Podcasts · Business · Society & Culture

Hot Money: Agent of Chaos

Pushkin Industries & Financial Times

29 episodes · in order

In 2020, the Financial Times exposed a €2 billion fraud at Wirecard, a high-flying German fintech. Many thought that was the end of the story. But for reporter Sam Jones, it was just the beginning.

More about the show

This season on Hot Money: Agent of Chaos, Jones investigates Wirecard’s chief operating officer, who vanished just as Wirecard collapsed. And turned out to also be a Russian spy.

From an Ibizan sting operation to an attempted takeover of the Austrian intelligence service, his reporting spirals into a world of warlords, espionage, and disinformation.

All in an attempt to answer one question: Who is the real Jan Marsalek? And what does his secret life reveal about the powerful forces he serves?

Episodes

  1. Hot Money: Who Rules Porn?

    · 3:10 · Trailer · Explicit

    When Financial Times reporter Patricia Nilsson started digging into the porn industry, she made a shocking discovery: Nobody knew who controlled the biggest porn company in the world. Now, Nilsson and her editor, Alex…

  2. Episode 1: Porn Meets the Internet

    · 32 min · S1 E1 · Explicit

    Stoya is a porn star who saw first-hand how a firehose of free porn online transformed the adult industry. She sends hosts Alex Barker and Patricia Nilsson a quest: Find out who is in charge, and get to the bottom of…

  3. Episode 2: The Darth Vader of Porn

    · 33 min · S1 E2 · Explicit

    A decade ago, a computer programmer named Fabian Thylmann began to build one of the biggest porn empires in the world. How did Fabian do it? He was good with money in a business that was starved of finance. He…

  4. Episode 3: Mr. Goldman, Mr. Sex

    · 33 min · S1 E3 · Explicit

    When Fabian Thylmann ran into trouble with the law, a former Goldman Sachs banker swooped in to buy his porn sites. But nobody knew who he was. He managed to keep his identity a secret for years --- until Patricia…

  5. Episode 4: Playboy vs. Rusty and Edie

    · 40 min · S1 E4 · Explicit

    How is it legal for porn sites to host millions of videos uploaded by users? The answer is in the story of an Ohio family in the early 1990s. In this episode: a family IT business, an FBI raid and a court case that…

  6. Episode 5: The Billionaire Who Took Down Porn

    · 38 min · S1 E5 · Explicit

    A billionaire hedge fund manager reads a scathing column about a popular porn site. He sends an angry text to the CEO of MasterCard. Almost overnight, the biggest porn company in the world changes dramatically. If…

  7. Episode 6: Knocking on the Door of a Porn Empire

    · 41 min · S1 E6 · Explicit

    One of the biggest porn companies in the world was forced to radically change its practices. But another porn giant changed almost nothing. Patricia travels to the company's Prague headquarters to understand why. If…

  8. Episode 7: Porn Meets OnlyFans

    · 40 min · S1 E7 · Explicit

    Alex and Patricia track down the family behind OnlyFans, the site that has transformed online porn by shifting power back to performers. But there is a whole other side to the OnlyFans story. If you’d like to keep up…

  9. Episode 8: Inside Porn's Star Chamber

    · 41 min · S1 E8 · Explicit

    In the season finale, Alex and Patricia discover how Visa and MasterCard became the reluctant rulers of porn. And they figure out what being ruled by credit card companies means for the porn industry today. If you’d…

  10. Introducing Hot Money: The New Narcos

    · 2:55 · Trailer

    Hot Money is back with a new season that begins with a mysterious murder in a small town and leads to a cocaine super cartel and a secret proxy war between democracies and dictatorships. See omnystudio.com/listener…

  11. Episode 1 - Murder Brokers

    · 30 min · S2 E1

    When a Dutch crime reporter makes an unbelievable discovery, a small-town murder case begins to look like an international assassination plot. For more from the FT, sign up for the FT Edit App. To listen to Hot Money…

  12. Episode 2 - Cocaine CEO

    · 31 min · S2 E2 · Explicit

    An enterprising Dublin drug dealer makes the most of a revolution sweeping across Europe’s criminal economy. For more from the FT, sign up for the FT Edit App. To listen to Hot Money ad free, subscribe to Pushkin+.…

  13. Episode 3 - Sun, Guns & Sangria

    · 36 min · S2 E3

    International law enforcement is after the Kinahan cartel, revealing just how big the operation has grown. For more from the FT, sign up for the FT Edit App. To listen to Hot Money ad free, subscribe to Pushkin+. See…

