Market Maker

Hosted by AmplifyME

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456

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Aug 2026

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About the show

The AmplifyME Market Maker Podcast makes finance fun and easy to understand. Hosted by LinkedIn Top Voice Anthony Cheung and trader-turned-founder Piers Curran, each week they break down the biggest market stories and trends shaping the global economy. Get real insight, boost your commercial awareness, and learn how markets really work, with top guests from leading banks, hedge funds, and asset managers sharing their career journeys and invaluable advice.

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August 31, 202649 min

Stripe’s $7.5 Billion AI Bet: Why It Just Bought OpenRouter

Stripe has just made one of the biggest AI acquisitions yet, buying OpenRouter for around $7.5 billion — a company that was valued at just $1.3 billion only months earlier. So what exactly is Stripe buying, and why has OpenRouter become so valuable so quickly? In this episode of the Market Maker Podcast, Anthony Cheung and Stephen Barnett break down OpenRouter’s extraordinary rise, how its platform connects businesses to hundreds of different AI models, and why the economics of AI could increasingly favour the platforms routing intelligence rather than the companies building the models themselves. We also unpack the remarkable story of Stripe, founded by Irish brothers Patrick and John Collison, which now processes payments equivalent to around 1.6% of the entire global economy. We explore how Stripe became a critical part of the internet’s financial infrastructure, and why its latest acquisitions point to much bigger ambitions across AI, payments and agentic commerce. From venture capital and AI valuations to network effects, business moats and the future of online commerce, this is the business behind Stripe’s $7.5 billion bet on the AI economy. (00:00) Stripe’s $7.5BN AI Bet (02:30) The OpenRouter Deal (05:01) From Startup to $7.5BN (09:29) How Venture Capital Works (11:13) What Is OpenRouter? (16:32) Building a Billion-Dollar Startup (22:21) What’s OpenRouter’s Moat? (28:19) Why Stripe Bought OpenRouter (33:20) The Rise of Agentic Commerce (37:12) The Story of Stripe (40:07) How Stripe Makes Money (44:35) Stripe’s Acquisition Strategy (47:13) Have We Reached Singularity?

August 24, 202643 min

China’s Robot IPO Boom & India’s Biggest IPO Ever Explained

The global IPO market is roaring back but some of the most interesting action isn’t happening on Wall Street. In this episode of the Market Maker Podcast, Anthony Cheung and Stephen Barnett take a whistle-stop tour of the global IPO boom, from China’s extraordinary robotics race and Hong Kong’s growing pipeline of AI listings to what could become the biggest IPO in India’s history. We break down why Chinese robotics companies are attracting huge investor demand, what embodied AI could mean for the next stage of the technology cycle, and why Hong Kong is emerging as an important fundraising hub for the sector. We then head to India to look at the planned listing of the National Stock Exchange, before exploring the surprisingly active IPO markets of Pakistan and Zambia. Finally, we return to the US to ask an important question: with so much investor capital being pulled towards mega AI and technology listings, are other companies being crowded out? A global look at where capital is flowing, why IPO activity is returning and what it tells us about the changing shape of markets. (00:00) The Global IPO Boom (03:48) IPOs Are Back (06:00) Careers in Equity Capital Markets (10:04) China’s Robot IPO Boom (11:36) The Unitree Robotics Story (18:36) China vs the US (22:15) Hong Kong’s Robot Gold Rush (27:27) India’s Biggest IPO Ever (30:36) Inside an IPO Roadshow (33:01) Pakistan’s Record IPO Year (36:12) Zambia’s IPO Boom (39:10) Why This US IPO Flopped (40:39) The Defence Tech Opportunity

August 20, 202649 min

The Business of Boeing: How Did It Go So Wrong?

Boeing is back in the spotlight following the release of Netflix’s new documentary Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing. But beyond the safety failures and scandals, there’s another important story: how does Boeing actually work as a business? In this episode of the Market Maker Podcast, we break down the economics behind one of the world’s most important companies. How does Boeing make money? Why can selling aircraft be loss-making while servicing them generates huge margins? Why is its $700bn+ order backlog so important? And how have Boeing and Airbus ended up controlling more than 90% of the commercial aircraft market? We also explore the decisions that changed Boeing: the McDonnell Douglas merger, the shift from engineering excellence towards shareholder returns, billions spent on share buybacks, the development of the 737 MAX and the financial consequences that followed. If the Netflix documentary tells the story of what happened at Boeing, this episode helps explain the business behind it and why the decisions made decades ago still matter today. (00:00) The Business of Boeing (01:32) How Boeing Became an Icon (05:29) How Boeing Makes Money (11:33) Boeing’s Hidden Profit Engine (16:06) The Accounting Behind Boeing (21:43) Boeing’s $55bn Debt Problem (26:24) Boeing vs Airbus (29:45) Can China Break the Duopoly? (33:16) When Boeing’s Culture Changed (38:18) The 737 MAX Disaster (41:52) Boeing After the Crisis (43:43) Boeing Today

