Explore every episode of the podcast The Wall Street Skinny
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spilling the Tea on EXACTLY How Much Investment Bankers & Private Equity Get Paid Ft. High Yield Harry | 04 Jul 2026 | 01:02:04 | |
How much do people on Wall Street actually get paid? In this episode, we're pulling back the curtain on real compensation numbers for the first decade of a finance career — from analyst to vice president, roughly ages 21 to 30. We break down pay across the investment banking division on the sell side, plus the most coveted buy-side exits: private equity and private credit. For the first time, we're sharing hard data covering base salaries, bonuses, top-bucket vs. bottom-bucket payouts, and how deferred cash and stock create "golden handcuffs" as you climb the ladder. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Elon Musk Engineered SpaceX IPO "Perfectly": But What Comes Next When 95% of Stock Unlocks? | 19 Jun 2026 | 00:29:14 | |
After the largest IPO in history (SpaceX, ticker SPCX, priced at $135), only about 5% of the company — roughly $83 billion — is actually free to trade. Insiders are locked up, the banks that underwrote the deal can't lend shares to short sellers, and index funds are being forced to buy as SpaceX joins the Nasdaq-100 and the Russel. In this episode of The Wall Street Skinny, Jen and Kristen, both former Morgan Stanley investment bankers, break down how the IPO was engineered — and the question every SpaceX investor should be asking: what happens when all that locked-up stock can finally sell? Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Mindy Kaling's "Not Suitable for Work": Our Hot Takes on the Show About Investment Banking in NYC We've Been Waiting For | 14 Jun 2026 | 01:12:40 | |
Mindy Kaling's new sitcom "Not Suitable for Work" just dropped, and we have thoughts. We are two Wall Street veterans breaking down everything the show gets right — and wrong — about what it actually looks like to show up as a first-year analyst at a bulge bracket investment bank, navigate office politics (and romance!), and try to build a life in New York City on a salary that sounds impressive until you see the rent. But this episode goes way beyond the finance. We're digging into the bigger questions the show raises: Is the Gen Z "lazy" narrative fair, or are young people today actually working harder than any generation before them for a fraction of the opportunity? What does the clash between generations reveal about the tension between hustle culture and the new workplace? And when a show in 2025 depicts five young people meeting, dating, and falling for each other entirely without apps, is that wish fulfillment or an active campaign for something we've lost? We're also getting into the male-female dynamics, the nepo baby problem, the intergenerational clash between millennials and Gen Z, and what it means that the most cutthroat character in the entire friend group is a woman. Plus — what does it say that the show's most pointed commentary on AI lands not in the banking storyline, but through a struggling med-student-turned-actor being asked to dig the grave of his own profession? We LOVE reviewing books, movies, tv shows, and everything in pop culture from a finance aspect --- send us your ideas for what you want us to review next! Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| How Google Front-Ran SpaceX with a Record Breaking $85 Billion Equity Raise | 11 Jun 2026 | 00:23:30 | |
While everyone's been fixated on the SpaceX IPO, Google quietly pulled off the largest equity offering in history—roughly $85 billion—and basically front-ran the entire market to do it. In this episode of The Skinny on Wall Street, Kristen and Jen break down why a cash-printing machine like Alphabet would raise money at all, and why they did it in the most fascinating way possible: a Berkshire Hathaway private placement at a discount, a common stock offering across Google's quirky three share classes, a $40 billion at-the-market program, and the structure that confuses almost everyone—the mandatory convertible. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| How Spotify Turned a Free Product into a $100 Billion Company | 10 Jun 2026 | 00:41:23 | |
We've done the finance of Industry, the finance of Succession, the finance of Belle Burden's Strangers — but we've never done the finance of CREATORS. So when Spotify invited us to their Investor Day, we knew we had to sit down and ask the question every aspiring musician, podcaster, and Instagram creator is obsessing over: in a world where everyone wants to be a creator, how does anyone actually get paid? Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| SpaceX Just Rewrote the Rules of the Stock Market (And Most People Had No Idea) | 06 Jun 2026 | 00:31:23 | |
In this episode, we dig into one of the biggest market questions hiding behind the hype around mega IPOs: what happens to passive index investors when companies like SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI go public? We ask why the VIX and major indices like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq look calm, while single-name stocks like Tesla are showing much higher implied volatility, and why the spread between index volatility and individual stock volatility has reached extreme levels. Along the way, we break down the dispersion trade, implied versus realized volatility, and whether upcoming IPOs could force investors to rotate out of existing AI, tech, and “Elon trade” names to fund new allocations. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Ex-Morgan Stanley Bankers: "Strangers" How Much Belle Burden's Husband Was Actually Earning | 03 Jun 2026 | 00:42:12 | |
No one is talking about the insane thing that's happened to Big Law partner compensation over the past decade — and how it stacks up against Wall Street. In this deep dive we broke down EXACTLY what's going on. What started as an attempt to quantify how much Belle Burden's husband — from the cultural phenomenon Strangers — was actually earning during their marriage, after he left Davis Polk and landed at an equity long/short hedge fund, turned into a full-blown investigation: how Big Law and hedge funds really make money, what the compensation structures look like, and who actually comes out ahead. We were positive we knew the answer. We were wrong. Here's what we're not going to spoil — but here's what's on the table:
We get into the lockstep model, the eat-what-you-kill brutality of the buy side, "two and twenty," and the math of who's really ahead at 25, at 35, at 45 — plus the quiet shift that flipped the entire game while almost nobody outside the industry was watching. 📩 The FULL breakdown, complete with financial model if you want to see play with key assumptions lives on our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny 🎧 Our original breakdown of Strangers: https://youtu.be/3fbWStK44P0?si=N5Qif1UhVxz06i7l 🏛️ For the deal nerds — our Caesars Palace coup series: https://youtu.be/VKROBLck-RA?si=oF8tiwyuwvthXM26 Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Ex-Morgan Stanley Bankers: "Strangers" by Belle Burden Part 1 | Our Initial HOT TAKES | 27 May 2026 | 00:51:34 | |
