Industry (2020) s04e06 Episode Script

1
(ELEVATOR RUMBLING SOFTLY)
(MELLOW TECHNO MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
- (RUMBLING STOPS)
- (ELEVATOR DOOR CHIMES)
(MUSIC FADING) ♪
YASMIN KARA-HANANI: I mean,
you've seen the app's uptake figures?
Millions.
It's a It's a phenomenon.
HARPER STERN: Yas, come on.
Whitney wants to leave
you holding the bag, okay?
I don't want to see
the worst in the world.
I I want to see what's true.
- He is a pathological liar.
- (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Why do you always find a way
to pick apart at my stability?
My husband's?
I mean, why would you choose to profit
off of exploding my foundations?
You know it's not personal, Yas.
(CHUCKLES) Do you think anyone’s
ever said that and meant it?
I think we owe each other
some kind of protection,
so I really need you to hear me
when I say he's not
some hobbyist sociopath.
He's a fucking criminal.
You shouldn’t blame yourself
for being ensnared by him.
- What are you talking about?
- HARPER: (SIGHS) I'm sorry,
but the picture is now irrefutable.
Okay, ask Whitney about Tony Day,
his man in Africa.
The balance sheet, fabrications
There's not one fucking piece of it,
Yas, that you're talking to
that is real.
YASMIN: Okay. And what will
your compensation be,
if you manage
to convince a few more people?
I mean, you don't even know him.
Anyone who doesn't know you
could just as easily say that
you're a abstraction of insecurities
and compensations.
Doesn't make it true.
Let me put this in terms
that your ego might listen to.
You have been duped
by a man who saw you
and your husband as fools.
And you will always paint an image
of the world that gets you paid.
I mean, what is it
that you really want?
You want Henry to resign
so the stock price falls.
You're a fucking mercenary,
Harper. My God!
There's like no empathy left
in you, is there?
Just an imitation of it
to entrap people.
Okay.
We’re not closing our Tender short.
We have higher conviction than ever.
And now, a very strong case
which I intend to present tomorrow
at the ALPHA conference.
Til the end?
Until the end.
Maybe I should just call security.
Get you escorted out the building.
Go on, I fucking dare you.
(MUSIC INTENSIFIES) ♪
- (TELEPHONE RINGING)
- (MUSIC SOFTENS) ♪
WHITNEY HALBERSTRAM: Hey, it's me.
I got your Telegram about SternTao.
I understand you must be
feeling very alone.
You needed to hear my voice,
so listen to it.
I’m coming to see you
after my quarterly with Jacob.
Don't do anything you'll regret.
Keep strong, stay focused.
(PHONE CLATTERING)
("BOTH SIDES NOW"
BY JUDY COLLINS PLAYING) ♪
(SCOFFS)
And ice cream castles In the air ♪
And feather canyons Everywhere ♪
I've looked at clouds That way ♪
But now they only Block the sun ♪
HENRY MUCK: For he must
Resist temptation ♪
- (WATER RUNNING)
- To join another nation ♪
For he is an Englishman ♪
He is an Englishman ♪
(HUMS MELODY) ♪
For he is an Englishman ♪
He is an Englishman ♪
WHITNEY: Dear Henry.
There’s a hole in my bucket.
(HUMS MELODY) ♪
For he is an Englishman ♪
(HUMS MELODY) ♪
For he is an Englishman ♪
- ("BOTH SIDES NOW" CONTINUES PLAYING) ♪
- And if you care ♪
Don't let them know ♪
Don't give yourself away ♪
I've looked at love
From both sides now ♪
From win and lose
And still somehow ♪
It's life's illusions I recall ♪
Give me a minute, old boy.
(SONG CUTS OFF) ♪
YASMIN: What the fuck
are you doing in here?
- In my bedroom while my husband showers?
- WHITNEY: I'm so sorry.
I took a wrong turn.
I was just looking
for someone to make a phone call.
I brought you, um, some flowers,
a small housewarming token.
Yasmin, why don't you calm down
and stop jumping down people's throats
at the smallest things?
That's pretty ungenerous.
Being such an exacting cunt
is usually a tell
you don't have that much
to complain about, darling.
What time's our supper?
- I can't join you guys.
- Yeah, but you came to eat.
WHITNEY: No, no, I didn't.
I wanted to make sure
you guys were settled in.
I got to make some calls for the
The commerce secretary's
coming in tomorrow.
My sincere apologies.
Call me.
Was that entirely necessary?
He's renting the fucking house for us.
- Did you know he was in here?
- Of course I didn't.
Do you enjoy the fact
he wants to fuck you?
Oh, God, what the hell
are you on about?
I'm not an idiot, Henry.
You told me that you sucked
that guy’s dick at Winchester!
Darling, that was school, okay?
It's basically prison.
Everyone gets a pass for that.
You can be a homo at school.
(SCOFFS)
How reassuring.
JENNIFER BEVAN: We all know that
the President is a dealmaker.
There's nothing
stopping us being dealmakers,
so long as said deal is good
for all parties.
The President's misunderstood
by people in Europe.
He wants less regulation
and freer movement.
A clean break with post-war terms.
