Behind the Money

Earlier this year, Facebook announced its digital currency project, Libra, to great fanfare. Just a few months later, the project has stalled amid pressure from regulators and lawmakers around the world. With the FT's Hannah Murphy and Kiran Stacey.Further reading:Where it all went wrong for Facebook’s Libra: https://www.ft.com/content/6e29a1f0-ef1e-11e9-ad1e-4367d8281195Zuckerberg warns blocking Libra will be boon to China tech: https://www.ft.com/content/28c600de-f5a1-11e9-9ef3-eca8fc8f2d65Federal Reserve sets out regulatory challenges facing Facebook’s Libra: https://www.ft.com/content/ef650f9a-f052-11e9-ad1e-4367d8281195 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this engaging discussion, Joe Rennison, a Financial Times journalist with deep insights into finance, unpacks recent strains in the repo market. He highlights how unexpected cash shortages led to a spike in repo rates, signaling financial stress. Rennison also explains the Federal Reserve's crucial $53 billion liquidity injection to restore stability and navigates the complex challenges of unwinding quantitative easing policies. The conversation emphasizes the precarious balance the Fed must maintain amid economic uncertainty.

WeWork was long considered one of the most anticipated IPOs of 2019. For SoftBank, WeWork’s biggest outside investor, the listing would be the moment it made a return on the nearly $11bn it poured into the shared-office provider. Now, as WeWork struggles to take the company public, the spotlight is on SoftBank’s Masa Son and his billion-dollar bets.Further FT reading:SoftBank investors brace for Vision Fund writedownshttps://www.ft.com/content/ccdaa9c6-d60d-11e9-8367-807ebd53ab77WeWork postpones IPO after chilly response from investorshttps://www.ft.com/content/b869bc42-d8d9-11e9-8f9b-77216ebe1f17WeWork: the ‘hypothetical’ company at the heart of the property markethttps://www.ft.com/content/0e426c90-8c45-11e9-a1c1-51bf8f989972SoftBank: inside the ‘Wild West’ $100bn fund shaking up the tech worldhttps://www.ft.com/content/71ad7cda-6ef4-11e8-92d3-6c13e5c92914Some of Aimee’s favourite FT reads:Warren Buffett: ‘I’m having more fun than any 88-year-old int he world’https://www.ft.com/content/40b9b356-661e-11e9-a79d-04f350474d62The trillion-dollar taboo: why it’s time to stop ignoring mental health at workhttps://www.ft.com/content/1e8293f4-a1db-11e9-974c-ad1c6ab5efd1Finding my Armenia, a century after the genocidehttps://www.ft.com/content/2e2f38b0-e7a1-11e8-8a85-04b8afea6ea3How Purdue’s ‘one-two’ punch fuelled the market for opioidshttps://www.ft.com/content/8e64ec9c-b133-11e8-8d14-6f049d06439cAngola 3 inmate: from solitary cell to centre of the communityhttps://www.ft.com/content/72a0983a-9f7d-11e7-8cd4-932067fbf946 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The purpose of the US corporation has evolved over time, from Henry Ford's mission to benefit the carmaker's employees to Milton Friedman's essay on shareholder primacy. The FT's US business editor, Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, reports on the latest thinking, this time from America's largest business lobby, the Business Roundtable. Read more on the idea of sustainable investing at ft.com/moralmoney Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Investors poured $17bn into agricultural food and technology startups in 2018, fuelled by threats to the world's food supply, including climate change and a growing global population. We visit one such startup, Indigo Ag, which is working with farmers to trial its microbial products for healthier crops. Indigo Ag provides microbial seed treatments to farmers for free in exchange for data. The company also sells the seed treatments through its standard commercial model. With guests Emiko Terazono, FT commodities correspondent, Ben Riensche, owner and manager, Blue Diamond Farming Company and Geoffrey von Maltzahn, co-founder and chief innovation officer, Indigo Ag. Read more from Emiko on agricultural food and technology at FT.com:https://www.ft.com/content/ee6fb294-edc3-11e8-8180-9cf212677a57 (paywall) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amid concerns about a slowdown in global economic growth, there is one industry telling a completely different story: luxury goods. Aimee goes to Paris to find out why. With guests Harriet Agnew, Paris correspondent for the Financial Times, and Robert Burke, chairman and chief executive of the consultancy Robert Burke Associates. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

About 10 years ago, two legendary private equity firms, Apollo Global Management and TPG, teamed up to carry out a leveraged buyout of one of the biggest and most iconic gaming companies, then known as Harrah’s. They financed the purchase by taking advantage of Harrah’s real estate. Now, an obscure regional casino group out of Reno, Nevada is set to scoop up what has become the Caesars Entertainment empire in a deal that is making use of a pretty similar kind of financing. The FT’s Sujeet Indap tells the story. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Fiat Chrysler Automobiles withdrew its proposal for a €33bn merger with France’s Renault it reversed plans to create what could have been the world's third-largest carmaker. The FT's David Keohane, Leo Lewis and Rachel Sanderson tell the story of how the bid came together, how it eventually fell apart and what it means for the future of global carmakers.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the past 54 years, shares in Berkshire Hathaway have outpaced the broader market. But now the conglomerate is holding onto more than $100bn in cash that it would rather be investing. The FT's Eric Platt guides us through the Berkshire Hathaway operation, and how its 88-year old chairman and chief executive is thinking about the company's future. Read more at FT.com.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What it means for a generation of tech companies with huge valuations to be making the shift to the public markets, and why some are doing it by unconventional means.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.