Two weeks ago, one of the most powerful women on Wall Street asked us to weigh in on Belle Burden's bombshell memoir: "Strangers". As two women who've lived and worked in every world this book touches — from raising three kids in New York City to working on Wall Street to growing up in Massachusetts and spending summers on Martha's Vineyard — we're uniquely positioned to read between the lines of a story that's been everywhere from Oprah to every video in your feed. In this episode, we break down the full financial picture most coverage glosses over: the prenup that may have been the original sin of the marriage, the real numbers behind a Davis Polk associate's salary vs. a fund-of-funds partner's take, how much Belle's husband likely earned at Arden and Select Equity, the math on a $4M Tribeca apartment and a $5.4M Martha's Vineyard estate, and why "running up quicksand" is the only way to describe trying to build wealth on a W-2 in Manhattan if you don't have a wife who's heiress to a Vanderbilt fortune. We also dig into the power dynamics — the resentment baked into the prenup negotiation, the "make me a sandwich" moment, the affair with a sell-side banker, and why the cheating partner in these stories is almost never really about the other person. But here's where their take diverges sharply from Belle's own messaging: the real lesson isn't "know your finances" — it's something much harder. We argue that no amount of financial literacy would have changed Belle's story. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Hedge Funds Want the Equity in Your Home, feat. Tacora Capital Founder Keri Findley | 26 May 2026 | 00:40:48 | |
In this episode we dig into the state of the American consumer's balance sheet, which on paper isn't broke but is increasingly "boxed in." We walk through eye-opening Federal Reserve data: total household debt hit an all-time high of $18.8 trillion in Q1 2026 (up $4.6 trillion since pre-COVID), credit card balances peaked at $1.25 trillion with rates north of 20%, and while headline wages are up roughly 32% since 2020, real inflation-adjusted earnings have grown just 2-3% against housing, insurance, and grocery costs that have surged 60-80%. The result is a deepening K-shaped economy where homeowners are sitting on a record $17.8 trillion in equity, including roughly $11.6 trillion that's "tappable," but can't realistically refinance out of their 2-3% pandemic-era mortgages. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| $53 Billion Hedge Fund Chief Strategist: The Next Market Shock Is Hiding in Plain Sight | 14 May 2026 | 00:55:05 | |
We sat down with Elizabeth Burton, the new Chief Strategist at Fortress, one of the world’s biggest and most respected hedge funds, to ask what actually matters most in this market — and her answer might surprise you. You do not want to miss this episode!! Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Burry Left in a Hurry! The Loophole GameStop Could Use to Pull Off Buying eBay (10x its Size) | 08 May 2026 | 00:24:55 | |
Michael Burry just dumped all his GameStop shares. eBay reportedly deactivated Ryan Cohen's account. And the $56 billion "takeover" GameStop pitched on CNBC? It would actually have eBay shareholders paying for most of it themselves. We're back to break down the latest twists in the GameStop–eBay drama — and why this deal is structured unlike almost any takeover Wall Street has seen. In this episode, Kristen walks Jen (and you) through the rollover equity mechanics that make this look less like an LBO and more like a SPAC, the precedent Bill Ackman set when he paid $10 million to get the SEC to approve his SPARC, and why levering eBay up at 7–10x puts the combined company at material bankruptcy risk over the next few years. We also get into why eBay might actually want a version of this deal (just not this version), and whether a private equity firm could step in with a cleaner bid, Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| GameStop Just Bid $56 Billion for eBay. What is ACTUALLY Going On???? | 05 May 2026 | 00:17:45 | |
🚨 EMERGENCY EPISODE: GameStop just made an unsolicited $56 billion bid for eBay, and the math is NOT mathing. After watching CEO Ryan Cohen's bizarre live CNBC interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin (where he kept deflecting questions with answers like "it's on the website"), we hit *record* immediately to break this down. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Every New Fed Chair Has Crashed the Market. A New One is Coming May 15th | 30 Apr 2026 | 00:48:51 | |
Jerome Powell's term as Fed Chair ends May 15th, and his likely successor Kevin Warsh is poised to walk into the most fractured Fed since 1992. In this episode, we're breaking down what actually happened at Powell's final meeting, who the dissenters were and why, and what it tells us about the Fed Warsh is about to inherit. But the bigger question we're wrestling with is this: what does Kevin Warsh actually want to do? He's been remarkably vocal for 20 years about his views on monetary policy, and his philosophy represents a real regime change — a more unified Fed, less hand-holding of markets, a smaller balance sheet, and a return to the Fed staying in its lane. We walk through who actually sits on the FOMC and how voting works, what quantitative easing really is and why we started doing it in the first place, the difference between monetary and fiscal policy (and why people keep confusing the two), and why "lower rates" doesn't mean the same thing to all people — including why a Warsh Fed could theoretically deliver a cut to the Fed funds rate alongside higher mortgage rates. We also get into the so-called "Chairman's Curse" — the eerie pattern of catastrophe that has marked nearly every Fed chair transition in modern history — and what event-day risk around FOMC meetings might look like under a chair who wants to communicate less, not more. Plus: Powell's surprising decision to stay on as a governor and the uncomfortable question nobody wants to ask out loud — if we're never going to take our medicine on the deficit, what is the role of the Federal Reserve actually supposed to be? Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Financial Times Reporter TELLS ALL: Sujeet Indap on Why Private Credit is Worse than Credit in 2008 | Caesars Part 3/3 | 25 Apr 2026 | 00:46:13 | |