Not sure anyone knows
what the strategy is.
Some here think Americans
got bored of having the best lives,
so they elected
a narcissistic dementiac
to detonate it all
so that their kids might earn
factory workers' wages
building widgets pathetically stamped,
"Made in America."
JENNIFER: (LAUGHS) In any case,
we are grateful for you
sitting with us
and using Tender as a test case
while we continue
to thrash out a trade deal.
YASMIN: I, um,
I didn't want to say
this last night, but, uh
What?
YASMIN: After Whitney left,
I smelt booze on your breath.
- Yeah, well, um
- (ZIPPER WHOOSHES)
I've repaired
my relationship with alcohol.
(SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Okay. It's textbook rationalization.
Look, okay. I don't want
to fucking hear it, okay?
I'm my own man.
Isn't that what you always say?
When did you start drinking again?
HENRY: I had a glass
of champagne after WebHorizon.
Did Whitney give it to you?
Who cares? I wanted some.
I'm just
concerned that
because you seem so, um,
on top of the world right now,
that you think you can control it,
and, Henry, you can't.
HENRY: Do you know what I think?
I think you want me out of control.
Because that’s how you’re necessary.
YASMIN: Harper came
to see me yesterday.
HENRY: God, don’t let that bitch
into our building again.
She can't stand your happiness.
Do you think we've
been too kind to Whitney?
HENRY: She'll distort reality
until she ruins us
and somehow the system’s set up
to pay her for it.
Do you think he gained
our confidence too easily?
Yeah, ours and the world's.
I mean, some feat.
Perhaps he deserves
a little fucking respect?
You know, you want to argue
with our share price?
You want to undermine
my success again?
- Just when I'm healing?
- Healing?
Yas (SIGHS)
I don't know the right way
to love you.
What do you mean?
I don't know
whether loving you properly
is to make you aware
of the things you cannot see.
Or is it more loving
to perpetuate your delusions?
Do you not see that people can
see how transparent you are?
You think I can't see that you can't
stand me front and center.
I can’t carve you out
a place in the world.
I'm literally on the way to dinner
with our fucking auditor.
I mean, some confidence scam
Whit’s running!
I'll see you at home, darling.
Bye.
JACOB OLEANDER: You do understand
that I may need more hands at the pump
when it comes to preparing
and filing Tender’s audit.
Whitney tells me we're already
over-compliant
by IFRS standards.
But there are GAAP standards
exclusive to America.
Forgive me, I thought
your team remit was global?
Technically speaking.
But I’d humbly suggest a hand-off
to someone with US-facing expertise.
I value you, Jacob,
not some uncultured drone
I won't be as inclined
to take to dinner.
There have been instances
where the the UK and US
have recognized their audit
frameworks as equivalent.
We'll push for that.
You’re quite sure?
When I take you out,
we don’t sour the experience
by talking money.
It’s perfect. Thank you.
You know, I I promised myself
a bottle of this for my fortieth,
but the price was just
impossible to justify.
What are we, um,
what are we celebrating?
Long-standing relationships.
Thank you.
Forgive my ignorance, but, um
outline for me
how an auditor’s recommendation
actually works.
JACOB: Well, there are
checklists, fieldwork, vouching.
Then either a clean report,
a qualified opinion,
or an adverse opinion.
What recommendation have you filed?
- Uh, qualified opinion.
- HENRY: Meaning?
Issues exist, but the financials
are mostly reliable.
Nobody envies you having to parse
our convoluted balance sheet.
JACOB: The law of averages says
that any balance sheet
question marks in a company
with a footprint like Tender
are down to delays in payments
across banking jurisdictions,
or abstruse local customs
around filing practices,
as opposed to anything underhand.
Never blame anything on malign intent
that you can equally
chalk up to incompetence.
- (CHUCKLES)
- JACOB: Whitney's
- pretty unimpeachable to my eye.
- Eh, nobody's perfect.
- Shall we order?
- Now, now, Jacob, you know the one thing
we definitely don’t believe
in at Tender is curfew.
- (CHUCKLES)
- JACOB: In that case, sláinte!
- WHITNEY: Cheers.
- HENRY: Cheers.
Hmm.
Now that is good.
- JACOB: Yeah. Worth the wait!
- (LAUGHS)
That's very, very good.
(“SILENCE” BY DELERIUM PLAYING) ♪
WHITNEY: Dear Henry.
You have to be the person
who makes the other feel safe
in the fullest expression
of who they really are.
Give me release ♪
Witness me ♪
(SONG CONTINUES) ♪
(PATRON MOANING)
Heaven holds A sense of wonder ♪
And I wanted to believe
That I'd get caught up ♪
(PARONS MOANING)
When the rage in me subsides ♪
Heaven holds A sense of wonder ♪
And I wanted to believe
That I'd get caught up ♪
When the rage in me subsides ♪
Heaven holds A sense of wonder ♪
And I wanted to believe
That I'd get caught up ♪
When the rage in me subsides ♪
- In this white wave I am sinking ♪
- (MOANS, BREATHES HEAVILY)
(MOANS)
In this silence ♪
In this white wave ♪
In this silence ♪
I believe ♪
- (HENRY MOANS)
- WHITNEY: Everybody wants it.
