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- [00:00]
David Brown
Wondery plus subscribers can binge all episodes of Business Wars TikTok versus the USA early and ad free right now. Join Wondery in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.
- [00:18]
Kelly Velade
It's March 2022, and at Red Lobster's head office in Orlando, Florida, the new boss is leading a meeting of the company's high level executives. Her name is Kelly Velade and she's been CEO for just eight months. But today there's a VIP visitor joining her and the executive team in the boardroom. His name is Paul Kenney, an Australian businessman with close cropped white hair. He's also a key member of the Seafood alliance, the group of investors that teamed up with seafood supplier Thai Union to buy control of Red Lobster. Kenny listens as Valade gets to business.
- [00:55]
Paul Kenney
Welcome, everyone. Today we are delighted to have Paul Kenny here with us, all the way from Bangkok. As you know, he's been visiting some of our restaurants, and I think we're all excited to hear the thoughts he wants to share with.
- [01:09]
Kelly Velade
Before Valade can complete the introduction, Kenny stands and glares at the Red Lobster team.
- [01:14]
Paul Kenney
All right, look, I've been up and down your country and we need to talk about what's going on in your restaurants. What I've seen so far is a bloody shambles.
- [01:24]
Kelly Velade
The Red Lobster executives stare in shock. They know Kenny's experience. He used to run Minor Food, a company that operates hundreds of restaurants, including Burger King and Dairy Queen franchises. But his experience is in Southeast Asia, not the United States. And the Red Lobster team doesn't like the idea of some guy flying in from the other side of the world to tell them they're not doing a good job. Not that they're going to challenge him. Kenny's an emissary of the company's new owners. Valade senses her team's unease and tries to calm the waters.
- [01:54]
Paul Kenney
Well, Paul, obviously we are in a time of transition, emerging from the pandemic and adjusting to the change in leadership and ownership and.
- [02:04]
No, no, no, don't give me that claptrap. This isn't anything to do with the pandemic. I know restaurants and I'm talking about basic stuff. For example, ICU give people free side salads.
- [02:17]
Kelly Velade
One executive straightens up. Yes, we certainly do give them side salads. Our customers really appreciate it.
- [02:23]
Paul Kenney
Who the hell goes to Red Lobster to eat free salad? If they want salad, make them pay for it. You could be making five bucks on every order by doing that. Another thing, why do your servers only cover three tables? They could do Double that easy. You could halve your labour costs that way.
- [02:43]
Kelly Velade
Well, maybe expectations of service are different in Asia.
- [02:46]
Paul Kenney
You got any evidence to back that statement up?
- [02:49]
Kelly Velade
No, but it's just common.
- [02:51]
Paul Kenney
Yeah, thought so. Next thing, why are you cutting the tails off the shrimp? That's taking up our time in the kitchen. Let the customers cut the tails off. Why should we do that for them?
- [03:02]
Kelly Velade
They're not children, velade interjects.
- [03:05]
Paul Kenney
Paul, these are all interesting points worth discussing, but at Red Lobster, we try to foster a safety, safe and respectful work environment. Maybe we should consider how our ideas are shared and expressed.
- [03:19]
Kelly Velade
Kenny shakes his head.
- [03:21]
Paul Kenney
Where I come from, those who deserve respect, get respect. If you want respect, earn it. Up your game.
- [03:31]
Kelly Velade
The message from Red Lobster's new owners has been delivered, and it's crystal clear Velade and her team have to deliver improvements and fast. Before the buyout, Thai Union talked about not wanting to interfere in Red Lobster's operations. But now, well, the management team knows that won't be the case. Thai Union spent and borrowed hundreds of millions of dollars buying control of the world's biggest chain of seafood restaurants. They have to make that gamble pay off.
- [04:00]
David Brown
But after years of decline and damaging.
- [04:03]
Kelly Velade
Decisions, Red Lobster is in poor health and just one bad move could end in disaster. You know, managing your workforce can be exhausting. Are you tired of a costly and lengthy hiring process? Well, you can simplify and speed up your recruitment with one connection. The experts at Express Employment Professionals reduce time to hire, cut down on interviews and lower your recruitment costs. Just visit expresspros.com today. Express is more efficient than hiring on your own. Check out ExpressPros.com to see how Express Employment Professionals can take care of your hiring.