In Part 3 of our Caesars Palace Coup series, we're back with Sujeet Indap of the Financial Times — co-author of the definitive book on the $30 billion LBO disaster — to connect the dots between 2008's creditor-on-creditor violence and the private credit tremors rattling markets right now. Caesars itself is back on the auction block, with Tilman Fertitta's Golden Nugget circling alongside a potential management buyout involving Tom Reeg and Carl Icahn. We dig into what a 2.0 deal would actually look like, why existing bondholders could get layered all over again, and how the Vici REIT spinoff reshaped the entire capital structure in ways most headlines completely miss when they quote the "$7 billion" offer price. But the bigger story is what's happening across private credit broadly. In the last few weeks alone, Blue Owl permanently gated a perpetual fund, Blackstone partners had to backstop redemptions, and BlackRock, Cliffwater, and Apollo have all gated funds. We push Sujeet on the question every allocator is wrestling with: is this a contained correction or the early innings of something systemic? We get into why first-lien recoveries have collapsed, why loan-only capital structures and uni-tranche debt have changed what "senior secured" actually means, the PIK toggle canary that's quietly ticking up, and why the alt managers trading at 40x forward earnings may have priced in a growth story that's about to meet its first real credit cycle. We also cover the fascinating bifurcation playing out in real time — record investment-grade issuance from Amazon, Honeywell, and others on one end, while BDCs gate retail investors on the other — and what it means for the push to get private credit into 401(k)s. Plus: the $80 million Wachtell-to-Kirkland lawyer poaching that Sujeet wrote about and why it might be the most underrated leading indicator of the next debt crisis. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Restructuring 101: How Private Equity Pits Debt Investors Against Each Other | Caesars Part 2/3 | 20 Apr 2026 | 00:45:30 | |
This is Part II of our Caesars Palace deep dive, and honestly, this is where things get truly unhinged. If Part I was the setup — the $30 billion LBO, the financial crisis, and the private equity firms scrambling to keep the lights on — this episode is the masterclass in what happens when the knives come out. We're breaking down the mechanics of distressed debt investing, restructuring, and bankruptcy. Above all, we'll explain how Apollo essentially invented a new playbook for stripping creditor rights that the entire industry now uses as standard operating procedure. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Private Equity Knows Something Private Credit Doesn't | Caesars $30B LBO is the Playbook | Caesars Part 1/3 | 16 Apr 2026 | 00:49:38 | |
Private credit is the crisis everyone's watching, but the real story -- and the one no one has been focused on -- is what private equity is doing behind the scenes. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Morgan Stanley's Head & CIO of Private Equity Solutions: The Ultimate Deep Dive into PE Investing | 11 Apr 2026 | 01:06:13 | |
Buckle up, because this week we're sitting down with Neha Champaneria Markle, who runs the Private Equity Solutions group at Morgan Stanley Investment Management. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Wall Street is Watching Something More Concerning than Oil | 01 Apr 2026 | 00:42:35 | |
Everyone's been freaking out about oil and stocks, but the scariest thing this past week actually happened in bonds, and almost nobody was talking about it. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Private Credit: Even Apollo's Trapped Investors. Here's Exactly What You Need to Know | 28 Mar 2026 | 00:53:29 | |
Private credit is all over the headlines — and all over your social media feed. Apollo just gated redemptions, Moody's stripped KKR's credit fund of its investment grade status, and Bill Maher is talking about it on late night TV. But what's actually going on beneath the panic? In this episode, we break down the alphabet soup of fund structures — publicly traded BDCs, private BDCs, interval funds — and explain why the vehicle you're invested in might matter just as much as what's inside it. What happens when you want your money back and the fund says no? And why are some managers bending over backward to meet redemptions while others are slamming the gate shut? Then we dig into a question most people aren't asking: if stress is building in credit markets, who actually stands to benefit? We sit down with Fabian Chrobog, CIO and co-founder of NorthWall Capital, who has spent over two decades investing through crises from the GFC to European sovereign debt and beyond. He walks us through the difference between distressed investing, special situations, and what he calls "credit opportunities" — and why the rebranding isn't just cosmetic. What does it look like to run toward the fire when everyone else is heading for the exits, and why might the best opportunities take years to show up? From the surprising world of lending against law firm case portfolios to the real reason "the distressed cycle is coming" has been the most overpromised trade of the last fifteen years, this conversation will change how you think about risk, liquidity, and where the smart money is actually going. Whether you're a retail investor trying to understand what your BDC actually is, or you just want to know why Wall Street keeps reinventing the same product with a new name — this one's for you. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Private Credit UPDATE: Is this 2008 all over again? | 12 Mar 2026 | 00:50:03 | |
If you read the headlines about Private Credit, it feels like we're on the verge of another Global Financial Crisis. So, are we? Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Head of Investor Relations at $3 Billion Hedge Fund Tells All | Capital Raising 101 | 11 Mar 2026 | 00:30:38 | |
