After years of fast-paced growth, private credit is facing intense scrutiny. In recent months, investors have made requests to withdraw billions of dollars from the $2tn sector’s funds. The FT’s US private equity and deals editor Antoine Gara and US investment editor Eric Platt explain how we got to this critical moment, and what may be next for this pocket of Wall Street.    

Clips from Bloomberg, CNBC, Fox Business, JPMorgan, US Federal Reserve 

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

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For further reading:

Retail investors pull billions from private capital’s credit gold mine

Wall St underestimates private capital problems, says top credit hedge fund

Private credit’s game of footsie is getting riskier 

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Follow Antoine Gara on X (@AntoineGara) and Bluesky (@antoinegara.bsky.social). Eric Platt is on X (@ericgplatt) and Bluesky (@ericgplatt.ft.com). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we are revisiting a favorite episode. The natural diamond industry is facing an existential threat: lab-grown diamonds. They are chemically and physically identical to natural stones but they are a fraction of the price. Eleanor Olcott, the FT’s China technology correspondent, travelled to the epicentre of lab-grown diamond production in the central Chinese province of Henan to see how they are made. While the FT’s natural resources editor, Leslie Hook, explores what the sale of De Beers, the natural diamond producer, could mean for the future of the sector.

This episode originally aired on September 10 2025.  

Clip from Arnold Worldwide 

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

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For further reading (updated):

How the diamond industry lost its sparkle 

The sparkle is fading in Africa’s diamond heartland

De Beers likely to be sold to consortium, Anglo chief says

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Follow Leslie Hook on X (@lesliehook) and Eleanor Olcott on X (@EleanorOlcott). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Introducing Opus Dei, a new season of Untold from the Financial Times. Host Antonia Cundy uncovers the cultural and political influence of a controversial Catholic organisation in America. Opus Dei exists to help people get closer to God, but some members say they found other agendas – and unexpected harm – entangled in that spiritual mission. The first episode of Untold: Opus Dei launches March 25. 

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

US President Donald Trump handed crypto companies a huge win last year when he signed a piece of legislation to regulate an important part of the digital currency world: stablecoins. But ever since then, Wall Street banks have been fighting to change parts of the law. The FT’s digital markets correspondent Nikou Asgari explains what’s provoked US banks and who might have the upper hand in this conflict.

Clips from Bank of America, CBS News, CNBC, CNN, Forbes, Fox 5 Atlanta, JPMorgan Chase, The White House

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

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For further reading:

The stablecoin war: Wall Street vs crypto over the future of money

Bitcoin and crypto stocks surge amid relief rally for risky assets

Global crypto assets hit $4tn as industry wins backing of US lawmakers

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Vote for us!

Behind the Money has been nominated for an NYC Podcast Award in the Best Interview Podcast category. It’s an Audience Choice award, which means we need your help to win. Vote for us here. We appreciate your support!

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Follow Nikou Asgari on X (@nikasgari), or on Bluesky (@nikasgari.bsky.social). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Behind the Money has been nominated for an NYC Podcast Award in the Best Interview Podcast category. It’s an Audience Choice award, which means we need your help to win. Vote for us here. 

And while you’re at it, vote for some other FT podcasts that have also been nominated. Our Tech Tonic podcast was nominated for Best Science & Tech Podcast. And our Swamp Notes podcast was nominated for Best News, Politics & Public Service Podcast. 

We appreciate your support!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Michela and the FT’s US banking editor, Joshua Franklin, interview the co-creators of the hit television show, Industry. In its fourth season, the show follows the lives of ambitious young people making their way in London's financial centre. The season finale aired earlier this week, and in this episode, Michela and Joshua discuss with the creators, Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, the overlap between their show's storylines and real world finance. 

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

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For further reading: 

The ONS vs Industry 

How I won a starring role — OK, bit part — in HBO’s ‘Industry’

Inside Wirecard 

For further listening:

How Wirecard’s Jan Marsalek went from fraudster to spy 

HBO’s 'Industry', and Esther Perel 

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Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Raids by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement have made national headlines. But behind ICE’s operations, a sprawling web of private companies – from global powerhouses to niche family-run businesses – have secured hundreds of millions of dollars in government contracts. Peter Andringa from the FT’s visual investigations team spent months crawling through federal documents and data sets to put together a picture of the companies that make up this web. 

