A hedge fund’s $8bn bet on Venezuela’s Citgo

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. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 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 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 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.

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A hedge fund’s $8bn bet on Venezuela’s Citgo is an episode from Behind The Money with the Financial Times by Topher Forhecz.

This episode is 20:01 long.

This episode was published on Feb 11, 2026.

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