- [04:48]
David Brown
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- [05:50]
Kelly Velade
From wondering. I'm David Brown and this is business WOL. Remember the spring of 2024 when the news broke that Red Lobster was almost broke from all that all you can eat shrimp. And it went viral. Well, that storyline resonated with anyone who's ever wondered how a restaurant can afford to make such an offer. But here's something you should know about headlines if you don't know already. The real story is seldom as straightforward as it seems on the surface. Let me ask you, what really killed Red Lobster? Well, first off, know this. The lobster lives. Reports of its death were greatly exaggerated. It was more of a near death experience. The real culprit wasn't so much folks eating too much shrimp. This is a whodunit and we're out to solve it. In the last episode, Red Lobster's problems deepened as the 2008 recession drove people towards new fast casual chains like Chipotle. And the private equity firm Golden Gate Capital bought Red Lobster and sold off its real estate holdings. That's a move that left Red Lobster paying higher and higher rents for places that they used to own. Well, now Golden Gate has sold the seafood chain to an investor group led by Thai Union, one of the world's biggest seafood suppliers. But will this fragile alliance of seafood supplier and buyer put wind in Red Lobster's sails or sink it for good? This is episode two, Swimming with Sharks. Let's rewind to July 2021. Red Lobster names Kelly Velade its new CEO. She used to run another casual dining titan, Chili's Grill and Bar. Red Lobster is in a state of transition. The previous CEO, Kim Loptrup, has just left after 14 years in charge. And a group of investors led by Bangkok based Thai Union has just taken control of the business. Valaid hoped to assemble a crack team of expert executives who could figure out a fresh direction for the brand and guide the business through the final wave of those Covid shutdowns. But Valaid's time at the chain is brief. Just eight months in all, after that bruising encounter in April 2022 with Thai Union's Australian ally, Paul Kenny, she quits to go run Denny's instead. So as the hunt for her replacement begins, Kenny steps up to become Red Lobster's interim CEO. His arrival ushers in an era of turmoil at the very top, as newcomers and old timers come and go. And it takes Red Lobster 17 months to find a permanent replacement for Blade. And in the meantime, Kenny makes his presence felt. First, he initiates a major cost cutting Drive at the front of the house. Servers go from looking after three tables to as many as 10. Yeah, that saves money on labor. And when you run a chain of more than 600 restaurants, those savings can really add up. But it does take a toll on the quality of service. He also oversees a move to take Red Lobster Seafood into the freezers of grocery stores. Now, Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay biscuit mix had been on sale for years in supermarkets, but now he wants to build on that success with packs of coconut shrimp bites and Cheddar Bay biscuit crusted cod. Yes, this is the same red lobster that 15 years earlier remodeled hundreds of restaurants to remind customers that its fish is fresh, not frozen. But hey, times change. And Red Lobster's thinking here is it's now owned by Thai Union. And Thai Union owns Chicken of the Sea frozen foods. So it makes sense to do a crossover that marries Chicken of the Sea's expertise in frozen seafood with Red Lobster's brand recognition. It's a bit like the fashion brand supreme doing a crossover with the sneaker brand Vans, except in this case, the cool factor comes from the product being in the freezer aisle. The hope here is that this is going to be a win win for both sides. Thai Union wins because it gets to sell more fish. Red Lobster gets a new source of income. But there's a bigger agenda at work here, too. See, the thinking is in this era of lockdowns and food delivery apps that customers are increasingly looking for a restaurant experience at home. And this has been a big deal for other chain restaurants that have harnessed their brands to sell retail products. But there's another more pressing the spike in inflation that's followed the pandemic. Rising prices aren't just causing people to cut back on eating out. It's also causing them to cut back at home by buying more frozen food. So Red Lobster's out to tap into those trends, right? But back at the restaurants, inflation's hurting not just customers, but the bottom line, too. It's pushing up the cost of ingredients, fuel, labor. Red Lobster doesn't have much of a choice but to pass on some of those extra costs to customers. And that in turn causes even more customers to stay away. This is a classic downward spiral that would threaten any restaurant. And Red Lobster's extra exposed. Its prices are at the upper end of the scale for a casual dining chain. And since it offers table service, it can't get overhead