Episode 8: Matryoshka
In our season finale, Sam discovers a different narrative about Marsalek’s life in Russia. And a tip from long ago resurfaces.
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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?
Most Recent Episode
Episode 8: Matryoshka
In our season finale, Sam discovers a different narrative about Marsalek’s life in Russia. And a tip from long ago resurfaces.
Episode 7: From Russia With Love
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 of Hot Money: Agent…
Episode 6: Maestro
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 subscribing…
Episode 5: A Different Set of Rules
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…
Episode 4: Backbearings
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…
Episode 3: Thrill Seeking
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. Get…
Episode 2: The Friendship Society
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…
Episode 1: The Bribe
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:…
Introducing Hot Money Season 3: Agent of Chaos
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 Financial…
Episode 8 – The Red Notebook
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.
Episode 7 – Against the Ropes
Daniel Kinahan is more influential than ever, but law enforcement may finally be catching up.
Episode 5 – Nerds vs Narcos
Back in the Netherlands, the high-tech unit of the Dutch police works to crack the murder case.
Episode 4 – Gangster’s Paradise
No longer safe in Europe, the cartel bosses move to a city that is attracting criminals from around the globe.
Episode 3 – Sun, Guns & Sangria
International law enforcement is after the Kinahan cartel, revealing just how big the operation has grown.
Episode 2 – Cocaine CEO
An enterprising Dublin drug dealer makes the most of a revolution sweeping across Europe’s criminal economy.
Episode 1 – Murder Brokers
When a Dutch crime reporter makes an unbelievable discovery, a small-town murder case begins to look like an international assassination plot.
Introducing Hot Money: The New Narcos
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…
Episode 8: Inside Porn’s Star Chamber
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…
Episode 7: Porn Meets OnlyFans
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…
Episode 6: Knocking on the Door of a Porn Empire
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…
Episode 5: The Billionaire Who Took Down Porn
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…
Episode 4: Playboy vs. Rusty and Edie
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…
Episode 3: Mr. Goldman, Mr. Sex
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…
Episode 2: The Darth Vader of Porn
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…
Episode 1: Porn Meets the Internet
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…
Hot Money: Who Rules Porn?
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…