August 17, 202646 min

SpaceX’s 40% Rally Explained | Inside Apollo’s £5.7bn EasyJet Deal

SpaceX shares have surged nearly 40% from their recent lows, despite fears that its unusual staggered lock-up structure would unleash a wave of selling. So what actually happened? Anthony Cheung and Stephen Barnett break down how IPO lock-ups work, why SpaceX’s tiny public float matters and how retail buying, index funds and a potential short squeeze helped drive the rebound. We also return to EasyJet following Apollo’s £5.7 billion takeover, unpacking the private equity financing behind the deal, before looking at Cambridge Aerospace — the two-year-old UK defence technology company now valued at more than $3 billion. A packed episode covering IPOs, private equity, debt financing, defence technology and some of the biggest stories moving markets. (00:00) What’s Coming Up (04:21) Why SpaceX Stock Surged (05:27) Staggered Lock-Ups Explained (12:36) Why Investors Bought the Dip (15:45) The SpaceX Short Squeeze (17:24) The Elon factor (21:10) The Success of Staggered Lock-Ups (23:12) Can SpaceX Justify Its Valuation? (24:55) Apollo’s £5.7bn EasyJet Deal (29:21) How Private Equity Funds a Takeover (36:37) Apollo’s Plan for EasyJet (40:00) The UK’s $3bn Defence Startup (44:53) Coming Next: Boeing Deep Dive

August 13, 202651 min

The $500 Billion AI Debt Machine & The Great CapEx Test

Nvidia, CoreWeave and Wall Street are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into AI infrastructure. But how does the financial machine behind the AI boom actually work and where are the risks? In this episode of the Market Maker Podcast, Anthony Cheung and Piers Curran unpack CoreWeave’s extraordinary growth and $100bn+ revenue backlog, Nvidia’s role at the centre of the AI ecosystem, and the huge amounts of debt and private capital being used to finance data centres and GPUs. We explain what neoclouds are, why GPUs are increasingly being treated as infrastructure assets, and how firms including BlackRock, Blackstone, Apollo, Goldman Sachs and KKR are helping finance the AI buildout. But there’s another side to the story. We explore the “circular financing” concerns surrounding Nvidia and its customers, the growing concentration risk across the AI industry, and what could happen if hyperscalers such as Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta begin to slow their enormous AI spending. Finally, we look at the wider macro picture, including the latest US CPI inflation data, Federal Reserve interest rate expectations and why the AI boom itself is beginning to show up in inflation. Is this the financial infrastructure needed to power the next technological revolution or is too much money becoming dependent on the AI boom continuing? (00:00) The $1 Trillion AI Spending Boom (03:51) CoreWeave’s Incredible Growth (04:58) The $104BN AI Order Book (08:35) What Is a Neocloud? (11:18) The Huge Cost of AI Infrastructure (16:13) Nvidia’s $500BN Wall Street Deal (17:53) How GPUs Became an Asset Class (21:14) Was Michael Burry Wrong on AI? (24:50) How Wall Street Finances AI (27:12) The AI Circular Financing Risk (33:34) Nvidia’s Biggest Concentration Risk (37:18) Can the AI Spending Boom Continue? (38:50) How to Invest Beyond Big Tech (40:12) The Next Trillion-Dollar AI Company? (44:30) AI Boom or House of Cards? (45:06) US Inflation Falls Again (47:05) Will the Fed Hike in September? (49:27) What to Expect From Jackson Hole

August 10, 202651 min

Why Sainsbury's Sold Argos (It's Not What You Think)

Why would Sainsbury's sell one of Britain's best-known retailers for a fraction of what it originally paid? In this episode of the Market Maker Podcast, Anthony Cheung and Stephen Barnett break down the sale of Argos and explain why the headline tells only part of the story. Was this a disastrous investment, or a smart strategic decision? They explore how corporate strategy, private equity and changing consumer behaviour transformed one of the UK's most iconic high street brands. Along the way, they also discuss the latest developments at SpaceX, AstraZeneca, Shein and Snap, and what these stories reveal about today's markets and economy. If you're interested in business, investing or improving your commercial awareness, this episode explains the thinking behind one of the UK's biggest retail deals in a simple, engaging way. (00:00) This Week's Biggest Business Stories (03:00) Market Maker Meets Listeners in New York (05:06) SpaceX Earnings & AI Spending (10:09) AstraZeneca's $400BN Merger Talks (12:26) Shein's IPO Returns (15:17) Snap Earnings Surprise (20:13) Why Sainsbury's Sold Argos (21:50) Stephen's Argos Story (24:39) The £1.4BN Mistake? (30:54) Why Investors Loved the Deal (34:25) Who Bought Argos? (39:24) The Rise of Argos (42:00) Why Argos Stopped Growing (45:24) Can Argos Make a Comeback? (49:27) The Real Lesson for Investors

