Who Is Paul Singer?

On Who Is?, Sean Morrow talks a lot about the system--and the powerful financial interests that exert a profound influence on it. But who are these check-writing billionaires, where do they make their money, and how do they spend it in order to influence our democracy? One of them, Paul Singer, runs a hedge fund, Elliott Management, whose business is activism--but not the activism you might think of. Elliott’s “activism” is activist investing, and the changes Elliott advocates for--at major main street companies like AT&T--often involve tens of thousands of layoffs, and result in the collapse of small towns and regional economies. That’s not all: Elliott is also in the business of using the courts to force entire countries, like Argentina, into default, making a handsome profit in the process. What does Paul Singer do with all of the money he makes at Elliott? Invest it in politics, and think tanks that seek to advance American militarism in the Middle East. On this episode of Who Is?, the story of one of America’s financial titans, and the power he wields over not only our economy, but our democracy.     

Michelle Celarier, a renowned finance journalist who has covered hedge funds and the men who run them for New York Magazine, Fortune, Institutional Investor, and the New York Post

Eli Clifton, an investigative journalist who focuses on how money influences U.S. foreign policy, and research director of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft's Democratizing Foreign Policy Program

Nell Geiser, the director of research for the Communications Workers of America

Jen Wieczner, a senior writer at Fortune Magazine, where she covers finance, tech, and hedge funds and their role in the market

The views expressed in this podcast include opinion unless cited as fact and Paul Singer and his hedge fund firm, Elliot Management Corporation, have previously denied any claims of wrongdoing

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