In this episode, we sit down with Kate Baumann, Head of Investor Relations at Empyrean Capital Partners (a $3 billion event-driven, multi-strategy hedge fund), LIVE from iConnections in Miami. Here's the thing nobody tells you: the amount of money a hedge fund manages — its AUM — is the single biggest driver of how much everyone at that fund gets paid. The 2% management fee is what funds the operation, allows traders to generate good returns (alpha) which then can pay top talent, and creates the flywheel that attracts more capital and better talent. Kate explains exactly how that fundraising engine works, from identifying which allocators (pensions, endowments, sovereign wealth funds) are the right fit, to running competitive analysis against peer funds, to crafting the narrative that gets an investment committee to say yes. She also gets into the five pillars of Empyrean's event-driven strategy, transactional, structural, stress/distressed, and legal/regulatory, and why all five are firing right now. She also gets real about what it takes to be successful. This isn't IR at a corporate .Kate talks about what it takes to raise money, to build the relationships, travel every other week, and why wining and dining (what may have worked in the 1990s.) doesn't work now. Whether you're thinking about a career in investor relations, trying to understand how hedge funds actually raise capital, or just want to know what happens behind the scenes at these huge hedge fund conferences, this one's for you. Kate shares her path from JP Morgan's private bank during the financial crisis to running IR at a multi-billion dollar fund, her advice for young people breaking in, and why the best IR professionals think like allocators, talk like PMs, and build relationships that compound over decades — not transactions. For more, subscribe to our substack at https://thewallstreetskinny.substack.com/ Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Jobs, Oil, and the Ellison's LBO of Warner Brothers | TWSS x CNBC's Dan Nathan & Guy Adami: "He Said / She Said" | 09 Mar 2026 | 00:20:01 | |
We're back for the ninth installment of He Said She Said, our regular crossover series with Dan Nathan and Guy Adami of CNBC's Fast Money. We recorded just after the open Friday morning, breaking down a February jobs report that caught many off guard -- 92,000 jobs lost, massive downward revisions to prior months, and mounting evidence of an organic economic slowdown that's been building for over a year, well before AI has meaningfully reshaped the labor force. We dive into the Paramount-Warner Brothers mega-deal, what amounts to the largest leveraged buyout in history led by the Ellison family with sovereign wealth fund backing and clear echoes of Elon Musk's Twitter acquisition playbook. Kristen walks through the deal mechanics and the real meaning behind "synergies" -- Wall Street's favorite euphemism for mass layoffs -- while the group debates the timeline for AI-driven workforce displacement across sectors from tech to banking. Jen brings the macro picture into sharp focus, drawing parallels to 2008 as oil prices spike amid escalating geopolitical tensions, war insurance gets pulled from shipping vessels, and the bond market sends confusing signals about inflation and flight-to-quality dynamics. The conversation rounds out with a look at emerging cracks in private credit markets -- including cases of double-pledged collateral fraud coming to light -- and what a persistently elevated VIX alongside modest equity drawdowns might be telling us about complacency lurking beneath the surface. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Iran Is Shaking the Oil Markets. What the Top Commodities Traders Are Thinking Right Now | 05 Mar 2026 | 00:50:26 | |
In this special emergency episode of The Wall Street Skinny, we sat down with Andreas Laskaratos, CEO of AB Commodities Group, a global oil and gas shipping and trading firm with operations spanning Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Andreas is one of the few people in the world who operates across both the physical and financial sides of the commodities complex, and he's been a longtime friend of the show. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| LIVE from Miami: Is Private Credit Fundraising OVER? | 03 Mar 2026 | 00:18:06 | |
We sat down with Ron Biscardi, the CEO and co-founder of iConnections, live at Global Alts Miami to get the skinny on what's happening with fund managers and allocators in real time. Last year, private credit was the undisputed darling of investment strategies. Now, on the heels of Blue Owl headlines and concerns about cracks within the private credit markets, headlines seem to suggest a tough road ahead. But reality is far more nuanced. Ron synthesized both emotional reactions and hard data from investors responding to new perceived stresses in the sector in ways that might surprise you. We also learn where smart money is pivoting, where it remains steadfast, which asset classes and investment strategies stand poised to benefit, and how allocators are positioning for highly volatile markets this year. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Paramount Outbids Netflix for WBD & Middle East Military Action Fallout | Emergency Episode | 02 Mar 2026 | 00:25:13 | |
Kristen and Jen tackle two major stories in this double emergency episode. First, Kristen breaks down latest update in the Warner Bros saga — how Paramount outbid Netflix with a $31/share offer, why Netflix walked away, and what the deal means financially. They cover the cursed history of Warner Bros. M&A deals, the staggering leverage Paramount is taking on (potentially the largest LBO ever), the accretion/dilution math that made this a non-starter for Netflix, and why it's an existential move for Paramount. They also get into the ticking fee structure, the $7 billion breakup fee, and why so many people are nervous about this outcome. Jen then covers the weekend's military action in the Middle East and how it's hitting markets on Monday. She walks through the relatively muted equity reaction, the split between defense stocks and travel names, the divergence between WTI and Brent crude, and why treasuries initially rallied before selling off. The yield curve is bare flattening as the market prices out near-term Fed cuts, since sustained oil price shocks would feed through to broader inflation beyond just energy. Gold is catching a bid as the classic risk-off trade, while Europe looks more vulnerable than the US to prolonged disruption given its energy dependence. Coming later this week: episodes recorded at the I Connections conference, including an Investor Relations 101 conversation and a look at where allocators are directing capital this year, with equity long/short and macro funds gaining ground over last year's private credit buzz. To subscribe to our substack click HERE Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Industry S4E8 "Both/And" | Where does Industry go from here? | 02 Mar 2026 | 01:58:41 | |
It's a bittersweet day at The Wall Street Skinny, where we are recapping the SEASON FINALE!! While this one is lighter on finance than most episodes this season, we still dig into the mechanics of closing out a massive short position without spooking the tape. We also break down how hedge fund fees actually work — the industry-standard "two and twenty" structure where managers earn a 2% management fee on assets under management plus 20% of profits — and use that framework to reverse-engineer what this three-person fund operating out of a hotel room should have actually earned versus what got paid out. The numbers don't quite add up, and we have thoughts. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| TWSS x CNBC's Dan Nathan & Guy Adami: "He Said / She Said" - Blue Owl's Private Credit Fiasco | 25 Feb 2026 | 00:23:47 | |
