London VC’s bet on Revolut pays off
FT News Briefing
Forhecz Topher
4.4 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 14 January 2026
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Two former senior executives at the collapsed subprime car lender Tricolor Holdings pleaded not guilty to fraud and financial crime charges, and Microsoft is pledging to “pay its way” for its AI data centres. Plus, US inflation stayed at 2.7 per cent in December, and we’ll talk about what Balderton Capital’s early investment in Revolut can teach us about venture capital investment.
Mentioned in this podcast:
Tricolor executives plead not guilty to charges stemming from collapse
Microsoft vows to ‘pay its way’ as it seeks to defuse data centre backlash
US inflation stays at 2.7% in December
Billions from a million: the London VC that hit the jackpot with Revolut
Note: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts
Today’s FT News Briefing was hosted and edited by Marc Filippino, and produced by Fiona Symon and Victoria Craig. Our show was mixed by Kelly Garry. Additional help from Michael Lello and Gavin Kallmann. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s Global Head of Audio. The show’s theme music is by Metaphor Music.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Good morning from the Financial Times. |
| 0:04.1 | Today is Wednesday, January 14th, and this is your FT News Briefing. |
| 0:08.8 | Tricolor senior executives appeared in court yesterday, |
| 0:12.4 | and can companies build data centers without passing on the cost to consumers? |
| 0:17.4 | Plus, a venture capital company that hit the jackpot with Revolut proves sometimes small ball is the key to big wins. |
| 0:25.4 | If you can own a meaningful percentage of a rocket ship, then it's going to work out pretty well for you. |
| 0:32.1 | I'm Mark Filipino, and here's the news you need to start your day. |
| 0:43.4 | Thank you. here's the news you need to start your day. The former CEO and the former chief operating officer of Tree Kallor Holdings pleaded |
| 0:48.4 | not guilty in a New York court yesterday. Federal prosecutors are accusing Daniel Chu |
| 0:53.8 | and David Goodgame of fraud and financial |
| 0:56.3 | crimes. Tree Collore specialized in selling used cars and providing subprime financing to lower |
| 1:02.1 | income customers, and it suddenly collapsed last year. The indictment said Tree Collore borrowed more |
| 1:08.3 | than a billion dollars from lenders, including J.P. Morgan and Barclays, based on fabricated data and false statements, the company's unraveling got people worried about lending standards and possible cracks in the debt market. |
| 1:20.5 | Chew and Goodgame did not speak in court yesterday. They declined to comment to the Financial Times. |
| 1:36.8 | The Trump administration has pushed artificial intelligence as a priority, but the data centers that are crucial for AI use a lot of electricity and make electricity cost a lot |
| 1:42.0 | more for everyone around them. |
| 1:46.3 | Companies are thinking about these costs, |
| 1:48.6 | and yesterday Microsoft pledged to, quote, |
| 1:52.1 | pay its way for these data centers so others don't get hit. |
| 1:56.2 | Here to talk about this is the FT's energy reporter Martha Muir. |
| 1:56.9 | Hi, Martha. |
| 1:57.8 | Hi. |
... |
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