The London-Kazakhstan connection
FT News Briefing
Forhecz Topher
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 14 January 2022
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Google says it will spend $1bn to purchase its office building in London, Katie Martin explains why Ken Griffin selling a $1.2bn stake in his Citadel Securities is a big deal, and FT investigation correspondent, Tom Burgis, describes a British industry that caters to global elites who want to hide their wealth and manage their reputations.
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Mentioned in this podcast:
Google bets on return to office with $1bn purchase of London building
Kazakhstan: violent clampdown highlights City of London’s lucrative role
Ken Griffin’s Citadel Securities sells $1.2bn stake to Sequoia and Paradigm
Security talks with US and Nato ‘unsuccessful’, says Kremlin
Twitter Spaces: Russia’s Geopolitical ambitions - 12pm ET/ 5pm GMT
The FT News Briefing is produced by Fiona Symon and Marc Filippino. The show’s editor is Jess Smith. Additional help by Peter Barber and Gavin Kallmann. The show’s theme song is by Metaphor Music. Topher Forhecz is the FT’s executive producer. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The FT News Briefing is supported by Equinole, the UK's energy partner. |
| 0:06.3 | Learn more at equinole.co.uk. |
| 0:09.7 | Good morning from the Financial Times. |
| 0:11.4 | Today is Friday, January 14th, and this is your FT News Briefing. |
| 0:18.3 | Everyone says office space is dead, but you know, don't tell Google. |
| 0:22.1 | And it's not yet a household name, but powerful market maker said it all |
| 0:26.1 | securities may list on the public market. |
| 0:29.2 | Plus, we'll look at a London industry that masks corruption and abuse of power by elites |
| 0:33.6 | in countries like Kazakhstan. |
| 0:36.0 | London, you know, has been very slowly losing an empire and gaining set of services |
| 0:40.3 | it can sell to the world's new powers. |
| 0:43.2 | I'm Mark Filipino, and here's the news you need to start your day. |
| 0:50.8 | Google is buying a billion dollar office space in London. |
| 0:54.4 | This is an addition to a huge new headquarters that it's in the process of building |
| 0:58.4 | right nearby. |
| 0:59.6 | This comes as millions of square feet of UK office space have been shut or converted into other |
| 1:04.8 | uses. Google said it sees the office as a place for in-person collaboration and connection. |
| 1:10.5 | Part of the new investment will be used to repurpose existing office space. |
| 1:20.5 | Our next story is also about London and its connection to Kazakhstan. |
| 1:25.3 | The Central Asian country was just rocked by massive political protests, |
| 1:29.4 | and the government's crackdown killed more than 160 people. |
| 1:36.6 | Those protests were fueled by frustration with the government, |
... |
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