(BREATHES HEAVILY, GRUNTS)
(SONG'S TEMPO INTENSIFIES) ♪
(SONG FADING) ♪
HENRY: I’m pretty sure
my wife doesn’t love me.
WHITNEY: I feel bad for allowing
you to get fucked up on my watch.
The only good thing about
sobriety is my productivity.
If I was a Muslim, I'd be
a fucking billionaire by now.
I found a diary entry
from my father once.
It said
"The world is full of strippers,
sherbet, and fluorescent.
You don’t wanna be anywhere else."
(PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
He must’ve forgotten
that when he killed himself.
Maybe this is all there is.
Euphoria.
I never believed in suicide.
My mother attempted it.
My father wailed on her relentlessly.
Yeah, I'm not sure I believe that.
Why does everything from your life
sound like a bad novel?
Well, I'm not the scion
of a phosphate dynasty.
I figured.
Well, don't worry, man.
I've got plenty
of middle-class friends.
You know, a little
character fraud is fine
as long as your heart is pure.
That's how I felt about Lumi. I
No matter what people said,
my heart was intact.
Non-negotiable.
WHITNEY: Dear Henry.
What if I don't contain multitudes?
I'm very glad to know you.
Hmm.
(WHITNEY GRUNTS)
Where are you going?
WHITNEY: I'll be back.
I’ve got a flight to catch.
(SOFTLY) Okay, um
Yeah, I might crack on.
(CROWD APPLAUDING)
As ever at ALPHA,
we are honored to introduce
the thinkers of the future
When I start talking,
just stand by that door
and usher anyone in.
Ideally, with journalist
accreditation around their neck.
Remember that speech you flubbed
when you were a grad?
- Yeah, don't do that.
- (SCOFFS)
Harper Stern, SternTao,
needs no introduction.
(CROWD APPLAUDING)
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Hello, ladies.
Rather than some mealy-mouthed
bullshit about how to get ahead,
I want to use this forum
to offer you a front row seat
to a woman doing her job
to the best of her abilities.
(INDISTINCT MURMURING)
Tender!
I know we are all very familiar
with Tender. (CHUCKLES)
Tender continues to be prized
as a high-growth fintech,
but its current market valuation
is totally divorced
from its fundamental risk profile.
Our proprietary analysis
suggests that a large portion
of Tender's earnings
may be entirely illusory.
For any illusionist,
distraction is paramount
to the continued success of the ruse.
Their remodel as a bank,
the seeking of consumer deposits,
is a craven and immoral attempt
to bury past financial irregularities
in an even more
complex web of accountancy.
This complexity has been central
to their seduction
and confusion of investors,
regulatory bodies,
and even governments.
Though they don't want us
to focus on it (CHUCKLES)
the market should be examining
Tender's backdated accounts
and their core legacy biz
as a payments processor.
Our sum of the parts DCF analysis
would yield a base case price target
of twelve pounds a share
if we assign
two to three billion pounds
enterprise value
to what we may term their core,
legitimate operations.
But this does not account
for the nominal value,
let me rephrase, zero value,
we ascribe to their acquisitions
across Africa and Asia Pac.
Listen, we did what nobody
else bothered to do,
and we went straight to the source.
There can no longer be any doubt
about the associated cash flows
of these "businesses."
The sum total
of these forensic red flags,
unexplained cash/debt,
false third-party acquisitions,
an untenable valuation,
if earnings are adjusted for reality,
and imminent regulatory
and audit triggers
creates the highest-conviction
downside scenario
we have seen collectively
in our time in markets.
So, this morning,
I stand in front of you
to tell you our bear case
is now our base case.
SternTao assigns
a price target of zero pounds,
zero pence to Tender.
A hundred percent downside
from current levels.
SternTao also calls for an end
to lackadaisical forms of oversight.
This must morph to a new aggression,
a fresh audit,
and the publication
of qualified financials.
Case studies from the past,
Enron, Valeant, Luckin,
teach us
that shorting insolvency
is always lucrative.
The short base
is primed for explosion.
Any rally now is a bear-market rally.
The emperor's clothes
were shed some time ago.
He's naked, he's afraid,
as well he should be.
Listen, sentiment will shift.
The fall will be swift.
It is never if, but when.
The "when" is now.
Tick tock.
Thank you.
- (CROWD APPLAUDING)
- (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
He's expecting me.
Where is he?
ASSISTANT: Mr. Day is in London.
London? Why the fuck is he in London?
- (CELLPHONE VIBRATES)
- (TENSE MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
Yeah, hello.
YASMIN: Henry, where the fuck are you?
Have you seen what Harper’s done
to the fucking price?!
Just just chill.
Just fucking chill.
I’m just caught between things.
YASMIN: I can't believe
you would do this to me.
You swore you would never put me
in this position again.
Where where are you?
(IN HOARSE VOICE) You have
let me sit here for hours
imagining the worst, again.
How could you do this
to someone that you love?
- (CELLPHONE THUDS)
- YASMIN: Henry, you are going to tell,
- me where you are right fucking now!
