Podcast

Viewsroom: Soccer, steel and the COP; Andrea Orcel

28 Oct 2021

As world leaders and corporate chieftains converge on Glasgow for the UN climate powwow, Rob Cox and George Hay talk about one European steel town's struggle to transition from hydrocarbons to a green new era. And Lisa Jucca discusses the latest on UniCredit’s M&A options.

Road to COP: Sealing the deal

26 Oct 2021

Seasoned climate change lawyer Rick Saines received recognition from the French state for his role in making the 2015 Paris Agreement a landmark success. With days to go until Glasgow’s equivalent COP26, he chatted to George Hay about how this one could pan out.

Viewsroom: IMF’s big brouhaha, European retailing

14 Oct 2021

The multilateral lender’s boss, Kristalina Georgieva, rode out data-rigging charges. Now she has got a lot to prove. Swaha Pattanaik ticks through how she can remake her legacy and reform the institution. Aimee Donnellan walks through the aisles of French supermarket finance.

Viewsroom: Bitcoin, El Salvador and Roger Federer

9 Sep 2021

As the Central American country adopts the cryptocurrency as a coin of the realm, Richard Beales and Gina Chon discuss the merits of stablecoins and the scramble by regulators to catch up with the market. Karen Kwok takes a slice at Roger Federer-backed running shoe outfit On.

Viewsroom: Scoring Ronaldo’s return to Man Utd

2 Sep 2021

Shareholders cheered the prolific Portuguese striker’s surprise decision to rejoin his former club in England. His three-year stint at Juventus, though, was hardly a clear financial victory. Plus: An $80 bln IPO valuation for electric-truck maker Rivian would be too racy.

The Exchange: Ron Johnson, Apple store retail guru

24 Aug 2021

He helped transform Target, opened the first Apple store, but failed to save J.C. Penney. Now Johnson is turning his attention to mobile stores. He tells Jennifer Saba about his new venture, Enjoy, and explains how e-commerce is changing everything.

Viewsroom: China’s Afghanistan question

19 Aug 2021

Beijing was able to expand its influence in central Asia while America and its allies held back the Taliban. The Islamic fundamentalists’ return to power presents China with new challenges – and opportunities. Plus: CEO Mike Henry shakes up mining giant BHP.

The Exchange: Buyout bonanza

17 Aug 2021

Thomas H. Lee’s Scott Sperling has been investing in private equity deals for more than two decades. As the industry is hotter than ever, he talks to Lauren Silva Laughlin about how nothing and everything have changed.

The Exchange: How UK’s vaccine taskforce did it

3 Aug 2021

Clive Dix was part of a crack team of business execs and scientists that secured Covid-19 jabs for Great Britain. They applied a venture capital approach that can be used to tackle other public sector challenges. The former chairman discusses lessons learned and looming threats.

The Exchange: Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez

27 Jul 2021

In his attempt to revive the economy, Pedro Sánchez wants investors to give Spain more love. Local and global politics make that a challenging proposition. John Foley met with the prime minister as he set out for Wall Street, Silicon Valley and Hollywood but not Washington, D.C.

Viewsroom: Olympic blunders and Robinhood’s IPO

22 Jul 2021

The Tokyo games are struggling with rising Covid-19 infections, corporations pulling out, an unenthused Japanese public and now a bad Holocaust joke. Pete Sweeney and Rob Cox discuss. Meantime, John Foley says Robinhood resembles E*Trade 20 years ago – in good and bad ways.

Viewsroom: Finance’s first-rate second quarter

15 Jul 2021

Earnings of Wall Street’s largest banks confirmed that animal spirits among corporate chiefs and global investors are running high, while pandemic-shy consumers are getting their mojo back. John Foley walks Rob Cox through JPMorgan, Goldman, BofA, Wells Fargo and Citi results.

The Exchange: Global tax deal

7 Jul 2021

EY Vice Chair Kate Barton is helping companies figure out a minimum corporate rate agreed to by 130 countries. The historic pact will help raise $150 billion in government revenue. She talks to Gina Chon about the 15% floor, how effective it may be and where it goes from here.

Viewsroom: Communist birthday, Little guys in IPOs

1 Jul 2021

China’s Communist Party turns 100. The institution has never been so popular at home or resented abroad. Its leaders are experts at the nuances of control and long on ambition, Pete Sweeney says. Plus, Wall Street enlists individual investors to help price initial stock deals.

The Exchange: Niall Ferguson on human error

29 Jun 2021

The historian joins Pete Sweeney to discuss his latest book on disasters, natural and man-made, and why so many governments got Covid-19 so wrong. They debate which political model looked best after the pandemic and whether historians can make a difference at times like these.

Viewsroom: Wall Street is open again and booming

24 Jun 2021

From Morgan Stanley to BlackRock, the world’s top investment banks and money managers are back in their offices and super busy with mergers, IPOs, LBOs and other activities thumping. Plus, Soho House and Wise go public and green hydrogen megalomania on the Congo river.

The Exchange: Hiro Mizuno

17 Jun 2021

The former chief investment officer of Japan’s $1.6 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund is now a board member at Tesla and Danone. In an interview as part of last week’s Ethical Finance 2021 summit, he tells George Hay how ESG has changed since he championed it at GPIF.

The Exchange: IAC Chairman Barry Diller

15 Jun 2021

The media mogul has backed businesses ranging from travel to gambling to dating and more. Plus, he’s behind Little Island, a new park in New York. Diller shares his thoughts on the reopening of the world, IAC’s unique model and why Netflix has already won the streaming war.

Viewsroom: Private equity gets funky, HK hiring

10 Jun 2021

Blackstone, KKR, Carlyle and other firms are flipping the leveraged buyout playbook with deals that, while less dependent on debt, don’t always add up for their backers. Meanwhile, investment banking is fast becoming the fragrant harbor’s monoculture. Our columnists discuss.

The Exchange: EU Trade Commissioner Dombrovskis

8 Jun 2021

With vaccination programs catching up with America and Britain, Europe is poised to rebound, the former Latvian premier, who is also responsible for an “Economy that Works for People,” tells Rob Cox in an interview hosted by the European-American Chamber of Commerce New York.