down to the levels that you see in fast casual chains with canteen like counter service. So Red Lobster reaches for its best defense against inflation. It's a strategy it's been using to get people through its doors for years. Limited time promotions, think the annual crab fest, the summer fest menus, or the endless shrimp promotion that it's run every fall. But while all this is going on, Kenny's also getting hands on in Red Lobster's purchasing decisions. He orders a quality review of Red Lobster's seafood suppliers, and guess what? That review concludes. Red Lobster should buy more food from Thai Union. So now Red Lobster is buying more and more of its ingredients from the very company that controls it. That's good news for Thai Union because Red Lobster buys a lot of seafood. But this interference in the restaurant's purchasing spreads a lot of ugly talk throughout its leadership ranks. While the chain's trying to adapt, rumors are starting to fly that Thai Union is wondering if buying Red Lobster was a massive mistake. The restaurant chain lost almost $10 million in the final quarter of 2022, thanks to a perfect storm of inflation and Covid. But there's no post pandemic recovery in sight. And menu additions like cheddar based shrimp haven't really excited the customers. So the boss at Thai Union, Tiruppong Chancery, has decided enough is enough. Chancery isn't the kind of guy who keeps bad businesses going out of sentimentality. When his seafood factories fail to deliver profit, they get shut. There's no guarantee he won't dump Red Lobster either, but he knows that if he can fix Red Lobster, this could be a double win. Not only will the restaurant chain start to grow again, but as it does, it'll start buying more seafood from Thai Union. What Thai Union really wants is something that's going to turbocharge seafood sales at Red Lobster. And so this is it, folks. The moment when the idea of offering endless shrimp all the time comes into play. Yeah, it's a Hail Mary, that's for sure. But it's one that's seriously going to backfire.
- [13:59]
David Brown
You know, it's funny. Sometimes self care looks like binge watching cooking shows in your PJs, and other times, it's just making sure you're taking.
- [14:07]
Kelly Velade
Care of the basics.
- [14:08]
David Brown
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- [16:16]
Kelly Velade
June 2023, and America is reeling from the impact of inflation. Across the country, households are finding the cost of just about everything higher and cutting back on treats like eating out. But on the nation's TVs, Red Lobster's new ad campaign is offering some welcome relief to cash strapped families. For years, Red Lobsters used a range of limited time offers to drive customer demand and interest at different times of the year. Well, now it's going further, offering all the shrimp you can eat for under $25 all the time, every day, 365 days a year. And that sends America into a seafood frenzy. The promotion is absurdly popular. Red Lobster forecasts customer traffic would rise something like 20%, but it actually goes up 40%. Red Lobster outlets soon have lines around the block. For the first time in years, people are actually hyped about Red Lobster. But there's a problem. Red Lobster's been cost cutting, and what gets cut really matters. In Red Lobster's case, we're talking about a cutback in the number of servers. And that has a direct impact on the customer experience. Customers who leave unimpressed rarely come back. So while the idea of absurdly cheap shrimp gets many lapsed customers back through the door, once they do get inside, the effect of these cutbacks become alarmingly apparent. The service is now stretched thin. Servers used to cover just three tables. Now they're juggling 10. And anyone who's worked in a restaurant knows that's a recipe for overwork and stress. All of which undermines the vibe that kept loyal customers returning time after time. But for Red Lobster's finance team, this isn't really the problem. The real problem is how much shrimp the customers are eating. And that's because the customers don't see never ending shrimp as just a good deal. They see it as a challenge. The promotion is too popular. People are now heading to Red Lobster to try to out eat each other. Videos of people eating all the shrimp they can physically put down in one sitting spreads rapidly across social media. The Red Lobster shrimp challenge becomes a meme with people wolfing down dozens, sometimes hundreds of shrimp. Some sit in Red Lobster restaurants for hours at a time to get maximum shellfish consumption.
- [18:46]
Katie
I'm Katie, and I think that I can eat 15 to 20 shrimp.
- [18:51]
Kelly Velade
I'm Alex.
- [18:51]
Paul Kenney
I'm going to say I think I can eat 20, 20 shrimp. I'm Jasper, and I know that I could eat like, 30 to 50 shrimp. I ate endless shrimp at Red Lobster all day in North Olmsted, Ohio. Questionable decision, but here are the results. In 10 hours, I had 200 pieces of shrimp for only $25.
