Send us a text
A public inquiry into Lumi’s £2bn government bailout exposes Pierpoint’s role in the disastrous IPO, where Robert is sent to testify in front of a UK select committee. The episode lays bare how firms protect themselves in crises: lawyers serve the institution, not employees, and blame is carefully redirected toward anyone expendable enough to absorb the fallout.
The real financial bombshell, however, happens quietly back on the trading floor. Sweetpea's risk model shows that Pierpoint’s entire IPO pipeline is collapsing amid an ESG downturn is actually far worse than anticipated due to prop bets the company took to invest in ESG companies using large tranches of debt that are now coming due. We get into whether this is allowed post–financial crisis (short answer no) BUT the show isn't wrong that this is what people have been worried about in "private credit" now that banks can no longer make these prop bets.
The episode positions Pierpoint as something far more fragile than it appears — an institution facing a potential Lehman-style reckoning not from reckless traders (see the prior episode), but from bad investments made by Pierpoint iteself. “Company Man” may be light on deal mechanics, but it sets the stage for the next episode which is arguably one of our favroites.
Shop our Self Paced Courses:
Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE
Fixed Income Sales & Trading HERE
Wealthfront.com/wss. This is a paid endorsement for Wealthfront. May not reflect others’ experiences. Similar outcomes not guaranteed. Wealthfront Brokerage is not a bank. Rate subject to change. Promo terms apply. If eligible for the boosted rate of 4.15% offered in connection with this promo, the boosted rate is also subject to change if base rate decreases during the 3 month promo period.The Cash Account, which is not a deposit account, is offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC ("Wealthfront Brokerage"), Member FINRA/SIPC. Wealthfront Brokerage is not a bank. The Annual Percentage Yield ("APY") on cash deposits as of 11/7/25, is representative, requires no minimum, and may change at any time. The APY reflects the weighted average of deposit balances at participating Program Banks, which are not allocated equally. Wealthfront Brokerage sweeps cash balances to Program Banks, where they earn the variable APY. Sources HERE.
