Max Chafkin
chafkin.bsky.social
Max Chafkin
@chafkin.bsky.social
Reporter at Bloomberg Businessweek and co-host of the new podcast "Everybody's Business." Also co-host of "Elon Inc." and author of “The Contarian: Peter Thiel and the Rise of the Silicon Valley Oligarchs.” Msg me on signal: @chafkin.83
honestly might need to bring back elon inc just to chew over this one
November 21, 2025 at 9:29 PM
new epsiode in which professional epstein email reader Max Abelson talks through what we think might be in the epstein files www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
What Might Be Inside the Epstein Files?
On this episode, we discuss why your Thanksgiving turkey may be cheaper this year and untangle the business dealings of the late Jefferey Epstein.
www.bloomberg.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:01 PM
if you're wondering what the hundreds of millions of dollars in donations from tech billionaires/giant tech companies bought, its this (among other things) www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
Here’s the Trump executive order that would ban state AI laws
Trump is launching an all-out broadside against states with strict AI regulations.
www.theverge.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:06 PM
ICYMI Ellen’s boom came out yesterday. We published an excerpt a couple of weeks ago. It’s great. Buy it!!!

Excerpt here: www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
November 19, 2025 at 8:09 PM
This was a really fun, smart, challenging conversation. Hope people enjoy it as much as I did!
November 19, 2025 at 8:06 PM
This on the money. Obviously it’s possible we’re at the top for AI/Nvidia, but Thiel often sells off his stakes well before the top in any given market cycle.
Peter Thiel selling is not a signal. One of his defining features as an investor has been to sell early when he can take outsized profits and hedge.

For example, he would be massively richer if he had never sold most of his stake in Facebook.
Might not be tomorrow, but it will happen. See: 3/3 ca.investing.com/news/stock-m...
November 17, 2025 at 7:52 PM
reading this it looks like the breaking rust news cycle was basically BS. we're talking about a chart that reflects paid digital downloads, which is (a) a market with almost no customers (b) one you could (I think) buy your way to the top of by spending $2500 www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...
November 17, 2025 at 3:27 PM
new episode of Everybody's Business. We try to make the case for a very very long mortgage and Real American @amandamull.bsky.social explains Ulta Beauty to out of touch coastal elites who shop at Sephora www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
The Case for a Mortgage Policy That Almost Everyone Hates
Donald Trump floated 50-year mortgages as a salve for affordability and was roundly criticized. On this episode, we explore whether he was on to something.
www.bloomberg.com
November 14, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Will be talking Thiel, Silicon Valley and the tech right
November 14, 2025 at 4:10 AM
Locked out of X the everything app because I was using two factor, they screwed something up, and honestly…blessing in disguise so far
November 12, 2025 at 10:12 PM
management 101 basically www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
November 7, 2025 at 8:28 PM
new episode! featuring a personal account of an ICE raid... www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
An Eyewitness Account of How ICE Raids Are Chilling the Economy
On Everybody’s Business, we see up close the economic consequences of Donald Trump’s immigration dragnet. We also explore the flailing film industry.
www.bloomberg.com
October 31, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Dumb q maybe…why do we assume that metas ai losses are fueling its revenue? Couldn’t it just be “using market power to raise prices”
October 30, 2025 at 12:58 PM
New everybody’s business, @kyla.bsky.social decodes a confusing economy, we also talk Argentina, gavin. Subscribe! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
Everybody's Business
Business News Podcast · Updated Weekly · Bloomberg Businessweek brings you a smart and fun chat show about all things...business. Hosted by award-winning business and economics journalists Max Chafkin...
podcasts.apple.com
October 24, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Reposted by Max Chafkin
Trump pardoned the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance -- a key suporter of the his family's crypto venture that has boosted the president's wealth.

@chafkin.bsky.social explains with @stephruhle.bsky.social the extent to which Binance was "looking the other way on crime."
October 24, 2025 at 5:35 AM
"like come on. they are here for crime" www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
Zhao’s Pardon Is Part of Crypto’s Attempt to Rewrite History
The move by Trump comes as his family works to profit from coins.
www.bloomberg.com
October 23, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Reposted by Max Chafkin
Meet the man who bet a million dollars (!!!) on Taylor Swift’s album sales.

@domahhhh made the bet on @polymarket.bsky.social and spoke w/ me & @chafkin.bsky.social for Everybody’s Business last week. You can hear how he did this week. Check it out! (+ @bradstone.bsky.social is cohosting)
October 18, 2025 at 3:58 PM
i wrote about why i think openai's embrace of porn is a huge red flag www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
October 17, 2025 at 6:24 PM
New ep! An interview with the biggest bettor on polymarket, plus @amandamull.bsky.social on super high end credit cards www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Meet Polymarket’s $400 Million Man
On this week’s Everybody’s Business, an interview with the site’s most prolific gambler, premium credit cards and R-rated chatbots.
www.bloomberg.com
October 17, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Come help me and @svaneksmith.bsky.social make everybody’s business bloomberg.avature.net/careers/Publ...
Podcast Producer - Contract
bloomberg.avature.net
October 16, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Loved this visit to a cybertruck owners convention www.wired.com/story/owning...
October 16, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Reviewed @jacobsilverman.com’s Gilded Rage for @bloomberg.com. A smart, thorough look at the radicalization of silicon valley. Gift link www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
What Really Drove Silicon Valley’s Shift to the Right
In Gilded Rage, journalist Jacob Silverman argues that a decade of free cash turned tech’s utopians into power brokers and made Trump their unlikely ally.
www.bloomberg.com
October 10, 2025 at 12:05 PM
the new car is the same as the old car
October 8, 2025 at 8:08 PM