18 episodes

What can a billionaire get away with these days? A secret bat cave? A harem of women? An international spy operation? Stealing the soul of a small town in Montana? A Silicon Valley venture capitalist was accused of running a massive sex-trafficking operation by his best bro friend. And we unravel the truth about both of them - their business, their break-up, their lies, and their embarrassing text messages. The story of a billionaire with a hero complex, the ex-spy who turned his life inside out, and us, the reporters who got caught up in their macho drama.
Cover Story is an investigative podcast series featuring original reporting from New York Magazine. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. New episodes every Tuesday.

Cover Story New York Magazine

    • True Crime
    • 4.3 • 35 Ratings

What can a billionaire get away with these days? A secret bat cave? A harem of women? An international spy operation? Stealing the soul of a small town in Montana? A Silicon Valley venture capitalist was accused of running a massive sex-trafficking operation by his best bro friend. And we unravel the truth about both of them - their business, their break-up, their lies, and their embarrassing text messages. The story of a billionaire with a hero complex, the ex-spy who turned his life inside out, and us, the reporters who got caught up in their macho drama.
Cover Story is an investigative podcast series featuring original reporting from New York Magazine. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. New episodes every Tuesday.

    Mind Your Own Business

    Mind Your Own Business

    In a cabin in Whitefish, Montana, two ex-spies tell us an outlandish story: right here in town, a billionaire philanthropist is allegedly running a sexual enterprise, importing young women into safehouses. One of the spies knows this because he was the billionaire’s right hand man, and best bro friend. He claims to know a shocking amount about this billionaire’s affairs, personal and professional.
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    • 43 min
    They Were Relationships... Nothing Yucky

    They Were Relationships... Nothing Yucky

    The billionaire is into…Batman. Is that because he’s an actual hero, or because he’s using showy philanthropy to cover up his bad deeds? We track down some women he’s paid millions of dollars to. And we talk to the billionaire about his hero complex.
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    • 45 min
    Mission Creep

    Mission Creep

    We dig into the billionaire and ex-spy’s bromance and business partnership – which means a detour into the world of spies for hire. The rich cozy up with former intelligence personnel and try to, for better or worse, carry out missions the government can’t seem to do on its own. We are guided by a powerful female ex-spy who was in Matt and Mike’s circle and who explains, “it’s all about the size of your freaking penis. It’s true!”
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    • 39 min
    Baby, You’re Fine With Me

    Baby, You’re Fine With Me

    Where does sex with a billionaire land you? We talk to three women who soured on Mike, at different points. We examine a court case, a police investigation, and one woman’s memories. We weigh the question: if none of it adds up to a crime, what does it add up to?
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    • 54 min
    I Am the Victim

    I Am the Victim

    The ex-spy is under arrest for fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion. And, in a surprise move, he pleads guilty to all three. What? We start to closely examine his dealings with the billionaire to figure out what really happened between them and the threads start to unravel, and keep unraveling. By the end, one person stands up in court and declares, “I am the victim.”
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    • 48 min
    All the Voids

    All the Voids

    An episode of reckoning. We catch up with Matt in prison, Mike in Whitefish, and everyone else – wherever they’ve scattered. Both of the men's wives have surprising news. And we add our final touches to what has turned into an uncomfortably intimate portrait of a modern billionaire.
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    • 35 min

Customer Reviews

4.3 out of 5
35 Ratings

35 Ratings

Greg-forest-tree ,

Excellent

I have seen how much psychedelic authoritarianism has had an impact on my journeys and found this podcast incredibly affirming.

Sonnyjupiter ,

Sorry but it’s a waste of time

This podcast is very well produced making it extremely listenable, but look under the hood and there really is absolutely nothing going on.. It’s actually a little embarrassing that the makers of this pod were simply fed lies, that they swallowed, and at the end we’re like, yeah we still have a story here… then bending over backwards to tease and dramatise this “story”.. It’s actually a shame such resources weren’t spent on a more worthwhile story.

cas.mont ,

I’m a bit shook up

Incredibly brave and timely. Well done and thank you

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