Corruption, lobbying, corporate malfeasance, and frauds: a weekly unconventional selection of must-read articles by investigative journalist Bethany McLean
I’m always interested in stories about what has gone wrong – and what hasn’t gone wrong yet, but very well might. This week’s must reads run the gamut from the accident we can’t take our eyes off (WeWork) to the possibility that the next financial crisis will come from an obscure, acronym-laden corner of the market.
Oh, and isn’t it a sweet, old-fashioned notion that CEOs are supposed to do well if and only if their companies do well? The clever ones manage to subvert that, as you’ll see in this week’s third pick.
Why you need to read it: This line alone explains why this piece is so important. “CLOs own about 54% of all leveraged loans outstanding.” (H/T to Barry Ritholtz.)
Why you need to read it: Because while Adam Neumann is a character for the ages, Adam Neumann is going to be exactly who he was. The real horror of this story is that none of the supposed adults in the room, from SoftBank to Goldman Sachs, said no.
Why you need to read it: It’s now conventional wisdom that the much-hyped shale business doesn’t actually make money. But that doesn’t mean some people haven’t gotten very, very rich.
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