  14. Episode 4 - Gangster's Paradise

    · 34 min · S2 E4

    No longer safe in Europe, the cartel bosses move to a city that is attracting criminals from around the globe. For more from the FT, sign up for the FT Edit App. To listen to Hot Money ad free, subscribe to Pushkin+.…

  15. Episode 5 - Nerds vs Narcos

    · 25 min · S2 E5

    Back in the Netherlands, the high-tech unit of the Dutch police works to crack the murder case. For more from the FT, sign up for the FT Edit App. To listen to Hot Money ad free, subscribe to Pushkin+. See…

  16. Episode 6 - Ties with Tehran

    · 33 min · S2 E6

    An undercover operation in New York reveals a connection with Tehran. For more from the FT, sign up for the FT Edit App. To listen to Hot Money ad free, subscribe to Pushkin+. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy…

  17. Episode 7 - Against the Ropes

    · 35 min · S2 E7

    Daniel Kinahan is more influential than ever, but law enforcement may finally be catching up. For more from the FT, sign up for the FT Edit App. To listen to Hot Money ad free, subscribe to Pushkin+. See…

  18. Episode 8 - The Red Notebook

    · 33 min · S2 E8

    Law enforcement cuts off the Kinahan cartel, and a little red notebook in the back of a car might finally reveal who killed the electrician in Almere. For more from the FT, sign up for the FT Edit App. To listen to…

  19. Introducing Hot Money Season 3: Agent of Chaos

    · 3:46 · Trailer

    When reporter Sam Jones asks questions about disgraced financial executive Jan Marsalek, he discovers a world of warlords, espionage, and disinformation. Coming June 10 from Pushkin Industries and The Financial Times…

  20. Episode 1: The Bribe

    · 38 min · S3 E1

    A series of clandestine lunch meetings leads Sam’s editor to send him off to Vienna, in search of one man. Get ad-free access to the entire season of Hot Money: Agent of Chaos by subscribing to Pushkin+ on Apple…

  21. Episode 2: The Friendship Society

    · 41 min · S3 E2

    As Sam arrives in Vienna, a political bomb explodes. A secretly recorded video exposes ties between the far right and Russia, plunging the Austrian government into crisis and revealing a world where people like Jan…

  22. Episode 3: Thrill Seeking

    · 44 min · S3 E3

    Sam tracks down an old contact in Tunisia. A former UN official living off grid. He reveals how he ended up involved in one of Jan Marsalek’s wildest schemes. CORRECTION: In this episode, we reported that Marsalek…

  23. Episode 4: Backbearings

    · 44 min · S3 E4 · Explicit

    On the ground in Austria and Germany, Sam digs deep into Marsalek’s past. His odd habits. His strange house. The hypnotic effect he had on former colleagues. And how he is remembered by childhood friends. CORRECTION:…

  24. Episode 5: A Different Set of Rules

    · 37 min · S3 E5

    How does one become a spy? Sam speaks with a former Russian intelligence officer about how Marsalek might have been recruited. And to what ends. Get ad-free access to the entire season of Hot Money: Agent of Chaos by…

  25. Episode 6: Maestro

    · 39 min · S3 E6

    Back in Vienna, Sam investigates another Marsalek plot. One that nearly toppled Austria’s intelligence agency. Get ad-free access to the entire season of Hot Money: Agent of Chaos by subscribing to Pushkin+ on Apple…

  26. Episode 7: From Russia With Love

    · 37 min · S3 E7 · Explicit

    A Marsalek-backed ring of operatives goes on trial in the UK for espionage. A treasure trove of text messages reveals their inner workings. Get ad-free access to the entire season of Hot Money: Agent of Chaos by…

  27. Episode 8: Matryoshka

    · 39 min · S3 E8

    In our season finale, Sam discovers a different narrative about Marsalek’s life in Russia. And a tip from long ago resurfaces. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  28. From The Financial Times: The Broker

    · 37 min · Bonus

    In this special bonus episode from The Financial Times, "The Broker" tells the story of how a failed baseball hopeful and disgraced stockbroker reinvented himself as one of America’s most consequential modern arms…

  29. Examined: The Backfire Effect | New Podcast

    · 33 min · Bonus

    Nearly 40 years ago, in the parking lot of a community college in Port Huron, Michigan, a 20-year-old student named Scott Macklem was shot dead in broad daylight. His murder shocked the community. It made no sense. The…

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