- (SIGHS)
WHITNEY: Dear Henry.
To he who has everything,
more will be given.
But whoever does not have,
even what they do have,
will be taken away.
PILOT: We'll begin
our descent into City Airport
in around 20 minutes' time.
It's a mild day in London,
15 degrees centigrade,
a sharp breeze from the north-east.
(TELEPHONE RINGING, BEEPING)
(LINE RINGING)
WHITNEY: Dear Henry,
I'm a pathological optimist.
Dear Henry, we're too close now
to lose faith.
Dear Henry, we are hardwired to live.
- (TELEPHONE STOPS RINGING)
- Halberstram.
FERNINDAND SCHARZWALD:
There's been a massive spike in volume.
Share price indicates
a large institutional short
being built.
Perhaps close
to a billion dollars wiped off
our market cap requires
a coordinated response.
Someone stupidly gave SternTao
a platform for their lies
and the market
has taken it hook, line, sinker.
Playbook remains the same.
We don't negotiate with terrorists.
Is Yasmin on the call?
FERNINDAND:
Her and her husband are MIA.
Great, so our head
of communications bailed on us?
Good fucking day for it.
- Maybe she was overpromoted.
- WHITNEY: Point taken.
We have a few options.
Renegotiate existing loan terms,
some sort of bridge financing
On top of smaller prudent maneuvers
like expense reduction or layoffs,
selling non-core assets
like some acquisitions
in Africa or other satellites.
We need a full refresher on the status
of our Basel III liquidity coverage
and core Tier 1 and 2 positions.
WHITNEY: This isn't a call
about our cash situation.
It needs to be.
If our price falls any lower,
Pierpoint have a call provision
in their billion-dollar bond.
SAFFRON NEWMAN: There are
other means of raising cash.
Payment deferrals,
sale of customer data?
Unacceptable suggestion to anyone
with any fiber sat around this table.
Why are we talking about this
like it's real?
It's another farrago of bullshit.
Ferdinand, any further incoming
from Pierpoint
and government, play for time.
The price will correct
with the right media appearance.
I'll coordinate
when I'm back from Accra.
FERDINAND: Sure.
(FILE THUDS)
SWEETPEA GOLIGHTLY:
I'll be there. Okay. Bye.
Burgess called.
Tony Day is gonna play ball.
He's already in the air.
Flight lands tonight.
Breakfast is set, 7:00 a.m.
He'll text me
the location the morning of.
I am going.
KWABENA BANNERMAN:
You want some more backup?
Yeah. Sounds good. All yours. Hmm.
ERIC TAO: Harp.
CNN said Halberstram's slated to speak
on their pre-European
open show tomorrow morning.
He'd probably do anything to keep us
from going up against him live
- and muddying his propaganda.
- Well, maybe that's what we do?
Oh, by the way,
I neglected to tell you
that I saw Preston Carnahan
at your presentation.
Crotona Park.
That's, uh, Jesse Bloom's
new CIO, right?
You think he's building a position?
- Bannerman.
- Hmm?
When did the US come in?
Uh, three minutes ago.
ERIC: What's Tender done since?
(HUFFS) Well, the States are selling
the absolute granny out of it.
They're down twenty percent on day.
- Can you update the PnL, please?
- (SIGHS) I mean
Eric, who is
this analog shit for, exactly?
It's for us.
Look shit square in the face!
A little reflection!
- Add the zeros, you coward.
- (SWEETPEA LAUGHS)
- (SNICKERS)
- HARPER: Oh my God.
(LAUGHS) Ooh, mama!
- (HARPER AND SWEEPEA EXCLAIM)
- (LAUGHS)
Okay, we're up three bucks.
What an achievement.
- They'll write books about us.
- Going from red to black.
You know, my life in markets
overlays perfectly
onto my life rooting on the Mets.
- You lose all the time
- HARPER: Hmm!
in new and often thrillingly
inventive ways
- (CHUCKLES)
- praying for the counterbalance.
That one miraculous run
that makes you live again!
Harpoon!
I can't quite believe it, but you
you just gave me
my favorite ever day in finance!
- And we're only small up?
- Hmm.
You feel good?
I guess.
BOTH: Yeah! (CHUCKLING)
WHITNEY: I, uh, I may need to issue
a firm-wide memorandum
about today's sell-off.
Should be Yasmin's remit,
but apparently, real work
is a foreign concept to her.
HAYLEY CLAY:
She's been sniffing around.
She made me run her
through your diary.
Asked for email correspondence
between us.
I think she may go to the press.
Does she know what you do for me?
No.
No, I neglected to tell her
the difficult positions
I've put myself in explicitly for you.
I felt unsafe since Abu Dhabi.
And what Dolly, my little cousin,
did for you with that hedge fund guy.
I have nothing to say.
You think just 'cause
I'm a piece of ass,
I don't have enough gray matter
to see through your shit?
Yeah, your old assistant,
that “Crohn's disease” chick?
I spent this afternoon
calling a few girls
at my agency,
and apparently, she was one of ours,
and they haven't heard shit from her
since she worked for you.
Haley, you know why you were hired.
You knew the benefits.
