Bad Bets unravels big-business dramas that have had a big impact on our world. In Season 2, we delve into the story of Nikola founder Trevor Milton, who promised a future of zero-emission trucks but was taken down by a ragtag bunch of whistleblowers and short sellers. Season 2 is hosted by Ben Foldy.
Latest episodes
-
34 min
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 Nikola executives were ready to testify agai…
-
44 min
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, Nikola, wasn’t all that it seemed. The…
-
45 min
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 Trevor’s past were finding each other an…
-
50 min
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 some of the engineers Nikola hired to he…
-
42 min
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 promises, often to inexperienced investors in…
-
39 min
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 visionary founder capable of delivering on that…
-
3 min
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 for Season 2. This season, we delve into…
-
33 min
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 bankruptcy. It prompted hearings by nearly a d…
-
48 min
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 Jeffrey Skilling to court. In this episode, t…
-
38 min
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, prosecutors had a hard time connecting L…
-
38 min
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 also the auditors and banks that had enab…
-
40 min
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. It was that Enron's success was dependent…
-
41 min
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 reports that seemed to show Enron's profits g…
-
37 min
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 into one of the most innovative corpora…
-
29 min
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 took the reins of a company he had helpe…
-
3 min
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 world. We begin with the Enron saga. In…