We teamed up with Guy Adami and Dan Nathan to discuss two major developing market stories ahead of meeting in Miami for the iConnections Global Alts conference. The first topic is stress in private credit, centered on Blue Owl’s retail-focused semi-liquid vehicle (Blue Owl Capital Corp II) facing heavy redemptions and gating, highlighting the liquidity mismatch between retail redemption needs and long-dated loan assets. They contrast the gated evergreen structure with Blue Owl’s publicly traded BDC that was trading roughly 20% below NAV, discuss Blue Owl’s reported loan sales near NAV, and explore why the issue is pressuring related stocks like Blue Owl and Blackstone despite an S&P 500 that appears indifferent. The group connects the private credit conversation to how AI/data center buildouts are financed, including references to Meta-related structures and concerns about CoreWeave’s ability to raise capital for data center obligations, and notes that credit markets often reprice quickly only after complacency breaks. The second topic is prediction markets, focusing on Kalshi and its partnership with Tradeweb to publish analytics and potentially enable institutional trading of binary outcomes on events like Fed decisions and macro data, raising questions about democratized access, liquidity constraints, regulatory gaps, spoofing, and the role of insider information, along with implications for politics and whether more information is always better. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Industry S4E7 "Points of Emphasis" | Hostile Takeovers | 23 Feb 2026 | 02:05:12 | |
In this episode, we're breaking down Season 4, Episode 7 of Industry, "Points of Emphasis" — and we have a lot of feelings. We walk you through all the major plot developments, from Whitney's attempted escape and his terrifying confrontation with what appears to be his foreign handlers, to Yasmin's ruthless political maneuvering to bring down Lisa Dern and protect herself as Tender collapses around her. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Goldman Sachs’ Head of Alts for Wealth, Kristin Olson: What No One Tells You about Investing in Private Markets | 19 Feb 2026 | 00:49:19 | |
Kristin Olson, Goldman Sachs’ Head of Alternatives for Wealth, sits down with us for the most candid, no-fluff conversation about private equity and private credit we've ever had. . Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| TWSS x CNBC's Dan Nathan & Guy Adami: "He Said She Said" | 100 Year Bond + Paramount / WBD Update | 17 Feb 2026 | 00:32:24 | |
In the sixth installment of He Said, She Said on the Risk Reversal Podcast, Kristen and Jen are joined by CNBC's Dan Nathan and Guy Adami to talk century bonds, Paramount / Warner Brothers update, and the existential angst surrounding AI. The episode kicks off with a listener question about Alphabet’s recent $32 billion debt issuance, including a rare 100-year sterling bond, prompting a deep dive into who issues century bonds, who actually buys them, and what locking in ultra-long-term rates signals about corporate views on term premium and fiscal risk. From there, the group pivots to an update on the Warner Bros–Paramount–Netflix saga, Finally, the crew tackles the market’s rapidly shifting narrative around AI. What was once a universal tailwind for SaaS and hyperscalers now feels like a sector-wide threat, with investors “shooting first and asking questions later.” The group weigh in on productivity, unemployment fears, private market risk, and whether today’s selloff in software names is a buying opportunity or a warning sign. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Industry S4E6 "Dear Henry": Why This Might Be the Greatest Episode of Industry Ever Made | 16 Feb 2026 | 02:46:02 | |
Recap & Breakdown of HBO's Industry season 4 episode 6, Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| The Skinny On: SAAS-pocalypse, misleading jobs data, & Japanese equities breaking records, feat. Macabacus' CEO | 12 Feb 2026 | 00:48:08 | |
We're back with The Skinny On...three wild stories: confusing jobs data, Japan's equity market rally, and why everyone's freaking out about AI killing SaaS companies. Learn about our favorite tool, Macabacus, here: https://macabacus.com/wss Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| TWSS x CNBC's Dan Nathan & Guy Adami: "He Said She Said" | SaaSpocolyspe + Elon Musk's SpaceX / xAI Merger | 09 Feb 2026 | 00:35:57 | |
Kristen and Jen are joined by Guy Adami and Dan Nathan of CNBC's Fast Money for the fifth installment of "He Said, She Said." The conversation kicks off with the so-called "SaaS Apocalypse" — the brutal selloff across software stocks — and unpacks how the market narrative shifted in just one week from "when will AI spending pay off?" to "what happens when AI destroys your core business?" The group debates whether the repricing is justified or overdone, digs into the credit market spillover with $17.7 billion in SaaS-related loans hitting distressed levels, and discusses what it all means for private credit exposure. From there, the panel takes on Bitcoin's collapse to $60,000 — roughly half its all-time high — and asks whether the "digital gold" thesis is officially dead now that crypto fell apart while precious metals hit records. They also break down the equity rotation into financials and energy, the irony of banks rallying on AI-driven deal flow while AI-adjacent companies crater, and what enterprise adoption of AI could mean for the hyperscalers longer term. The episode wraps with a look at Elon Musk's latest consolidation play, SpaceX acquiring xAI ahead of a rumored mega-IPO, and a macro check-in covering weak seasonals, a deteriorating jobs picture, rising 10-year yields, and the historical pattern of markets testing every new Fed chair. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Private Infrastructure Investing 101 feat. Billionaire Founder / CEO: Mike Dorrell of Stonepeak | 07 Feb 2026 | 01:03:16 | |
