logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2024
10m 33s

A look at Temu’s murky business model

Financial Times
About this episode

Instagram overtook TikTok in new app downloads last year, US President Joe Biden announced a plan to set up a port on the coast of Gaza to help facilitate aid delivery to the enclave, and a huge corruption case in Vietnam has captured the country’s attention. Plus, the FT’s Dan McCrum unpacks the mystery behind how Temu took over the retail world. Credit: Temu


Mentioned in this podcast: 

Trial begins for Vietnamese property tycoon accused of $12bn fraud

The mysterious rise of the Chinese ecommerce giant behind Temu

US plans to establish port on Gaza coast to step up aid deliveries

Instagram overtakes TikTok in app downloads in race for new users


The FT News Briefing is produced by Fiona Symon, Sonja Hutson, Kasia Broussalian and Marc Filippino. Additional help by Sam Giovinco, Peter Barber, Michael Lello, David da Silva and Gavin Kallmann. Our engineer is Monica Lopez. Topher Forhecz is the FT’s executive producer. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. The show’s theme song is by Metaphor Music.


Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Today
Germany’s pension crisis
US President Donald Trump said he was firing Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, shares in Ørsted plunged after the Trump administration halted one of the Danish wind farm developer’s almost-completed projects, and Elon Musk’s xAI has sued Apple and OpenAI alleging they broke ant ... Show More
10m 40s
Yesterday
Jerome Powell triggers market bets on a September rate cut
Jay Powell signalled a monetary policy shift during a high-profile Jackson Hole speech last week, and European investors are pouring money into new air defence technology. Plus, Spanish bank Santander is seeking to become a big player in Wall Street’s Spac market. Mentioned in th ... Show More
11m 49s
Aug 22
The return of ‘pump and dump’ stock scams
EU officials are accelerating plans for a digital euro, and the US Department of Justice has called for Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook to be removed from her post. Plus, investors lost billions of dollars in July in what could be pump and dump stock scams. Mentioned in this p ... Show More
11m 4s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2022
Money Talks: TikTok’s ticking time bomb—an episode from our archive
It’s the fastest growing app in the world, filled with dance trends, cats misbehaving, and questionable financial advice. Teenagers love it; Western politicians are less convinced. Could TikTok’s popularity be its downfall? In one of our favourite episodes of 2022, hosts Mike Bir ... Show More
38m 5s
Dec 2022
Money Talks: TikTok’s ticking time bomb—an episode from our archive
It’s the fastest growing app in the world, filled with dance trends, cats misbehaving, and questionable financial advice. Teenagers love it; Western politicians are less convinced. Could TikTok’s popularity be its downfall? In one of our favourite episodes of 2022, hosts Mike Bir ... Show More
38m 5s
Jul 2022
Money Talks: TikTok’s ticking time bomb
It’s the fastest growing app in the world, filled with dance trends, cats misbehaving, and questionable financial advice. Teenagers love it; Western politicians are less convinced. Could TikTok’s popularity be its downfall? This week, hosts Mike Bird, Alice Fulwood and Soumaya Ke ... Show More
37m 28s
Jul 2022
Money Talks: TikTok’s ticking time bomb
It’s the fastest growing app in the world, filled with dance trends, cats misbehaving, and questionable financial advice. Teenagers love it; Western politicians are less convinced. Could TikTok’s popularity be its downfall? This week, hosts Mike Bird, Alice Fulwood and Soumaya Ke ... Show More
37m 28s
Apr 2023
Money Talks: Last dance for TikTok?
Time may be running short for TikTok. In the US, both Democrats and Republicans view the Chinese-owned app as a national security threat and would like to ban it. It’s practically the only policy issue that the two parties agree on. And yet the politicians in Washington DC have l ... Show More
40m 32s
Apr 2023
Money Talks: Last dance for TikTok?
Time may be running short for TikTok. In the US, both Democrats and Republicans view the Chinese-owned app as a national security threat and would like to ban it. It’s practically the only policy issue that the two parties agree on. And yet the politicians in Washington DC have l ... Show More
40m 32s
Mar 2023
China’s Iran Deal
Tommy and Ben talk about China brokering a deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran, Saudi Arabia’s wish list to “normalize” relations with Israel, protests of Netanyahu’s changes to Israel’s judicial system, the BBC, soccer and free speech, new reports about who sabotaged the Nord Ste ... Show More
1h 18m
Mar 2020
Rana Foroohar on the trillion dollar fightback, Biden sweep
The FT News Briefing is a rundown of the global business stories you need to know for the coming day, from the newsroom of the Financial Times. If you enjoy it, subscribe to the FT News Briefing wherever you get your podcasts, or listen at FT.com/newsbriefing. Western governments ... Show More
7m 56s
Mar 2023
Is prosecuting presidents a good idea?
Tommy and Ben are joined by Crooked contributor Max Fisher for a segment to discuss a possible Trump indictment and how common presidential prosecutions are around the world. Then Ben and Tommy cover Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to Moscow, the retirement age in France, the ... Show More
1h 14m
Aug 2020
Is time up for TikTok?
Amber Rudd and Flora Gill are joined by TikTok star Meggie Foster, BBC video journalist Sophia Smith Galer and host of The Times' Tales of Silicon Valley podcast Danny Fortson, to discuss the success of TikTok, its forced sale by President Donald Trump, and ask if we should be co ... Show More
48m 41s