Corporate Gossip

If you're in the mood for a classic true crime beach read look no further than the CaaStle fraud! In 2024 Christine Hunsicker was a leather jacket wearing, mohawk donning, Forbes cover girl who made headlines for her clothing subscription service that boasted nearly a billion dollars in annual revenue. Investors were pumping her company full of cash on the promise of infinite hockey stick growth. But had those investors, including Bill Ackman and Peter Theil, used a single brain cell (!!) they would have discovered that Hunsicker's fashion business was a complete fabrication. By the end of the year she would plead guilty to a fraud worth $300m, one of the biggest financial frauds in recent history, and now faces up to 20 years in prison. 
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Links: 
This Startup Wanted to Revolutionize Fashion. Now It's Under Investigation for Fraud.
The Tech Fashion Darling Accused of Swindling Investors Out of $300 Million
SEC Indictment
CaaStle let CEO remain after learning of alleged fraud
Shareholder lawsuit
Good News: Libraries are for Everyone: How immigrants are finding community in Massachusetts libraries

To hear the full episode, join the Corporate Gossip Patreon and get TWO bonus epiosdes every month! If you want even more Corporate Gossip in your life join at the Murdoch's Mates level for access to the group chat and the quarterly book club!
Listen to the end for good news!!
Imagine if Gordon Bombay never had a redemption arc. That's the story of Murry Gunty, owner of Black Bear Sports, a Private Equity company that professionalizes shaking kids down for their lunch money - but you're gonna LOVE how this movie ends.
We'll also talk about Jeffrey Epstein associate Josh Harris and heir to the Smurf fortune David Blitzer who use their Blackstone connections and Wharton Business degrees to steal joy from children!! Don't worry, there's a comeuppance for them in this story, too!
Links:
Lord of the Rinks. Meet the hockey CEO cashing in on your kid's team
Youth Sports Are a $40 Billion Business. Private Equity Is Taking Notice.
Tennessee bill would criminalize harassment of student-athletes
As Youth Sports Professionalize, Kids Are Burning Out Fast
Private Equity Is Coming for Youth Sports
Bill would ban private equity 'vulture investors' from youth sports.

Now with enhanced audio!!! 
Meet Steve Witkoff, a real estate investor and supreme Trump suck-up turned "peace guy" and his two failsons, Alex and Zach. They're in charge of World Liberty Financial, the "world's fastest growing crypto company" along with the Trump family and crypto hucksters Zak Folkman and Chase Hero. The WLF team might feel invincible, but this week one disgruntled investor filed a lawsuit that might take down the entire operation... 
This episode has it ALL... a resurfaced body cam video of a Witkoff son being arrested for assaulting a bouncer and cocaine possession, a colon cleanse subscription business, a website called datehottergirls.com, and the 1954 Guatemalan coup!!! 
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Links: 
The Trump Family Business Empire Is Growing. We Mapped Out 268 Pieces of It
In real estate, Witkoff is royalty. In DC, he's the president's man
Where Mideast Envoy Pitched Peace, His Son Pitched Investors
The 'Crypto Punks' Behind Trump's Murky New Business Venture
Trump's entry into crypto opens new doors for those seeking political influence
How Trump's crypto business partners left their old clients in the lurch
Anatomy of Two Giant Deals: The U.A.E. Got Chips. The Trump Team Got Crypto Riches
Donald Trump Jr. denies rumors World Liberty Financial is falling apart

To hear the full episode, join the Corporate Gossip Patreon and get TWO bonus epiosdes every month! If you want even more Corporate Gossip in your life join at the Murdoch's Mates level for access to the group chat and the quarterly book club!
Tragic, the most annoying men on earth are fighting in federal court over "perfidy and deceit of Shakespearean proportions"!!!
Robby and Becca crack open their piggy bank and spend all their money downloading electronic court records from the Northern California district court to bring you the juiciest nuggets you won't hear anywhere else!
We recorded this episode on Wednesday evening and wanted to get it out quickly because this is an evolving story!
Links: 
Battle of the Billionaires: What's at Stake as Elon Musk and Sam Altman Face Off in Court
The unflattering secrets revealed so far in Elon Musk's latest legal feud

This is the potential breakup song of Ticketmaster & Live Nation: a toxic relationship that, according to one lawyer, "essentially defrauds everyone involved." Becca and Robby bring you up to speed on the outcome of the company's fight in a trust-busting trial and then go all the way back to the villain origin story of this Frankenstein of scams. It makes us feel better to know that the founder of Ticketmaster is now miserable and possibly broke!
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Timestamps: 
00:00 - Live Nation anti-trust verdict
05:00 - Episode intro 
14:00 - History / origin story of Ticketmaster
32:00 - Ticketmaster enabling / encouraging scalpers because "it's called CAPITALISM"
40:00 - Live Nation / Ticketmaster bribes every president EXCEPT Jimmy Carter
56:00 - Kid Rock is Live Nation's pain sponge 
58:00 - Takeaways / Pearl Jam 
1:09:00 - Good news! 
Links: 
Live Nation employee mocks customers as 'so stupid' in internal messages released in court case
Train Wreck? A Mogul's Battle Against The Bel-Air Subway
Ticketmaster's Dark History
How Ticketmaster became the most hated name in music
'A public relations nightmare': Ticketmaster recruits pros for secret scalper program
Live Nation reaches settlement in US monopoly case
Jury Finds Live Nation Acts as a Monopoly in a Victory for States
NYC's plan to tax luxury second homes, explained 
5 Things to Know About New York's Proposed Second Home Tax