And like, don’t call her
your “little cousin”
'cause we both know what she is.
She's a fucking girl.
And what about
your previous assistant?
What, you, like, hushed her up
and paid her off?
Or worse, maybe?
I mean, where is she then?
You know what?
Maybe I should go to the press.
What do you want?
- Five hundred thousand dollars.
- (LAUGHS) Fuck off.
HAYLEY: All right, 750.
That's the limit
of your ambition? Fuck you.
I've seen the fucking headlines,
bitch.
You're gonna have to start
answering questions.
Put the whole lot on my pay slip.
If there even fucking is any.
I mean, that's just
another irregularity
for them to find, isn't it?
And if anyone asks,
I'll play the ditzy assistant
you always wanted.
- "I don't know anything."
- You don't know anything.
And what difference does that make?
WHITNEY: I'm not giving you a dime.
Then live with the consequences
of your actions,
you fucking try-hard loser.
(INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
Harper Stern.
WHITNEY: Do you have a favorite
piece of classical music?
I got asked that question
In a campus profile once.
- (CHUCKLES)
- (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
WHITNEY: And, uh (SIGHING)
I had no idea what to say.
HARPER: Nor would I, to be honest.
WHITNEY: I wonder if that's why
I showed so much of myself
- to you so quickly.
- HARPER: Must be exhausting
living every moment,
knowing you could be completely
undone by one single question.
WHITNEY: What about when you misspeak?
Don't tell me you're not
pirouetting through
a social minefield.
Their, uh
sneering nuance of manners,
their insoluble absurdities
of class, their bitchy pieties.
The greatest mistake I ever made
was moving Tender
to this piss-wet,
history-project of a fucking island.
(CHUCKLES) Maybe you should
have stayed in a country
where they didn't care
where your money came from.
WHITNEY: I’m sure you think
I have multiple faces,
but there's millions
of people like me.
HARPER: And I'm sure you're
doing psychological acrobatics
to convince yourself
you're a normal case.
Whitney, you are a construction.
Don't be so reductive. (SIGHS)
Of course, I know about Solomon Asch,
the Milgram experiment.
People's will to be deceived
is practically in their DNA.
Who doesn't exploit it?
That's business.
Tender 2.0 is a legitimate enterprise.
We have the deposit
and user base to prove it.
You know, we're quickly becoming
the most popular bank for Gen Z.
HARPER:
Give it a fucking rest, Whitney.
I am sure that a new forensic audit
will find nothing
but a fucking Frankenstein
balance sheet of tricks
and concealments.
Surely you know as a transplant,
life's an act of becoming,
not being, Harper.
You're a conman,
boxed in a historic crime.
You are starving for intimacy.
HARPER: You called me, Whitney.
You know, I got a chill
when I heard you speak
about funerals so practically.
Funerals have a function.
It's for ritualistic grieving.
It is a human need
to deal with that shit.
Maybe you've never
experienced grief before.
My parents are still alive.
HARPER: My mom just died.
And the funeral helped?
HARPER: I didn't go.
WHITNEY: What kind
of person doesn't go
to their mother's funeral, Harper?
I don't know, Whitney.
Maybe a monster.
WHITNEY: (SINGING)
I wanna dance with somebody ♪
I wanna feel the heat
With somebody ♪
Yeah, I wanna dance With somebody ♪
With somebody who loves me ♪
(BROODING MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
WHITNEY: Dear Henry.
(LINE RINGING)
WHITNEY: How are we supposed
to remain virtuous
when the temptation is so great?
JAY JONAH ATTERBURY:
(OVER CELLPHONE) Hello?
Hey. (SNIFFS)
Jonah, it's me.
I, uh, I wasn't sure
you were gonna pick up.
JONAH: Get a lawyer or kill yourself.
Whatever's cheaper.
(SIREN WAILING IN DISTANCE)
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
FERDINAND: We need proper eyes
on Tony Day.
I think it would be very
counterproductive for Mr. Day
or any other weak link
to be off-message now.
They have, uh, their methodologies
for people who are asking
the wrong questions.
We can relay, if needs be,
that he is no longer on message.
No, I, um, I don’t think
we need to escalate.
We can handle the situation
without violence.
Good to know you're a man
with some red lines.
You know very well
we are not dealing with people
who care about red lines.
WHITNEY: I know I'm not meant to, uh,
interrogate the cell structure,
but how did you get involved
with these guys?
(EXHALES DEEPLY)
Razoblachenie.
Do you know the word?
It's Russian for exposure.
The bargaining power
of the threat of exposure.
WHITNEY: What did you do for them?
FERDINAND: Credential theft. (SIGHS)
They wanted a picture
of IBN's client base,
names, networks, spending habits.
Further points of leverage.
In my corporation,
they cleared a path for me
to CFO within a decade.
And it was, in hindsight,
a boringly easy thing
to rationalize to myself.
You knew who they were?
(SIGHS) Not for many years.
(SIGHS DEEPLY) After a certain
quality of service rendered,
I was able to make a connection
that made it clear
(LAUGHS) I was found by Cozy Bear,
the tech arm of the SVR and the FSB.
The particulars above and beyond
the continued existence
of the company are, um,
not really our concern.