In this Infrastructure 101 episode, we sit down with Mike Dorrell, co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Stonepeak, to unpack how infrastructure investing evolved from a niche corner of finance into one of the most important asset classes shaping the global economy. We walk through the origins of modern infrastructure investing --- from Macquarie’s early toll road and airport deals in Australia to the rise of private capital stepping in where governments once dominated --- and explain why infrastructure sits at the intersection of private equity, private credit, and project finance. Along the way, we break down what makes these assets unique: high barriers to entry, essential services, regulated cash flows, and long-duration returns. The conversation digs into the technical mechanics behind infrastructure deals, including project finance structures, equity versus credit exposure, the role of regulation and tax policy, and why governments are both critical partners and key sources of risk. We explore how infrastructure investors analyze energy markets, power pricing, traffic patterns, and permitting risk, and why changes in “the rules of the road” can make or break long-term investments. From municipal bonds to privatized airports, toll roads, utilities, and power plants, this episode connects the financial structures to the real-world systems people rely on every day. We also tackle the biggest theme driving headlines today: the AI data center boom. Mike explains why AI is accelerating massive investment across digital infrastructure and energy, what it means for power grids and electricity prices, and how investors distinguish between contracted, de-risked data centers and far more speculative builds. Woven throughout is Mike’s personal story --- from growing up in rural Australia to helping build a global infrastructure platform --- and a candid discussion of what it takes to build durable businesses, invest through cycles, and think long term about both capital and legacy. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Industry S4E5 Eyes Without a Face: The Thing Was Nothing | 06 Feb 2026 | 02:37:03 | |
SternTao goes to Accra Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| TWSS x CNBC's Dan Nathan & Guy Adami: "He Said She Said" | Dollar Collapses, Hedge Funds and Gambling vs. Investing | 03 Feb 2026 | 00:27:35 | |
Jen Saarbach & Kristen Kelly join the guys to discuss the decline in the US dollar, market sentiment and Gen Z's proclivity for gambling. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Industry S4E4 "1000 Yoots, 1 Marilyn" | The "Leap of Faith" / Most Disturbing Episode Yet | 02 Feb 2026 | 02:25:44 | |
Perhaps the most painful and disturbing episode of Industry yet, this episode asks uncomfortable questions about the way easy access --- whether it be to high finance, drugs, or illicit content online --- reduces human experience to abstraction in a way that causes us all to be disassociated from our own lives. We see shifts in power in the C-suite at Tender that transform our triangles of love and control. Yasmin's position becomes nominally elevated, and she advocates for Hayley's promotion, but is ultimately left wondering who's manipulating whom in their relationship. And while she thought she was at the head of the love triangle with Hayley and Henry, we start to suspect that the real love triangle exists instead between the Mucks and Whitney, with Whitney at the helm. Whitney has also figured out how to maneuver Henry into effectively doing his bidding, helping him successfully navigate the launch of Tender's new app. Also, Pierpoint is back, and we get into the finer points of convertible bond issuance vs. "cocos". Finally, we see the paths of Jim Dycker and Rishi take a dark turn and ultimately collide. An off-the-cuff remark made by Dycker in the opening seconds about philosopher Soren Kierkegaard comes home to roost as these characters confront dark truths about themselves, culminating in a "leap of faith" that leaves us all hanging on the edge of our seats. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| The Skinny on Policy Chaos and Volatility: Time to Sell? feat. Alicia Levine of BNY Wealth | 29 Jan 2026 | 00:37:16 | |
In this episode, we’re joined by Alicia Levine, Head of Investment Strategy at BNY Wealth, for a wide-ranging conversation on what’s driving markets right now — and what investors should actually do about it. We start by breaking down the real difference between wealth management vs. asset management, then zoom out to the biggest macro theme of the moment: policy volatility across the U.S., Japan, and beyond. Alicia explains why inflation is structurally higher post-COVID, how shifts in Japan’s rates can ripple through global bonds and FX, and why markets react to the rate of change in policy rather than the headlines themselves. We also dig into why gold is surging (and whether or not you can actually monetize “Grandma’s silver”), what’s happening in healthcare stocks, and why equities can still be a strong inflation hedge when growth holds up. Finally, Alicia shares a powerful reminder on long-term investing you won't want to miss, plus practical career and money advice for younger listeners (including the “anti-DoorDash trade”). Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| TWSS x CNBC's Dan Nathan & Guy Adami: "He Said She Said" | Japan’s Bond Market Blows Up, Netflix Goes All-Cash | 26 Jan 2026 | 00:22:56 | |
This week on He Said, She Said, CNBC Fast Money stars, Guy Adami and Dan Nathan together with Kristen and Jen from The Wall Street Skinny dive into one of the most overlooked market shocks of the year: a massive, seven standard deviation move in the Japanese bond market. Jen breaks down why the long-assumed era of low inflation and easy monetary policy in Japan may be ending—and what that means for global markets. From failed bond auctions to yield curve dislocations, this is a masterclass in sovereign debt and fiscal risk with insights that apply far beyond Japan. The group also debates Netflix’s all-cash bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, and why shareholders seem so uneasy about it. Kristen explains the counterintuitive math behind why switching from a stock deal to an all-cash offer actually hurts Netflix’s earnings per share, why Wall Street hates uncertainty, and why shareholders have reason to be skeptical M&A won't destroy shareholder value. After all the same Warner Brothers was the target of the catastrophic 2000s AOL-Time Warner merger that is the poster child for M&A gone bad? Finally, the gang touches on gold, silver shortages, and the deeper themes driving flight to hard assets. From gold coins in safes to astrology readings in St. John, it’s a whirlwind of macro, M&A, and mayhem—with plenty of jokes (and Dutch oven references) along the way. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Industry S4E3 "Habseligkeiten" | The Threesome Episode | 26 Jan 2026 | 02:15:19 | |
We are BACK with one of the most dense, finance-forward, darkly entertaining episodes of Industry YET. With a title that evokes the theme of "belongings", this episode is all about who belongs in which rooms, who belongs to whom when it comes to control, and what are our characters willing to sacrifice to ultimately get what they want. This is where the title’s meaning lands with a punch. In the world of Industry, money, morals, and people themselves have become possessions that can be claimed, traded, and taken away. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Netflix Changes WBD Offer to All Cash | Emergency Update | 21 Jan 2026 | 00:10:21 | |
