Whale Hunting

Why does Elon Musk need private spies?


Listen Later

For the right price, a billionaire can buy almost anything in the private intelligence industry. Investigators will covertly dig through bins, pose as friendly faces to deceptively extract information, and even coordinate offensive hacking attacks to access private data. Although this by no means represents the whole industry, there is nothing off-menu to the world's wealthiest if you know the right people. And Elon Musk — the proprietor of the world’s deepest pockets — apparently uses private spies liberally, often to acquire information relevant to his personal life and reputation. Apparently, he's just desperate to control everything. This week on Whale Hunting, Bradley is joined by fellow aficionado of the private intelligence industry Alexi Mostrous, Investigations Editor at Tortoise Media. They discuss why Elon Musk uses private spies for personal matters, the relationship between journalists and the intelligence industry, and how Bradley once pranked an overly eager investigator to protect his source.

Mentioned in this week’s episode:

  • Elon’s Spies, Alexi Mostrous’ latest podcast for Tortoise
  • Walter’s War, a podcast about Oliver Lewis presented by Tortoise’s Basia Cummings
  • Neil Gerrard, a lawyer who represented ENRC and is known for representing wealthy clients in high profile legal spats
  • The controversial Christopher Steele dossier, which was published by BuzzFeed News
  • Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter by Kate Cogan and Ryan Mac

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://brazen.fm/plus/

    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    Whale HuntingBy Brazen

    • 5
    • 5
    • 5
    • 5
    • 5

    5

    17 ratings


    More shows like Whale Hunting

    View all
    The Documentary Podcast by BBC World Service

    The Documentary Podcast

    1,837 Listeners

    Secrets and Spies Podcast: Current Affairs | Geopolitics | Intelligence by Secrets & Spies

    Secrets and Spies Podcast: Current Affairs | Geopolitics | Intelligence

    251 Listeners

    Slow Burn by Slate Podcasts

    Slow Burn

    23,957 Listeners

    Jungle Prince by The New York Times

    Jungle Prince

    2,277 Listeners

    The Underworld Podcast by The Underworld Podcast

    The Underworld Podcast

    778 Listeners

    British Scandal by Wondery

    British Scandal

    2,381 Listeners

    The Professor: Hunting for the Mafia's Missing Masterpiece by Brazen

    The Professor: Hunting for the Mafia's Missing Masterpiece

    286 Listeners

    Lucky Boy | Tortoise Investigates by Tortoise Media

    Lucky Boy | Tortoise Investigates

    3,358 Listeners

    The Big Conn: The Official Podcast by Apple TV+

    The Big Conn: The Official Podcast

    236 Listeners

    Hot Money: The New Narcos by Pushkin Industries & Financial Times

    Hot Money: The New Narcos

    338 Listeners

    Fat Leonard by Brazen

    Fat Leonard

    104 Listeners

    Resistance: Stories from Ukraine by Brazen

    Resistance: Stories from Ukraine

    2 Listeners

    People Like Us by Brazen

    People Like Us

    19 Listeners

    Kabul Falling by Brazen

    Kabul Falling

    24 Listeners

    Corinna y El Rey by Brazen

    Corinna y El Rey

    18 Listeners

    Corinna and The King by Brazen

    Corinna and The King

    68 Listeners

    The Sound: Mystery of Havana Syndrome by Brazen

    The Sound: Mystery of Havana Syndrome

    229 Listeners

    The Closer: Deals Change the World by Brazen

    The Closer: Deals Change the World

    44 Listeners

    Dynamite Doug by Brazen

    Dynamite Doug

    51 Listeners

    Night of Show by Brazen

    Night of Show

    16 Listeners

    Gateway: Cocaine, Murder, & Dirty Money in Europe by Brazen

    Gateway: Cocaine, Murder, & Dirty Money in Europe

    46 Listeners

    Spy Valley: An Engineer's Nuclear Betrayal by Brazen

    Spy Valley: An Engineer's Nuclear Betrayal

    69 Listeners

    The 404 Media Podcast by 404 Media

    The 404 Media Podcast

    236 Listeners

    World Of Secrets by BBC

    World Of Secrets

    961 Listeners

    The Spy Who by Wondery

    The Spy Who

    536 Listeners

    Sunshine & Lollipops: Welcome To Dubai's Underworld by Brazen

    Sunshine & Lollipops: Welcome To Dubai's Underworld

    2 Listeners

    The Six Billion Dollar Gold Scam by BBC & CBC

    The Six Billion Dollar Gold Scam

    80 Listeners

    Fur & Loathing by Brazen

    Fur & Loathing

    136 Listeners

    Intrigue by BBC Radio 4

    Intrigue

    150 Listeners

    Wonder by Brazen

    Wonder

    23 Listeners

    The Illuminator: Art, Conspiracy and Madness by Brazen

    The Illuminator: Art, Conspiracy and Madness

    37 Listeners