August 6, 202647 min

The AI Hedge Fund That Blew Up | The Situational Awareness Story

A 22-year-old former OpenAI researcher built one of the hottest AI-focused hedge funds on Wall Street, generated extraordinary returns, then watched it unravel in spectacular fashion after a leveraged bet went wrong. Citadel stepped in to buy the portfolio, markets rebounded, and the episode raised important questions about AI investing, risk management and whether today's market is repeating the mistakes of the past. In this episode of Market Maker, Anthony Cheung and Piers Curran explain what really happened to Leopold Aschenbrenner's fund, why leverage can turn winning trades into disasters, how margin calls work, and why Ken Griffin and Citadel emerged as the biggest winners. They compare the story with the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management in 1998, showing why human psychology often matters more than intelligence in financial markets. They also break down why the S&P 500 has returned to record highs, what blockbuster earnings are telling us about the AI trade, whether semiconductor stocks have found a bottom, what falling oil prices mean for interest rates, and whether today's rally is built on solid foundations or growing optimism. Whether you're investing in AI, preparing for a career in finance, or simply trying to better understand global markets, this episode explains the biggest stories shaping Wall Street and what they could mean for investors next. (00:00) The AI Hedge Fund That Blew Up (02:00) Who Is Leopold Aschenbrenner? (05:30) 439% Returns... Then Disaster (08:04) How Leverage Really Works (14:28) Margin Calls Explained (19:45) Why Citadel Bought the Portfolio (24:11) The Ken Griffin Playbook (27:00) The LTCM Crash Comparison (31:08) The Psychology of Greed (37:22) Why the S&P 500 Hit Record Highs (41:53) Is the AI Trade Back?

August 3, 202654 min

The AI Investment Playbook: Who Wins Next & Where the Money Goes

Artificial intelligence is changing the world, but who will actually make the money? In this episode of the Market Maker Podcast, we explore the AI investment ecosystem to understand where value is really being created. From OpenAI and Anthropic to Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon, we break down the business models, investment strategies and competitive dynamics shaping the next phase of AI. Rather than focusing on the technology itself, we ask the questions investors should be thinking about. Is the AI boom sustainable? Which parts of the ecosystem are most likely to capture the profits? Could today's winners become tomorrow's losers? And what does all of this mean for investors, businesses and young professionals building careers in an AI-driven economy? If you're interested in investing, business strategy, financial markets or technology, this episode provides a practical framework for understanding one of the biggest investment themes of our time. If you enjoyed the episode, don't forget to like, subscribe and let us know in the comments: Who do you think will be the biggest winner in AI over the next five years? (00:00) The AI Investment Story (01:13) How Big Is the AI Opportunity? (07:06) Is AI Becoming Another Dot-Com Bubble? (09:30) OpenAI, Anthropic & The AI Labs (20:54) Is Being First Mover an Advantage? (22:30) Hyperscalers: Microsoft, Google, Apple & Amazon (32:09) Apple's Surprisingly Different AI Strategy (37:11) Nvidia & The Picks-and-Shovels Trade (43:08) Are AI Data Centres Becoming a Bubble? (49:12) Who Really Wins From AI? (51:49) The Skills That Will Matter Most in an AI World

July 30, 202619 min

The World of Corporate Banking Explained

In this episode, Stephen discusses the often misunderstood field of corporate banking, highlighting its significance within the financial services industry. He explains the core functions of corporate banking, the career paths available, and the technical skills required for success in this area. Whether you're considering a career in corporate banking or just want to understand its impact, this episode is packed with valuable insights! (00:00) Welcome Back and Introduction (02:57) Understanding Corporate Banking Functions (04:56) Corporate Banking vs M&A pay comparison (09:49) Skills needed to excel in Corporate Banking (13:58) The Profile of a Successful Corporate Banker (17:37) Recruitment in Corporate Banking

July 27, 202643 min

The Hidden Business of Sport: Why NFL Teams Are Worth Billions

Why would anyone spend $9.6 billion buying an NFL team? This week, Anthony Cheung and Stephen Barnett break down the record-breaking sale of the Seattle Seahawks and explain why owning a sports franchise has become one of the world's most attractive investments. From guaranteed TV revenues and billion-dollar media rights to stadium economics, private equity, and surprising tax advantages, they unpack the business model that has transformed NFL franchises into some of the most valuable assets on the planet. Along the way, they compare the NFL with European football, explain why scarcity drives valuations, explore the role of concerts and live events, and reveal why billionaire investors continue to compete for sports teams despite eye-watering price tags. If you're interested in finance, investment banking, private equity, M&A or simply want to better understand how billion-dollar businesses really work, this episode is for you. (00:00) Why NFL Teams Cost Billions (03:46) The Seahawks Sale (06:52) Sports M&A (08:04) The Auction Process (09:14) Why NFL Teams Win (14:12) Celebrity Team Owners (17:25) Inside the NFL Business (22:11) TV Money & Scarcity (24:00) Most Valuable Teams (26:40) Stadium Economics (32:58) The Tax Loophole (38:26) Interview Takeaways (41:09) Private Equity's Move