Netflix just announced it plans to revise its Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition offer to an all-cash deal — but why? Wasn’t the bidding war already over? And why did Netflix stock drop after the announcement? In this episode, Kristen breaks down the latest twist in the Netflix–Warner Bros.–Paramount saga. Paramount is now suing Warner Bros. Discovery, claiming the Netflix offer is vague and potentially undervalued. Meanwhile, Netflix’s original $27.75/share offer, which included a mix of cash and stock, is losing value as Netflix’s stock price drops. The equity portion had a collar to protect WBD shareholders — but with the stock trading below the floor, the effective deal price has lost over $0.50 per share. We explain:
This is a real-world case study in M&A strategy, capital structure, and valuation. Stick around for the full breakdown. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Citi's Global Head of Research, Lucy Baldwin | Covering Private Companies, Crypto, and what AI means for Analysts | 21 Jan 2026 | 01:20:28 | |
Lucy Baldwin, the Global Head of Research at Citigroup, is leading one of the most consequential shifts in how institutional research is done today. In this episode, we unpack how the sell-side research role is being completely redefined, moving beyond spreadsheets and earnings models to incorporate AI, storytelling, and differentiated data sets. Lucy explains why today's best analysts are as much creators and communicators as they are forecasters, and why research that can’t break through the noise is effectively worthless. We also dig into how Citi is expanding its coverage beyond public equities to include private companies like OpenAI and SpaceX—companies too large and important to ignore, even if they aren’t public. Lucy shares what that research looks like, how Citi is navigating regulatory and disclosure constraints, and why institutional clients are hungry for guidance in the growing universe of private markets. This isn’t research as we knew it 10 years ago—and Lucy gives us a front-row seat to the transformation. Finally, we discuss how the perception of research on Wall Street is changing. Once viewed as a role that would pigeon hole you in terms of exit opportunities, research is now a launchpad for careers across the buy side, corporates, and private capital. Lucy shares how Citi is rethinking talent development, how AI is helping expand coverage capacity, and why the future belongs to analysts who can combine analytical rigor with creativity, conviction, and clarity of voice. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| TWSS x CNBC's Dan Nathan & Guy Adami: "He Said She Said" | Powell Under Pressure, Credit Card Cap Concerns & Real Estate Supply Issues | 19 Jan 2026 | 00:32:58 | |
In this episode of 'He Said, She Said', Guy Adami, Kristen Kelly & Jen Saarbach dive into the theme of unintended consequences. The discussion begins with Jerome Powell's saga and its implications on the Fed's independence and market reactions, highlighting potential political maneuvers and their backfires. Transitioning to monetary policy, they analyze the complexities of interest rate decisions and the perceptions of Fed control over the yield curve. Shifting to consumer finance, they debate the Biden administration's proposal to cap credit card rates and its potential repercussions on the economy. Corporate drama takes center stage with an in-depth analysis of the bidding war for Warner Brothers, involving Netflix, Paramount, and regulatory hurdles, likened to a real-life 'Succession'. They conclude by addressing headlines about Blackstone's housing market involvement and the impact on prices, underscoring the intricate web of economic policies and market behaviors. The episode wraps with discussions on gold and silver markets, oil prices, and the weakening US dollar, showcasing the multifaceted landscape of global finance. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Industry S4E2 "The Commander and the Grey Lady" | The Henry Muck Episode | 19 Jan 2026 | 01:28:02 | |
Henry Muck is a key character in Season 4, and this episode gives us a much richer picture of who he actually is. In an unexpectedly cinematic, poetic installment that departs from our typical finance-driven fare, this episode plays like a haunting (both literal and emotional) centered around his character. We fill in the missing backstory of Henry and Yas' early engagement, early marriage, and his failed attempt to get a political career off the ground. But the mood shifts from public failure to private collapse, as Henry descends into an infantilized state of drug dependence and depression. Yasmin is thrust into the role of caretaker against her will, and we see their relationship framed in a new light, one that ultimately culminates in an epic confrontation. Both Yas and Henry are forced to confront the ghosts of their past: Henry's being the emotional inheritance of his father's suicide, and Yas being the twisted inheritance of her father and his sexual deviance. Will Yas be able to pull Henry out of his darkness by orchestrating a lifeline through a job at Tender? Or will Henry succumb to his genetic inheritance and take his own life? And will something better be born out of this union? Or is their union in fact going to birth something upon the world? Make sure you follow our NEW, DEDICATED YouTube channel where all of our Industry companion content will live! Head over to https://www.youtube.com/@HBOIndustryPodcast and hit subscribe now! Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Four Drivers That Could Crash or Save the Market in 2026 feat. Head of US Macro at Wellington | 15 Jan 2026 | 00:46:59 | |
We're two weeks into the new year and you can already toss all the consensus forecasts out the window. We sat down with Mike Medeiros to talk about the big risks to all the predictions: from equities to interest rates, the yield curve, currencies, credit markets, and more, so we can understand where the next big moves will come from. Mike gives us a thoughtful framework within which to understand why he's still constructive on equities for the first half of the year, pointing to a mix of fiscal support, accommodative funding conditions, tailwinds from deregulation, and increased certainty around trade policy. From there though, we explore the big risks to the bond market that remain despite the fact that the yield curve may still structurally be too flat. What does an increasingly politicized Federal Reserve mean for the front end? It might be the opposite of what you'd suspect from the headlines. And why is term premium at the crux of every conversation? We also tackle the "affordability" conversation head on, including the headline proposal to cap credit card interest rates in the near term, as well as the housing policy proposals that may unintentionally raise prices in the near term. If you're trying to make sense of the markets in a year that is clearly refusing to follow the script, you've come to the right place.
Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Industry S4E1 FULL RECAP | An American Psycho in London | 13 Jan 2026 | 02:12:01 | |
We're back in action with our full deep dive into the season premiere, "PayPal of Bukkake". We're introducing the star-studded lineup of new characters, exploring what seems to be an American Psycho thread running throughout the episode, and orienting ourselves within the new power structure within the world of "Industry" over a year after the demise of Pierpoint. Not only have the power dynamics shifted considerably amongst our returning stars, but we're shifting our focus away from high finance to fintech. We try to sleuth out the real-life fintech scandals upon which the episode may or may not be based, explain the mechanics of gating and redemptions at hedge funds, and tie together the real world legislation that is driving some of the show's key plot points. Along the way, we explore the episodes themes of fetishization, consent, agency, and power. Above all, we are confronted with the collapse of a founder friendship that feels like a reflection on the difficult creative decisions undertaken to drive the show in a new direction. We find ourselves with more questions than answers, a sense of a predator (or predators!) in our midst, and set the tone for a much more dangerous and ambitious season to come. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| The Wall Street Skinny x CNBC's Dan Nathan & Guy Adami | "He Said / She Said" NEW Limited Series | 12 Jan 2026 | 00:31:02 | |
This episode marks the launch of a special new collaboration between The Wall Street Skinny and Risk Reversal Media. We're bringing together the stars of CNBC's Fast Money, RiskReversal, On the Tape, and O.K. Computer: Dan Nathan and Guy Adami, with Wall Street experts Kristen Kelly and Jen Saarbach for the first installment of a fresh take on market expertise, financial storytelling, and real-time debate. What begins as a reunion between longtime friends quickly becomes the foundation for something bigger. Kristen and Jen reflect on their paths from Wall Street — across investment banking, sales & trading, and the financial crisis — to building The Wall Street Skinny, a platform focused on making finance accessible without dumbing it down. Dan and Guy share lessons from years of market commentary, media, and live television, setting the stage for a collaboration rooted in chemistry, trust, and curiosity. Together, the four dig into the current market backdrop, using upcoming bank earnings as a lens to explore how banks actually make money, why valuation metrics like price-to-tangible-book matter, and where sales & trading, deal activity, and regulation fit into today’s cycle. The conversation expands to the Federal Reserve, yield curve dynamics, debt issuance, and how macro forces shape both investor sentiment and bank balance sheets. Beyond markets, the group discusses mentorship, authenticity in finance media, and the power of storytelling — why the right information delivered the right way matters more than ever. They also challenge consensus thinking, highlighting underappreciated risks in bonds, gold, currencies, and the broader macro environment. This inaugural episode sets the tone for an ongoing series built around honest conversation, spirited disagreement, and shared passion for markets. Let us know what topics you'd like us to tackle next week! Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Industry Season 4 PREMIERE!!! RED CARPET reaction and LIVE RECAP!! | 12 Jan 2026 | 00:36:38 | |
We’re recording from New York City, fresh off one of the most surreal weeks of our lives — attending the Season 4 premiere of HBO’s Industry, interviewing the cast and creators on the red carpet, and watching the episode in a packed theater alongside the people who made it. Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Industry S3E8: "Infinite Largesse" | LIVE from NYC on our way to meet the cast! | 11 Jan 2026 | 01:48:49 | |
We are recording LIVE from New York City, just hours before interviewing the cast and creators on the red carpet of the Season 4 premiere! And we're recapping what might just be the best television finale of all time...for a series that is NOWHERE near finished! In this episode, we find our characters in the aftermath of Al-Miraj's last minute rescue of Pierpoint, as they all come face to face with the consequences of their decisions. While Pierpoint the institution we came to know, love, and fear may no longer exist, has the "institution" writ large still survived intact? Has Yasmin transcended a life of material comfort and social status to take a flier on Robert and the proverbial lotto ticket of his startup venture? Or will she ultimately end up wedded to the same patriarchy that has abused her for as long as she can remember? And will Harper be able to find happiness at the helm of a hedge fund full of peers who respect and cherish one another? Or is she still the ruthless "psychopath" Eric threw to the wolves at the end of last season? Is there any room for generosity at all in the cutthroat world of high finance? Or is the idea of "infinite largesse" incompatible with the world we've built here? Get all caught up ahead of the Season 4 premiere, which we can't wait to share our initial thoughts on the moment the episode airs! Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||
| Industry S3E7: "Useful Idiot" | The Lehman Episode. Is This the End for Pierpoint?! | 10 Jan 2026 | 02:28:02 | |
We started our careers at the epicenter of the Global Financial Crisis in 2008: the trading floor Lehman Brothers and the CDO Structuring desk at Morgan Stanley. And now, we get to watch our favorite characters reenacting all the drama of the Lehman bankruptcy through the lens of Industry. We dissect the chaotic "war room" dynamics as executive leadership scrambles for a lifeline, debating the merits of a strategic capital injection from Mitsubishi (mirroring the real-life rescue of Morgan Stanley) versus a total buyout by Barclays (the ultimate fate of Lehman). We explain the critical financial concepts at play, including the mechanics of "good bank/bad bank" splits, dispelling common myths about how government "bailouts" actually worked, and the reality of liquidity crises where "too big to fail" meets "moral hazard." All of our characters' ambitions and come to a head as they jockey for power and profit with everything on the line. Who will emerge victorious from the boardroom coup? How did a financial error end up in the pitch deck? Who is stabbing whom in the back? And who will ultimately be our useful idiot? This is an exceptionally technical recap, and we explain topics like counterparty credit risk, employee stock options, insider trading, and converts...as well as a detailed blow by blow of the real events underlying one of Industry's all time best episodes!!! Shop our Self Paced Courses: Investment Banking & Private Equity Fundamentals HERE Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@thewallstreetskinny | |||