- [19:08]
Kelly Velade
I absolutely love shrimp, so I'm going to eat a lot of shrimp in this video. A ton of shrimp. As the craze grows, so do the volumes of shrimp being consumed. Individual customers are munching their way through hundreds of dollars worth of shrimp, and they're just paying $25 or less for the privilege. And they're occupying tables for hours on end.
- [19:29]
Paul Kenney
My waitress was so proud of me, I set a new record in my local Red Lobster. This is my greatest achievement in life. $27. That's one quarter for shrimp. So proud of myself. Best day of my entire life.
- [19:40]
Alex
I just eat more shrimp and I eat shrimp and then more shrimp and more shrimp, and now I'm paying the price because my belly hurts and I'm ready for a nap. Wish me luck. I hope I don't die. Tell me what you think about it down in the comments.
- [19:51]
Kelly Velade
Just like the endless Crab catastrophe, of 2003. This is a recipe for financial disaster. In the third quarter of 2023, Red Lobster loses $11 million on top of a huge annual loss of $76 million. And the Lion's share of the blame falls on that Endless Shrimp disaster. For the chain's restaurant teams, there's another problem. Their thinned out crews don't have the capacity to deal with the rush of new customers. It's also a bad deal for the servers who are having to deal with meager tips from customers who eat entire meals but spend less than 30 bucks. It's hard to try and hustle the people out the door to clear the decks for bigger spenders when you've got 10 tables to serve. So yeah, Red Lobster restaurants struggled to do the one thing they needed to do the most. Convert the folks who came for Endless Shrimp into regular Red Lobster customers. But this is more than a misguided promotion. This isn't endless crab part 2. Because Thai unions accused of engineering the Endless Shrimp fiasco for its own benefit. The chain's management accused Thai Union of this when Red Lobster entered chapter 11. More on that in just a bit. But the claim is essentially this. Red Lobster's interim CEO Paul Kenney interfered with Red Lobster's purchasing decisions on behalf of Thai Union. And that led to Thai Union becoming the sole supplier of breaded shrimp to the restaurants, pushing Red Lobster into buying more shrimp than it could really sell. Well, now Red Lobster has to get rid of all that Thai Union shrimp it bought. So Kenny orders the chain to make Endless Shrimp a permanent fixture. Red Lobster's management team objected to this loss making move, but they were overruled. He also ordered the restaurants to heavily promote the offer in store. So in short, the argument goes, Thai Union force fed Red Lobster with shrimp to increase its own sales to the point where the chain choked. Now, Thai Union denies these claims. They call them meritless. But there's another possible explanation for why Red Lobster gambled on Endless Shrimp. Its debt. When Thai Union and its co investors bought Red Lobster, it was already in debt to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. And the chain desperately needed cash to keep up with the repayments. So to get cash quick, it made Endless Shrimp a permanent offer in a desperate bid to drive up customer traffic and get some money in its bank accounts, and fast. But what's undeniable amid these dueling arguments is that with Red Lobster's eateries bleeding money, this situation cannot go on. By the start of 2024, Red Lobster is hurtling towards disaster. The year opens with Thai Union announcing it's had enough of the chain's losses and it'll sell it for no gain. Thai Union CEO Tiruppong Chancery even tells reporters he's so fed up with the struggling restaurant chain, he's never going to eat lobster again. Then, in March 2024, with the crisis deepening, Red Lobster appoints Jonathan Tybus as its new CEO. Tybus is the chain's fifth chief executive since Thai Union's consortium bought control of the business. Now Tybus is an expert in guiding restaurant chains through bankruptcy. He was the man who took Quiznos and Kona Grill through the insolvency process. But when Tybus turns up at your door, it's a sign that the game's just about up. Speculation about Red Lobster's future goes into overdrive. Bankruptcy looks more and more likely. Across America, Red Lobster employees keep showing up for work and serving endless shrimp in the hope of a last minute rescue. But with every plate of shrimp served, Red Lobster is edging closer and closer to going under. For years, Red Lobsters tried to hold back the tide. But now the final blow is coming. And for the world's largest chain of seafood restaurants, this blow could threaten to end it all.
- [23:58]
David Brown
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- [24:26]
Kelly Velade
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- [26:12]
Paul Kenney
No, not really. They've. They've shut the restaurant. We're out of work.