(INHALES SHARPLY)
Narrative is all that matters now.
Nobody can be off story.
Not me, not you, not Day.
(OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
WHITNEY: Dear Henry.
Is it really any surprise
we seek control
when we are always
at the mercy of forces
much larger than ourselves?
You wanna stay over?
I think Mom thought it was weird
you left the restaurant with me,
not her.
I'll stay.
- I'm glad.
- (CELLPHONE CHIMES)
You're gonna kill your old man,
you know?
I'd never.
I love him too much.
I, um (BREATHES SHAKILY)
I, uh
I love you too, honey.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Can we order some dessert up
to the room?
Dad, all good?
Dad?
I saw TopJaw’s review
of the new restaurant here.
And apparently,
they do a great shabu-shabu.
Whatever you want, honey.
(BREATHES HEAVILY)
(OVER CELLPHONE)
You always have a room here?
- DOLLY: On standby.
- (ERIC BREATHES SHAKILY)
Make me feel big.
DOLLY: Yes, Daddy.
(ERIC BREATHES SHAKILY)
(MUSIC INTENSIFIES) ♪
(MUSIC CUTS OFF) ♪
(DRAMATIC PIANO MELODY PLAYING) ♪
(TELEPHONE RINGING)
(SIGHS) Yeah.
FERDINAND: We've dealt
with our square mile issue.
I’m told Day’s meeting SternTao
and FinDigest for breakfast.
Claridge's, 7:00 a.m.
WHITNEY: Dear Henry.
Wealth is the greatest disguise
from our truest, most probable states.
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- (PIANO MELODY CONTINUES) ♪
(PIANO MELODY INTENSIFIES) ♪
(PIANO MELODY CRESCENDOS) ♪
(SOFTLY) Fuck.
(PIANO MUSIC SOFTENS) ♪
Sit down.
Sit down. Don’t say a thing. (SIGHS)
In less than five minutes,
two people are gonna
walk through that door,
and they don't know you, and
they've done nothing for you.
No matter how sweetly they've spun it,
they're not invested in
what happens to you from here.
They view you as an accessory.
They'll use you
to burnish their finances
and status in their spheres.
I saw actual value in you.
I plucked you from obscurity,
and I gave you the world.
Yeah, I'm grateful.
I'm really grateful for that,
but how does that help me now?
Everything has led
to this exact point.
We're under siege, yes.
We just need one more united front.
I feel like I'm living day to day
with a knife to my throat.
(CHUCKLES) You are.
We all are.
It's the weight of our potential.
Don't let them call us criminals.
It's too easy.
We're brothers.
You remember how I found you?
Bankrupt.
I made you a success.
You think our competitors
are morally unblemished?
Wake the fuck up.
Whatever we've done to get here
will be swallowed up
by our scale and rep.
You can't backfill a lie
and make it true.
(CHUCKLES) Look at yourself.
You are wavering at the gaze
of Valhalla.
I'm scared, Whit.
Hi, uh, Burgess, 7:00 a.m.
Shit a brick. Is that Whitney?
EDWARD BURGESS: Clever bastard.
Don't look at them. Look at me.
You will impoverish yourself.
You will immiserate yourself.
And whatever protection or relief,
or if you're stupid enough
to believe it, immunity,
you've been promised
will not spare you
from the single moment
when you wake up in a year
or so in a three-star shithole
on a quiet Tuesday morning
when the phone has stopped ringing,
and you realize just
how far you fell from grace.
So I'm glad you're scared.
You're on the verge
of making the biggest mistake
of your life.
Hey. Whitney Halberstram. Pleasure.
- Ooh! Hmm. We know.
- Enjoy your breakfast.
I hear the blueberry pancakes
are excellent.
(SIGHS)
SWEETPEA:
Don't let him intimidate you.
- Can we get you a coffee or
- No.
- SWEETPEA: No? Okay.
- I've had one, thanks.
We do realize how much it takes
for you to meet us like this.
You are making the right decision.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
- I hope so. (CHUCKLES)
- SWEETPEA: Hmm.
(MUSIC FADES) ♪
Looks like it's just you in-studio.
Good for me.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
DIRECTOR: Coming to three,
ready, camera three.
Do not press a desperate foe too hard.
- Excuse me?
- Thank you.
When you surround an army,
leave an outlet free.
What if the outlet I use is through?
Through you.
DIRECTOR: And we’re going live,
thank you,
- in five, four, three
- AUTOMATED VOICE: Five, four, three,
two, one.
And we’re live pre
the European Opening Bell
the FTSE having its worst day
for a month yesterday,
led lower by UK financials and tech.
And Tender down 28 percent.
With me to discuss
an explosive trading day
for the company,
Whitney Halberstram, the CFO
- Why did Eric go and not you?
- He insisted.
- Wouldn’t hear a no.
- Sad day for a show like this
when you give executive management
of a listed company
equal billing with some,
uh, fund manager.
His side, him, his trade book.
My side, analysts,
independent auditors, regulators.
You want me to give you a list
of times regulators have been wrong?
How long is your show?
You look very shiny under these lights
for someone so in control.
