Hot Money: Agent of Chaos

Hot Money: Agent of Chaos

Pushkin Industries & Financial Times
Business Society & Culture Technology
en-US
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.

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 (29)

China’s Race to Dominate: Listen to Global Tech Wars

China’s Race to Dominate: Listen to Global Tech Wars

August 25, 2025 25m
Here’s a preview of a new audiobook, Global Tech Wars: China’s Race to Dominate. For decades, China’s economic rise has been symbolized by its unstoppable force of low-cost...
Sam Jones on Jan Marsalek's Secret Life | SpyCast Interview

Sam Jones on Jan Marsalek's Secret Life | SpyCast Interview

August 11, 2025 27m
We're sharing a special episode from SpyCast, the official podcast of the International Spy Museum, featuring Hot Money's Sam Jones. SpyCast host Sasha Ingber sits down with Sam to learn how Jan...
Episode 8: Matryoshka

Episode 8: Matryoshka

July 29, 2025 39m S3E8
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.
Episode 7: From Russia With Love

Episode 7: From Russia With Love

July 22, 2025 36m S3E7
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...
Episode 6: Maestro

Episode 6: Maestro

July 15, 2025 39m S3E6
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...
Episode 5: A Different Set of Rules

Episode 5: A Different Set of Rules

July 01, 2025 37m S3E5
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:...
Episode 4: Backbearings

Episode 4: Backbearings

June 24, 2025 43m S3E4
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...
Episode 3: Thrill Seeking

Episode 3: Thrill Seeking

June 17, 2025 43m S3E3
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,...
Episode 2: The Friendship Society

Episode 2: The Friendship Society

June 10, 2025 40m S3E2
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...
Episode 1: The Bribe

Episode 1: The Bribe

June 10, 2025 37m S3E1
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...
Introducing Hot Money Season 3: Agent of Chaos

Introducing Hot Money Season 3: Agent of Chaos

June 03, 2025 3m
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...
Episode 8 - The Red Notebook

Episode 8 - The Red Notebook

December 26, 2023 33m S2E8
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...
Episode 7 - Against the Ropes

Episode 7 - Against the Ropes

December 21, 2023 35m S2E7
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...
Episode 6 - Ties with Tehran

Episode 6 - Ties with Tehran

December 19, 2023 32m S2E6
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...
Episode 5 - Nerds vs Narcos

Episode 5 - Nerds vs Narcos

December 14, 2023 24m S2E5
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...
Episode 4 - Gangster's Paradise

Episode 4 - Gangster's Paradise

December 12, 2023 34m S2E4
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,...
Episode 3 - Sun, Guns & Sangria

Episode 3 - Sun, Guns & Sangria

December 07, 2023 35m S2E3
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...
Episode 2 - Cocaine CEO

Episode 2 - Cocaine CEO

December 05, 2023 31m S2E2
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,...
Episode 1 - Murder Brokers

Episode 1 - Murder Brokers

December 05, 2023 29m S2E1
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...
Introducing Hot Money: The New Narcos

Introducing Hot Money: The New Narcos

November 21, 2023 2m
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...
Episode 8: Inside Porn's Star Chamber

Episode 8: Inside Porn's Star Chamber

July 19, 2022 40m S1E8
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...
Episode 7:  Porn Meets OnlyFans

Episode 7: Porn Meets OnlyFans

July 12, 2022 39m S1E7
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...
Episode 6: Knocking on the Door of a Porn Empire

Episode 6: Knocking on the Door of a Porn Empire

July 05, 2022 41m S1E6
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...
Episode 5: The Billionaire Who Took Down Porn

Episode 5: The Billionaire Who Took Down Porn

June 28, 2022 38m S1E5
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...
Episode 4: Playboy vs. Rusty and Edie

Episode 4: Playboy vs. Rusty and Edie

June 21, 2022 39m S1E4
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...
Episode 3: Mr. Goldman, Mr. Sex

Episode 3: Mr. Goldman, Mr. Sex

June 14, 2022 32m S1E3
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 ---...
Episode 2: The Darth Vader of Porn

Episode 2: The Darth Vader of Porn

June 07, 2022 32m S1E2
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...
Episode 1: Porn Meets the Internet

Episode 1: Porn Meets the Internet

June 06, 2022 32m S1E1
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...
Hot Money: Who Rules Porn?

Hot Money: Who Rules Porn?

May 25, 2022 3m
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...

About this Podcast

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en-US
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Business, Society & Culture, Technology, Health & Fitness, Sexuality