- [26:19]
Kelly Velade
What? They can't do that. I'm on the schedule for the next two weeks. His colleague doesn't say anything. Instead, she just points at the notice taped onto the restaurant's locked doors. The notice that confirms that this Red Lobster is closed for good. Ed feels despair wash over him. He steps forward to look at the scrawled note one more time. But there's no further information, no number to call, not even an email address where he might find out what's happening. All Ed sees is his own reflection in the darkened restaurant's glass doors and wonders what the future holds for him now. In May 2024, Red Lobster enters Chapter 11 bankruptcy, owing more than a billion dollars. As part of the move, it shutters 129 of its US restaurants, leaving the other 544 locations to lumber on while the company tries to restructure its debt. Now, chapter 11 is far from an ideal place for a business to be. Yeah, it might be necessary to escape the creditors coming after you. But burned suppliers may never want to work with you again. And those who do may want to get paid up front. And worse still, there's the lingering aftertaste of the headline, Red Lobster files for bankruptcy. Yeah, you may still be in business. Remember, chapter 11 is for debt restructuring, not shutting down altogether. But if the public at large thinks you've already folded, well, you're in trouble. How many potential customers would even consider going to dinner at the bankrupt restaurant around the corner? People seized on the Idea that the endless shrimp promotion caused Red Lobster to go under. But financial experts identified another silent killer at work. The chain's landlords. Ten years earlier, the private equity firm Golden Gate Capital bought Red Lobster and sold off all its property holdings. Remember, ever since, Red Lobster has been paying rent on its restaurants, and that extra overhead has slowly been dragging it under. Add to that the declining guest count, the failure to attract younger diners, the expensive era of endless shrimp, and the triple shock of recession, inflation, and Covid. And lest we forget, a once popular brand leaning a bit too much on its past success. The bottom line here is that there was no one killer of Red Lobster. It was a group effort. Red Lobster didn't fall overnight. It happened slowly over many years until it cracked like a steaming claw at Crabfest. But of course, Red Lobster isn't dead. It's locked in a desperate struggle to find a way to keep going by restructuring its debt. So with the company now in chapter 11, a struggle breaks out between its creditors about who'll be first in line to get their money back. And one of those creditors is none other than Thai Union. Thai Union says Red Lobster owes it millions of dollars because the restaurant canceled food orders suddenly and left it with a surplus of seafood that went to waste. But Red Lobster's management team has different ideas. And now that it's in chapter 11, it answers not to Thai Union but to the bankruptcy courts. On entering chapter 11, the management team opens an investigation into whether Thai Union exerted undue influence over its seafood purchasing decisions, forcing the chain into buying its seafood when it could have paid less elsewhere. Thai Union vigorously rejects those allegations. Meanwhile, a group of Red Lobster's former employees also launch a lawsuit against the company, claiming they were laid off without the required 60 days notice and demanding back pay for that time. But amidst all the acrimony and resentment out on the streets, something unexpected is starting to happen. Yeah, Red Lobster seen better days, but it's still beloved by an army of loyal fans. And they're not gonna let the Lobster go down without a fight. On social media, Red Lobster's fans start releasing jokey videos, reacting to the possible demise of the troubled chain and urging action to rescue it. I know what's happening to Red Lobster.
- [30:35]
Flavor Flav
It hurts. Already.
- [30:36]
Kelly Velade
I brought 50 people to my local Red Lobsters give their hard earned cash.
- [30:40]
Paul Kenney
Straight into the Red Lobster's babe meaty claws.
- [30:43]
Kelly Velade
Few weeks earlier, people were filming themselves going to Red Lobster to eat as much shrimp as they could stomach for $25. Now they're filming themselves Ordering and paying for as much food as possible to try and keep the chain alive. Then the campaign gets a boost when the hip hop legend Flavor flav from the 1980s band Public Enemy posts a picture of himself going to Red Lobster and ordering every single thing on the menu. In the ensuing surge of media interest around his post, turns out the seafood restaurant is actually dear to Flav's heart, and he wants to do everything he can to save it.
- [31:20]
Flavor Flav
Nah, we ain't letting Red Lobster close. I'm going to try to help save them. I'm going to try to help use my popularity and my notoriety to help save Red Lobster. We gotta save the lobster, G. We gotta save the lobster.