Like I said, this is not
a serious person
you're having on.
Look, when this guy's not garbling
- pseudo-MBA word salad about
- (LAUGHS)
organic increase of volume,
state of the art merchant compliance,
or whatever the hell that means,
most of the smokescreen he deploys
- are blanket aspersions.
- (SCOFFS)
Cast enough doubt on everyone else,
none falls on you.
That's defamatory.
You gotta keep an eye on him.
Pause, please, gentlemen,
because joining us now,
we have the CFO of the site
of most controversy yesterday,
Tender’s CFO for EMEA, Tony Day.
- Tony, welcome to the show.
- (MUSIC INTENSIFIES) ♪
TONY: Hi, Angela.
Thanks for having me on.
- I think it's very important
- What the fuck's going on?
I I have no idea
what he could have said to him
in that time. That's not possible.
- Who?
- Whitney.
Whi- Sorry. Whit Whitney was there?
I thought you said Burgess
softened Day up and flipped him.
No, he was there when we arrived,
but when we left,
Day was on board with us.
HARPER: You didn’t think
to fucking tell me?
TONY: It’s been a busy 48 hours.
Now, as somebody who's lived
and worked in West Africa
for a number of years, I can tell you
that some of the structure
of the financials
of the of the companies
we own down here,
they are unfamiliar to some auditors.
But, you know,
the more pernicious thing
that today has revealed
is a typical way of seeing,
imposed by Western institutions,
driven by longstanding prejudices,
without any objective evidence.
I’m gonna call it
the "dark heart of Africa" trope.
I see it all the time
on Western media,
the pro-African apologia,
disguising the anti-Africa polemic.
- Come on, guys.
- Fuck! What a piece of shit.
I didn't think it was worth mentioning
because he agreed
to an on-the-record interview.
His testimony was going
to speed the collapse.
Where's the pressure for a new audit
come from without it?
When we open,
I hope investors are very clear,
we have done everything in our power
to be as transparent as possible.
I will say I find it objectionable
that you would even platform me
on the same program
as a man who stands to benefit
from the lies you broadcast for him.
(MUSIC FADES) ♪
Save your breath.
Okay, there's absolutely nothing
this gentleman could say about me
I won't willingly say to your viewers
about myself.
(RIVETING MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
He says my fund packages itself
as some sort of crusader
for market efficiency
and societal good.
I make no claims to that effect.
I'm a money manager.
My only operating software
is the profit motive.
That and my id.
They're probably indivisible now,
bleeding into every aspect
of my life, for good and bad,
often very bad.
However bad you want
to tell the audience I am,
let me tell them.
I’m worse.
- So make your judgment call.
- (CHUCKLES)
ERIC: But once made,
don't let this guy
sat across the table from me
off the hook from exactly
the same judgment.
Let's give this guy the benefit
of the doubt.
Let's even say he's on the money.
Would that outright negate
that his enterprise is a fraud?
Wow.
I'm falling into (LAUGHS)
into his trap.
More and more words.
Let me finish with two.
New audit.
ANGELA CHEN-BOUGHTON:
Would Tender submit to a new audit?
- WHITNEY: You know, we’re audited every year.
- (INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Get me, um, get me Jacob on the phone.
Jacob, uh
(SOFTLY) Jacob
(SHOUTS) What the fuck is his name?
Our auditor! Jacob, Jacob, Jacob
Jacob Oleander!
Get me get me Jacob Oleander
on the phone now!
- (SIGHS)
- ERIC: Again,
for those in the back.
New audit.
- Hurry up!
- ASSISTANT: Line one.
ANGELA: Thank you very much,
gentlemen,
for coming on and discussing
Jacob. Jacob, hi, um
(ANGELA CONTINUES SPEAKING
OVER COMPUTER)
Yeah, I enjoyed your company
the other night, um
Yeah, I'm afraid
this isn't going to be, uh,
an easy conversation.
HAYLEY: I thought you might need,
uh, well (CHUCKLES)
I don't know what I thought.
I can only imagine
how you must be feeling.
I don't think you can,
actually. (CHUCKLES)
Um, how much did you know
about what Whitney's
been doing at Tender?
Nothing.
You know, only the way he operates.
What does that mean?
He hired me from an escort agency.
I'm pretty sure all of his assistants
came from the same agency.
He put us in front of guys
he wanted to get close to.
Financial guys, investors
We all had similar profiles.
Young, innocent, willing.
To do what?
Well, he
He told us that we'd be
on camera sometimes.
This one time, I flew to Abu Dhabi,
this Emirati guy on the board
of some bank, Al-Ma
- Al-Majeera
- Al-Mi'raj.
HAYLEY: Al-Mi'raj.
And all I knew was that there
was a room
I needed to get him into
in order for it to happen.
Well, what does he do with the videos?
- He he's extorting people?
- HAYLEY: I guess.
I mean, that's
that's not a word
he ever used with me.
(SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Sorry, so you (SIGHS)
you, me, and Henry.
Was that on camera?
What did Whitney want you
to do with us?
He said, "Be in their lives."
He exploits, uh, fragile people.
I'm sorry.
What do you want from me?
