Hello I'm Simon Long International Editor at The Economist and this is Money Talks on Economist

Radio.

Coming up on today's show,

Baysos versus the National Inquirer, what we know.

In about a little over a thousand words,

he managed to weave a tale of intrigue where they have threatened to publish these

photos unless he ceases and desists from his investigation of them.

And how powerful can employee surveys be?

On a scale of 1 to 10, I put it as a 10,

as in Sherlock Holmes' detective skills,

as opposed to a one as in Boris Johnson's fact-checking skills.

But first, on January the 9th, the National Inquirer announced they were going to publish an

expose of an extramarital affair involving the world's richest man, Jeff Bezos, boss of Amazon.

It looked like a familiar tabloid sting, but then it took an interesting turn. Mr.

Bezos decided to fight back. He's accused David Pekker, boss of American media, the firm

that publishes the National Inquirer and other tabloids, of conspiring to blackmail him over some the Economist's

The National Inquirer and other tabloids of conspiring to blackmail him over some intimate photographs.

Guddy Epstein, the Economist's media editor, is here to explain all.

Hello, Guddy, it's become quite a convoluted tale this. Can you help us just pick

our way through it with the bare bones of what's happened so far?

Right, you've got where it starts with the National Choir saying that they had followed Beelos around for some months and that they had explosive texts and photos which are then published a few weeks ago.

And then last week Jeff Bezos put this blockbuster post online

...