Clips from ABC7 News Bay Area, CBS 6 Albany, C-SPAN, Donald J Trump, Fox 26 Houston, Fox Nashville, Fox News, NBC Connecticut, The New York Times

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

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For further reading: 

Companies reap $22bn from Trump’s immigration crackdown

Trump’s immigration data dragnet

The booming business of Trump’s deportation flights

For further listening:

Palantir’s relentless rise

US uses private data to track immigrants

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Follow Peter Andringa on X (@peterjandringa), or on Bluesky (@peter.andringa.me) Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Partners Group pursued an innovative approach to private equity: The firm built a business serving a market of individual investors. Now, a recent executive order from US President Donald Trump is set to unlock that marketplace on an even grander scale.

The only thing is, Partners might not be the one to reap the rewards. The FT’s US private equity and deals editor Antoine Gara and private capital reporter Alexandra Heal explain how the pioneer is struggling to keep up with its rivals. 

Clips from CBS, CBS19  

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts

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For further reading:

How private equity’s pioneer in tapping retail money lost its edge

Donald Trump exposes US retirees to new world of risk with 401k order

Buyout executive warns private equity push into US savings risks bailouts 

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Follow Antoine Gara on X (@AntoineGara) and Bluesky (@antoinegara.bsky.social). Alexandra Heal is on X (@alexandraheal) and Bluesky (@alexandraheal.bsky.social). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When the hedge fund Elliott Management pursued the acquisition of the oil refinery business Citgo a few years ago, the deal was already a complicated one. A US court had ordered its current owner, Venezuela, to sell the business, and the country was not happy about it. But, things only got thornier after the US President Donald Trump removed the Caribbean nation’s leader Nicolás Maduro. The FT’s US investment correspondent Amelia Pollard and hedge fund correspondent Costas Mourselas explain how Elliott often thrives pursuing complex deals, and how they might navigate closing this one.    

Clips from Citgo, CNN, Norges Bank Investment Management, The White House, VTV   

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

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For further reading:

Donald Trump’s removal of Maduro clouds fate of Elliott’s Citgo deal

How Venezuela lost Citgo

Hedge funds hunt for Venezuela’s unpaid financial claims

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Follow Costas Mourselas on X (@CostasMourselas) and Bluesky (@costasmourselas.bsky.social). Amelia Pollard is on X (@ameliajpollard) and Bluesky (@pollard.bsky.social). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

US President Donald Trump on Friday made his pick to lead the Federal Reserve: Kevin Warsh. The former central bank governor with ties to Wall Street is seen as a mainstream pick. Still, some economists say if Warsh is confirmed, he will trigger a sweeping rethink of the Fed’s role at the centre of the world’s biggest economy. The FT’s US economics editor Claire Jones explains who Warsh is, what he wants to do at the Fed, and how it might go.

Clips from Fox Business, Group of Thirty 

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

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For further reading:

Kevin Warsh’s nomination as Fed chair to spark rethink of bank’s role

Kevin Warsh, the Fed chair nominee shaped by the 2008 financial crisis

How Kevin Warsh won the race to become Donald Trump’s new Federal Reserve chair

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Follow Claire Jones on X (@senoj_erialc). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For more than 170 years, Wells Fargo built a reputation as an all-American Main Street lender. Now, it is charting a new path and pushing into investment banking, something that many other banks have tried and failed to do. The FT’s US banking editor Joshua Franklin and US banking correspondent Akila Quinio discuss what Wells Fargo does — and doesn’t have — going for it as it pursues this strategy.

Clips from, CNN, CBS News, CNBC, CNN, HBO, KPIX, KRON4, NBC News, Wells Fargo

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

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For further reading:

Wells Fargo wants to be taken seriously as an investment bank. Will it succeed? 

Wells Fargo has finally shed its dunce cap

Netflix leans on $59bn bank loan to fund Warner Bros takeover 

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Follow Joshua Franklin on X (@ftjfranklin). Akila Quinio is on X (@akilazoe). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.