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Bad Bets

The Wall Street Journal

Bad Bets unravels big-business dramas that have had a big impact on our world. In Season 1, we delve into the Enron saga, the energy giant that later became synonymous with epic corporate fr...

Episodes

16 episodes

The Unraveling of Trevor Milton, Ep 6: “The Truth and the Whole Truth"

Trevor Milton assembled a high-powered legal team to defend himself against federal fraud charges. At the same time, whistleblowers and Niko...

33:47Nov 11, 2022

The Unraveling of Trevor Milton, Ep 5: “Trouble for Troublemakers”

As investors and General Motors bet on Trevor Milton’s vision, the short sellers at Hindenburg Research revealed that the company he founded...

44:02Nov 4, 2022

The Unraveling of Trevor Milton, Ep 4: “Not Appointed Us to Wrath”

After it began trading in 2020, Nikola was a hot stock—and Trevor Milton was a newly minted billionaire. But in the background, people from...

45:06Oct 28, 2022

The Unraveling of Trevor Milton, Ep 3: “Paul Echo Mango”

A jury has convicted Nikola founder Trevor Milton in his federal fraud trial. To better understand what led up to this moment, we hear from...

49:47Oct 21, 2022

The Unraveling of Trevor Milton, Ep 2: “No Good Deed”

Trevor Milton had a knack for pitching people to invest in his ideas. He raised millions for his early business ventures by making big promi...

41:45Oct 14, 2022

The Unraveling of Trevor Milton, Ep 1: “Hey, Buddy”

Trevor Milton sold a promise—a zero-emissions semi truck that could revolutionize the trucking industry. He also sold himself as the visiona...

39:08Oct 7, 2022

Introducing Bad Bets Season 2: The Unraveling of Trevor Milton

Bad Bets, a podcast series from The Wall Street Journal that unravels big-business dramas that have had a big impact on our world, is back f...

2:47Sep 16, 2022

Enron, Ep 8: Vigilance and Skepticism

Enron was a giant, and its collapse was historic. The company's downfall disrupted energy markets, pushing other power companies into bankru...

32:38Nov 30, 2021

Enron, Ep 7: The Trial

After years spent building its "lies and choices" case, the Department of Justice's Enron Task Force took Enron executives Ken Lay and Jeffr...

48:23Nov 23, 2021

Enron, Ep 6: Lies and Choices

Enron CEO Ken Lay was practically the company's founding father. But when federal authorities began investigating Enron after its collapse,...

38:20Nov 16, 2021

Enron, Ep 5: The Enablers

After Enron's collapse, a congressional probe and a Department of Justice task force began investigating not just company executives - but a...

37:53Nov 9, 2021

Enron, Ep 4: The Downfall

The biggest problem for Enron wasn't that former CEO Jeffrey Skilling suddenly quit, or that former CFO Andy Fastow was enriching himself. I...

39:51Nov 2, 2021

Enron, Ep 3: The Fixer and the Whistleblowers

Enron's stock price rose astronomically in the late '90s, buoyed by investor confidence in former CEO Jeffrey Skilling-and by earnings repor...

41:10Oct 26, 2021

Enron, Ep 2: The Visionary

Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling was arguably the face of Enron's meteoric rise in the 1990s. He took a sleepy energy company and turned it...

36:54Oct 19, 2021

Enron, Ep 1: Potemkin Village

In 2001, energy company Enron was at the height of its power. Then, out of the blue, CEO Jeffrey Skilling resigned-just six months after he...

28:51Oct 12, 2021

Introducing: Bad Bets

Introducing Bad Bets, a new podcast series from The Wall Street Journal that unravels big-business dramas that have had a big impact on our...

3:27Oct 1, 2021