the “wolf in cashmere” moniker. Tiffany, famous for its robin-egg blue boxes and diamond engagement rings, was meant to be the jewel atop his LVMH luxury group. The takeover would have been the largest-ever in the luxury sector, until the pandemic hit. The FT’s Leila Abboud, Arash Massoudi and James Fontanella-Khan unwind the saga of how the $16.6bn deal has hit rocky ground and how the pandemic and the forthcoming legal battle could change the terms of M&A engagement globally.

Review clips: CNBC, PBS, Viva Technology

Read more from Leila, Arash and James - https://www.ft.com/content/72af09b4-12a4-45ad-86ca-919d38e279e8

Find the FT’s Due Diligence newsletter - https://www.ft.com/due-diligence

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Mafia high finance Oct 07, 2020

Show notes

While reporting on the coronavirus crisis in northern Italy this year, Rome correspondent Miles Johnson discovered an equally concerning story in the country’s south. Italy’s most powerful organised crime group, the ‘Ndrangheta, had infiltrated local hospitals and packaged millions of plundered euros into global investment funds and portfolios. In the first episode of Behind the Money’s fourth season, Miles follows the money trail in a cautionary tale for the era of ultra-low interest rates.

Read Miles’ full investigation here: https://www.ft.com/content/8850581c-176e-4c5c-8b38-debb26b35c14.

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

We're back with a new season Sep 30, 2020

Show notes

Episodes will be released weekly starting Wednesday October 7.

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Wirecard: how to find a €2bn hole Jul 14, 2020

Show notes

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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Rent, real estate and the commercial mortgage market in the age of coronavirus Jun 26, 2020

Show notes

In the US, commercial mortgage backed securities are a $1.2tn market, and an integral part of how banks lend to commercial property owners. But as the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns changed almost every sector of the economy, commercial real estate has changed too. Hotels and retailers have been hit hard by the shutdown, and mortgage and rent payments they have deferred are coming due. The FT’s Joe Rennison explains what this means for the CMBS market. We also hear from two people who are helping lenders and landlords deal with the upheaval.

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

A history of police funding Jun 13, 2020

Show notes

When a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd, it was as if a fire was ignited. His death, along with the killings of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery have sparked the most widespread protests in the US since 1968. Hundreds of thousands of people have marched under banners such as “Black Lives Matter”, “No Justice, No Peace” and “Say Their Names”. Now, the voices of activists are converging around a call to “defund the police”. In this episode, we hear from Rachel Harmon, a professor of law at the University of Virginia, and Vesla M Weaver, a professor of political science and sociology at Johns Hopkins University, about the role the federal government, and federal funding, have played in transforming policing in the US.

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To get free access to the FT’s Coronavirus Business Update newsletter for 30 days, visit ft.com/behindthemoneycovid or https://www.ft.com/newsletter-signup/coronavirus?segmentId=12f1abd6-6f16-e2df-e4ff-7aaa9346f98e.

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A programming note Jun 09, 2020

Show notes

An update on this week's episode

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The private equity bet that coronavirus cut short May 26, 2020

Show notes

Last December executives at the Carlyle Group worked into the night to sign what they imagined would be one of the private equity firm’s most enduring deals. In 2020, however, there may be no such thing as a stable business. Carlyle is now trying to walk away from a deal with American Express Global Business Travel before any money has changed hands. Our US private capital correspondent, Mark Vandevelde, reports on the ensuing legal row, and what it could mean for dealmaking during the pandemic.

A few stories for further reading:

Inside Carlyle’s ‘long-term’ Amex bet that coronavirus cut short (paywall): https://www.ft.com/content/e710b3dc-3eba-4227-9258-6a678d66f6e1
Apollo: how a private equity giant is navigating the crisis (paywall): https://www.ft.com/content/6fce9808-84ab-11ea-b555-37a289098206
Coronavirus: private equity’s bailout moment (paywall): https://www.ft.com/content/f7cc82d7-70b9-40c3-b4a0-815ebc5d99d5

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

When coronavirus hit America's meat industry May 12, 2020

Show notes

This was supposed to be a record year for the US meat industry. But when coronavirus hit the meat-packing plants, it exposed a vulnerable link in the supply chain. We take a look at how our meat gets from the farm to the supermarket, and ask what the fall in production could mean for the US-China trade truce. With the FT’s Gregory Meyer.

To get free access to the FT’s Coronavirus Business Update newsletter for 30 days, visit ft.com/behindthemoneycovid.

Further reading:

Coronavirus: return to work divides US meat industry (paywall)

https://www.ft.com/content/f6e2b4ad-4a62-4c6f-8348-38704e3e81f6

Tyson Foods warns of sales declines and rising costs (paywall)

https://www.ft.com/content/f0b4f894-cd46-44f2-b7b0-10707de449db

John Tyson laments breakdown of meat system his family pioneered (paywall)

https://www.ft.com/content/82c2f5fa-1070-4388-853b-a2ed430fbf04

Pandemic accelerates shift to meat substitutes (paywall)

https://www.ft.com/content/0127984a-6def-4040-9bca-002b6ffd4e0a

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On 12-14 May, the Financial Times, in partnership with TNW, will gather the most senior global decision makers and leading minds in policy, business, tech and finance for three days of online conversations with top FT journalists, analysing the impact of the pandemic across global economies, industries and markets, and outlining what is required to shape the optimal conditions for recovery at this most challenging of times. Register at globalboardroom.ft.com.

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

Missing out on the US small business rescue Apr 28, 2020

Show notes

The Trump administration’s small business bailout programme has been plagued by problems from the start, with complaints that large companies crowded out the kinds of small enterprises and independent contractors it was designed to help. With a fresh round of funding on offer from Washington, we hear from several business owners trying to get their share, as well as the FT’s Laura Noonan who has been reporting on the programme since it launched.

To get free access to the FT’s Coronavirus Business Update newsletter for 30 days, visit ft.com/behindthemoneycovid.

A few stories for further reading:

US small business rescue fund strained by rush of claims

https://www.ft.com/content/0467d0e1-6814-4cc4-ad4b-e25c80169466

Can Congress save US small businesses? FT reporters answer your questions

https://www.ft.com/content/55b0f191-5ea2-4762-bf8c-13d6a11e61ed

‘Where is my loan?’ Small businesses miss out on US rescue funds

https://www.ft.com/content/e6a06f94-5d2f-43a0-8aac-c7adddca0b0e

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You might also be interested in a three-day digital conference hosted by the Financial Times. On 12-14 May, the FT, in partnership with TNW, will gather the most senior global decision makers and leading minds in policy, business, tech and finance for three days of online conversations with top FT journalists, analysing the impact of the pandemic across global economies, industries and markets, and outlining what is required to shape the optimal conditions for recovery at this most challenging of times. Register at globalboardroom.ft.com.

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

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