Yas, listen, this is what I know.
I've used every inch of my body,
clawing my way to every fucking cent.
Only God can judge me.
And he doesn't exist.
I'm done fucking clawing.
Access.
Access is what really makes you rich.
And what does that mean
to you, exactly?
Uh Some good tables,
tickets to Wimbledon?
- (CHUCKLES) Chiltern burnt down.
- I want to meet people.
I want to have what you have.
I don't trust you.
No, but I think you understand me.
Do you understand me?
In any way you ask.
(SOMBER MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
Hello?
Hello.
Hey, you really pinned
that motherfucker today.
Can I be honest? (CHUCKLES)
All the things that
I thought I knew about you,
I just didn't think you had it in you.
But you did it. It was great.
I was wrong. Where is everyone?
I told them to go get drinks.
- You want to come in here a sec?
- Yeah.
Who's this?
You might be standing
on the verge of something great.
It's yours.
Not mine. Marvin represents me.
I'm going to let him talk for ease.
It'll be undiluted and clean.
By all means, call me a coward,
it'll (CHOKES)
A lot easier on me.
MARVIN WHITEHEAD:
Ms. Stern, my client,
Mr. Tao has instructed me
to draw up a Deed of Assignment.
In so doing, he transfers the entirety
of his partnership interest
in SternTao to you.
You're dissolving our partnership?
MARVIN: A notice of transfer
will be filed
with the appropriate registry bodies.
Mr. Tao has also engaged
a tax professional
at his own cost to ensure
you won’t bear any tax liabilities
from the transfer yourself.
(SIGHS)
Eric, what are you doing?
What the fuck is this about?
My client has informed me
that there are reputational risks
that may render him
a "faithless servant"
should he continue
to be employed at SternTao.
In the case
of the fund's profitability,
by year end,
he asks that his initial investment
be returned and placed
into a trust for his daughters.
Given there was no official contract
outlining provisions related
to the transfer of interest,
Mr. Tao has waived all entitlements,
bonuses, deferred payments,
and equity interests on departure.
Yeah, and no no funeral.
Can you please tell me
what this is about?
Watching you present
I thought
I was incapable of feeling pride
for anyone but myself.
I'm really
I'm really glad you proved me wrong.
What are you protecting us from?
You need to tell me.
Whatever it is.
(SNIFFS) I
I I don’t want you
to remember me that way.
(SIGHS)
(BREATHING SHAKILY)
(SNIFFLES)
(SIGHS)
I will always remember you like this.
(DOOR OPENS)
(DOOR CLOSES)
(SNIFFLES)
- (KNOCKING ON DOOR)
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
That was a worthwhile appearance.
We rallied a little this morning,
away from Pierpoint's
convertible trigger price.
Well played, chief. (CLICKS TONGUE)
Hey, Ferdinand, please leave us.
Sure.
We cut the oxygen
off that wafer-thin story.
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
Yeah, I called Jacob.
Relieved him of his position
'cause, um
Tender no longer
requires his services.
(SIGHS)
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
You need board approval to do that.
Yeah, I don't, actually.
You made me, um, CEO.
Uh, so I’ve informed Companies House.
That was a grave mistake.
- Why?
- It's just a grave mistake.
- Why?
- WHITNEY: Trust me.
See, you can't even bring yourself
to tell me why.
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
Yeah, we’ll hear pitches
from other auditors imminently.
WHITNEY: I don't advise doing that.
You Do you know what?
Fuck your advice.
As if anything you've pushed
on me has anything
but your own interests in mind.
(SIGHS)
I guess, ultimately, you’re
gonna do what you’re gonna do.
Yeah.
WHITNEY: So in that case
I guess it's best said like this.
(TENSE MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
- (ELEVATOR DOOR CLOSING)
- (SIGHS)
(MUSIC INTENSIFYING) ♪
WHITNEY: Dear Henry.
I drafted and redrafted
an opening to this statement.
I think maybe the time for poetry
and ornament has passed.
Practically, it's very important
that you understand everything.
Now that you're implicated.
I write to say
we're stronger together,
and we must violently pursue
an endgame
which delays our detractors,
making their lives harder
to close in on our goal.
(MAN SPEAKING IN JAPANESE
OVER CELL PHONE)
It’s, uh, Alfa, Xray, 6-1-2,
Lima, Lima, 2-3-4.
People are going to accuse us
of criminality.
And parsing the details of our story
in this way is prejudicial.
But it won't stop people
making the case against me.
Against us.
And by that very definition,
against you.
You see, dear Henry,
there's a hole in my bucket.
sync & corrections awaqeded
(“BOTH SIDES NOW”
BY JUDY COLLINS PLAYING) ♪
Rows and flows of angel hair ♪
And ice cream castles In the air ♪
And feather canyons Everywhere ♪
I've looked at clouds That way ♪
But now they only Block the sun ♪
They rain And snow on everyone ♪
So many things I would have done ♪
But clouds got in my way ♪
I've looked at clouds
From both sides now ♪
From up and down And still somehow ♪
It's cloud illusions I recall ♪
I really don't know clouds ♪
At all ♪
(SONG CONCLUDES) ♪