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Foundering

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Bloomberg

Foundering is an award-winning, serialized podcast from the journalists at Bloomberg Technology. Each season, Foundering brings you inside a different high-stakes drama from the technology industry, where its companies are wielding unprecedented capital and power.

#172

McAfee Part 6: The Demise

A desperate escape by sea finds John McAfee deported to Europe. He ends up in a small Spanish town, but the walls are closing in on him. Reporter Jamie Tarabay investigates the final days of McAfee and the circumstances surrounding his death. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

23 Mar 2023

42 MINS

42:55

23 Mar 2023

#171

McAfee Part 5: The Descent

John McAfee forms a new operation to capitalize on a financial opportunity in cryptocurrencies. Drugs and paranoia take over. Reporter Jamie Tarabay chronicles the beginning of the end for McAfee. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

16 Mar 2023

34 MINS

34:28

16 Mar 2023

#170

McAfee Part 4: The White House

John McAfee is back in America. He meets a new business partner who helps broker a lucrative deal. As reporter Jamie Tarabay learns, the new associate eventually inspires McAfee to make a long-shot bid for the US presidency. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

09 Mar 2023

40 MINS

40:45

09 Mar 2023

#169

McAfee Part 3: The Jungle

John McAfee seeks to evade a lawsuit and leaves the US behind. He makes a new life for himself in Central America, but reporter Jamie Tarabay finds it doesn’t take long before a new crisis envelops him. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

02 Mar 2023

48 MINS

48:34

02 Mar 2023

#168

McAfee Part 2: The Yogi

After cashing out, John McAfee uproots and tries to reinvent himself. He starts a new company and forms a yoga retreat. Reporter Jamie Tarabay also looks into a new and extremely dangerous hobby that captures McAfee’s interest. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

23 Feb 2023

38 MINS

38:41

23 Feb 2023

#167

McAfee Part 1: The Virus

McAfee antivirus software was ubiquitous in the 1990s, and its creator John McAfee helped define the modern cybersecurity industry. McAfee was an archetype of the Silicon Valley founder — bombastic, enigmatic and brilliant. But his life would take a dark turn. Reporter Jamie Tarabay investigated the early days of his career and found that the warning signs were there from the beginning. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

16 Feb 2023

39 MINS

39:34

16 Feb 2023

#166

Introducing: The John McAfee Story

This season of Foundering retraces the life and gruesome death of John McAfee. In the 1980s and ’90s, the McAfee name was synonymous with computer antivirus software, and he helped establish the modern cybersecurity industry. But afterward, his life took a strange and dark turn. He was accused of murder and went on the lam. He sought to reinvent himself as a cryptocurrency guru and as a candidate for US president. Reporter Jamie Tarabay interviews McAfee’s colleagues, acquaintances, investigators and family members to demystify lies he told throughout his life, reveal the secrets he kept and resolve questions surrounding his public and decades-long self-destruction. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

09 Feb 2023

02 MINS

02:26

09 Feb 2023

#165

Introducing: Crash Course

Hosted by Bloomberg Opinion senior executive editor Tim O'Brien, Crash Course will bring listeners directly into the arenas where epic business and social upheavals occur. Every week, Crash Course will explore the lessons to be learned when creativity and ambition collide with competition and power -- on Wall Street and Main Street, and in Hollywood and Washington. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

05 Jan 2023

01 MINS

01:53

05 Jan 2023

#164

Amazon Part 7: The Final Frontier

It was the end of an era. Jeff Bezos announced he was leaving the CEO role at Amazon and becoming executive chairman. But as one epic business story was ending, another was beginning. His handpicked successor, Andy Jassy, would have to defuse the company’s mounting confrontations with regulators and employees, including a rising labor union at a Staten Island warehouse. Reporter Brad Stone chronicles what happened when Jeff Bezos’s feet left the ground – literally. One of the world’s wealthiest people wanted to spend more time on space travel, philanthropy, and a life of peripatetic indulgence with his new partner, Lauren Sanchez. But with pressing problems facing his company – and the planet – how serious is Bezos about deploying his vast resources and keen intellect to solving real problems? And 30 years after he started Amazon in a Seattle area garage, what will be Bezos and Amazon’s lasting legacy? See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

14 Apr 2022

35 MINS

35:17

14 Apr 2022

#163

Amazon Part 6: The Billionaire and the Tabloid

A wayward CEO, a tabloid newspaper determined to humiliate the world’s richest person, a callously disloyal brother and dramatic allegations of cyberespionage and international intrigue. The events surrounding the divorce of Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott in early 2019 were almost too far-fetched to believe. A day after they announced the dissolution of their 25-year marriage with a tweet, the National Enquirer published an explosive story, detailing Bezos’s extramarital relationship. Reporter Brad Stone tells the dramatic story of Bezos’s evolving personal life and its impact on the tech giant he founded — leading to his ultimate decision to step back from the role of CEO. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

07 Apr 2022

42 MINS

42:52

07 Apr 2022

#162

Amazon Part 5: The Price of Speedy Delivery

For its first 20 years, Amazon relied on UPS and other delivery companies to get packages to its customers’ doorsteps. Then a shipping disaster one Christmas made Jeff Bezos decide to build his own transportation network. Reporter Brad Stone chronicles the remarkable expansion of the Amazon transportation network into our communities, the company’s strained relationship with its delivery contractors and drivers, who wear Amazon uniforms but do not technically work for the tech giant. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

31 Mar 2022

37 MINS

37:28

31 Mar 2022

#161

Amazon Part 4: The Virtual Bazaar

Jeff Bezos made an unorthodox decision two decades ago to open the Amazon’s virtual shelves to merchandise from outside sellers, turning the site from a simple online store into a virtual flea market. But converting Amazon.com into a marketplace also brought unexpected challenges. Cheap knockoffs flooded onto the site. Small businesses discovered that their professional lives were dictated by the whims of executives in Seattle. Reporter Brad Stone chronicles the epic expansion of the Amazon Marketplace, which generated tremendous growth for the company and unprecedented wealth for Jeff Bezos. It also attracted a litany of complaints from customers and competitors – and the critical attention of regulators around the word. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

24 Mar 2022