$12bn of debt: How First Brands Group collapsed
Behind the Money29 Loka 2025

$12bn of debt: How First Brands Group collapsed

Some of the world’s biggest financial institutions are reeling after the collapse of a little-known car parts supplier: First Brands Group. The company filed for bankruptcy last month, and since then, FT reporters have shone a spotlight on billions of dollars of hidden debt and a secretive founder whose borrowing habits left creditors exposed. The FT’s corporate finance editor Robert Smith and banking editor Ortenca Aliaj walk through their investigation and explain how this event has raised questions about potential cracks in private credit.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


For further reading:

The secretive First Brands founder, his $12bn debt and the future of private credit

First Brands Group: dude, where’s my cash?

First Brands bankruptcy: the losers — and winners


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Follow Robert Smith on X (@BondHack), or on Bluesky (@bondhack.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.

Jaksot(318)

Why Big Oil is resisting Trump’s call to ‘drill, baby, drill'

Why Big Oil is resisting Trump’s call to ‘drill, baby, drill'

US President Donald Trump wants energy producers to drill for more oil. He claims it will lower prices for consumers and tackle inflation. But oil companies have a different set of priorities — and th...

5 Helmi 202517min

Mexico faces a deficit – and Donald Trump

Mexico faces a deficit – and Donald Trump

Mexico’s new president Claudia Sheinbaum is pursuing an ambitious agenda for her country. It promises a better standard of living for Mexicans. But investors in the country’s economy have their concer...

29 Tammi 202521min

Inside Wall Street’s ‘SRT’ phenomenon

Inside Wall Street’s ‘SRT’ phenomenon

Every so often a cool new financial innovation springs up and gains popularity on Wall Street, promising juicy returns for investors. That’s why “synthetic risk transfers” or SRTs are in fashion. But ...

22 Tammi 202519min

Not everyone will win in Trump's M&A revival

Not everyone will win in Trump's M&A revival

Wall Street dealmakers are itching for an M&A revival during president-elect Donald Trump’s second term. But as he prepares to move back to the White House, the picture appears more complicated. The F...

15 Tammi 202520min

What crypto wants from Trump

What crypto wants from Trump

Pro-crypto investors spent millions to re-elect Donald Trump to the US presidency, after he told voters he wanted to make America the “crypto capital of the planet”. As the second Trump administration...

8 Tammi 202523min

Business Book of the Year: Author Parmy Olson on the rise and risks of AI

Business Book of the Year: Author Parmy Olson on the rise and risks of AI

In early December, the Financial Times and Schroders selected the 2024 winner of the Best Business Book of the Year. That book is called Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT and the race that will change the world,...

1 Tammi 202527min

Introducing Slate Money: The Week of Minor Apocalypses

Introducing Slate Money: The Week of Minor Apocalypses

From Slate Money: South Korea and France are the latest governments to fall apart. Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers discuss the public conversation around the failures of the US healthca...

25 Joulu 202450min

How the AI boom is reviving Three Mile Island

How the AI boom is reviving Three Mile Island

Tech companies such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft need loads of electricity to power their artificial intelligence goals, and they are looking into all options, including nuclear power, to achieve t...

18 Joulu 202424min

Suosittua kategoriassa Liike-elämä ja talous

sijotuskasti
mimmit-sijoittaa
rss-rahapodi
psykopodiaa-podcast
rss-rahamania
rss-sisalto-kuntoon
ostan-asuntoja-podcast
rss-lahtijat
hyva-paha-johtaminen
rss-startup-ministerio
rss-sami-miettinen-neuvottelija
rss-seuraava-potilas
lakicast
herrasmieshakkerit
leadcast
rahapuhetta
rss-porssipuhetta
rss-rentotapaus
rss-tyoelamasta-podcast
rss-viisas-raha-podi