Podcasts · Back Row with Amy Odell
The Louvre Heist and Shady Billionaire Art Owners
· 45 min
Episode The Louvre Heist and Shady Billionaire Art Owners
"Parisian Heist" author Jo Piazza joins Amy to break down the October 2025 Louvre robbery — the suspects, the mysterious "sponsor," and why authorities aren't sure the suspects are telling the truth.
Plus: why museum security is so basic, how art gets used to launder money and fund violent crime, the billionaire families who quietly run the art market, and what a $181 million Jackson Pollock says about the state of art and wealth. (00:00) Introduction (02:30) Recap: the Louvre heist, October 19, 2025 (04:30) The Isabella Stewart Gardner heist: $500M, still unsolved (07:30) The arrests and the mysterious "sponsor" named Joe (08:30) How basic museum security really is (13:00) What was stolen: the Napoleonic crown jewels (16:30) The Wildensteins & how art launders money (30:00) The $60 billion shadow art market (31:00) Restoring Empress Eugénie's crown & the French jewelry houses (38:30) The $181M Pollock & Jerry Saltz's takedown of the art market Subscribe to the Back Row newsletter: https://www.backrow.net/subscribe Buy The Parisian Heist: https://amzn.to/4yLV6ex Follow Back Row: @backrow · Follow Amy: @instamyodell · Follow Jo: @jopiazzaauthor Edited by Chrissi Harris.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Links in the notes 1
Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them. Explicit shows are for adult profiles only, and children’s profiles hear only children’s shows. More about this list.