- [31:34]
Kelly Velade
But despite the best efforts of rap stars, youtubers, and Red Lobster fans, the harsh financial reality means the future for the chain still looks bleak. The chain owes its 20 largest unsecured creditors nearly $46 million. As the Chapter 11 process rumbles on, the chain starts preparing to sell its kitchen equipment in an auction to raise cash to pay off its creditors. It feels like it's over. But then a new buyer steps out of the shadows. Fortress Investment Group. It's a multi billion dollar private equity firm based in Manhattan. Its specialty is finding distressed companies, buying them cheap, and fixing them up. In September 2024, a group of investors led by Fortress buys red lobster for $376 million. And the chain exits. Chapter 11. $376 million. That's a steal. Especially when you remember that the business was valued at $2.3 billion just eight years earlier. But it's the lifesaver the seafood chain needs. The new owners pledged to invest more than $60 million to reinvigorate the brand. It also brings in a new CEO, 35 year old Damela Adamolekin. He's fresh from leading a successful turnaround at the Asian fusion restaurant chain P F Chang's. Now, Adam Malaikin hopes he might be able to make Red Lobster appeal to a new generation. And by his side, he has some star power in the form of Red Lobster superfan Flavor Flav. Perhaps Beyonce was busy.
- [33:10]
Flavor Flav
Yeah, boy. When the Internet said, Red Lobster's going away, boy. Flavor Flav said, not today. Crabfest is here, boy. And they got two flavors just like me. Flavor Flav.
- [33:25]
Kelly Velade
So for now, Red Lobster has escaped the lobster pot and lived to fight another day. Endless shrimp's off the menu for good. And its new leadership hopes to renew the brand. And while the odds seem stacked against this, you can't discount the chance of a comeback. The chain still inspires huge nostalgia. The Cheddar Bay biscuits are still killer and its die hard fans seem to be loyal to the end. It's got a new CEO who's already revived one casual dining chain. But with the legal fallout over its Chapter 11 bankruptcy still ongoing and diners tastes and preferences change, changing as quickly as ever, only time will tell if Red Lobster can survive into the second half of the 21st century. So what's the moral of this fishy tale? Try this. Go to Google and type in the words Is Red Lobster? And tell me what options you see. Here's what I Is Red Lobster closing? Is Red Lobster closing still open? Is Red Lobster going out of business? Red Lobsters around the country are still open, but in the public's eyes it seems to be on its last legs in its demise. Well, that'd be a real shame. It started out as an innovator, bringing the joy of seafood to middle America, beating supply chain limitations and in so many ways rewriting the rules for restaurants. Red Lobster became a feature of the American suburbs. And maybe that's a reason so many have taken note of its apparent demise. In fact, one of the greatest, most valuable assets any business can have in its portfolio is its reputation. Something tells me that after the jokes and memes about Red Lobster as a relic of another era, there's still a lot of lingering goodwill, albeit untapped. Maybe a little nostalgia, memories of family dinners in the 90s. But believe me, Americans love a great comeback story. The other day I saw a headline about another restaurant chain that seemed all but dead. Now hear this. Chili's is making a comeback. And if you go to places like Reddit, you may be surprised at just how many people posting there are rooting for them. The company's building on that, with an emphasis on reaching people on social media, younger folks who may never have thought of going to a Chili's before. The restaurants are being refreshed, menus are being updated, and now, with a low key buzz starting to build, the company's leaning into it. It's even revived its baby back ribs jingle. Hey, maybe we can get something started here. Share the news folks. The lobster's not dead yet. Red Lobster, you listening? Your move. Come on little lobster, you got this. Next time you're cutting an ad, maybe consider the B52s.
- [36:17]
David Brown
If you like business wars, you can binge all episodes early and ad free right now by joining Wondery plus in the Wondery app or on Apple podcasts. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey@wondery.com survey from Wondery this is episode.
- [36:40]
Kelly Velade
2 of what Killed Red Lobster for Business Wars. A quick note about the recreations you've been hearing. In most cases, we can't know exactly what was said at the time. Those scenes are dramatizations, but they are based on historical research. I'm your host, David Brown. J.S. raffaelli of Yellow Ant wrote this story. Research by David Wolinski Sound design by Ryan Potesta Fact checking by Gabrielle Jolais Voice acting by Chloe Elmore and Coop Cooper. Our managing producer is Desi Blalock. Our senior managing producer is Callum Plews. Produced by Tristan Donovan of Yellow Ant and Grant Rutter. Our senior producers are Emily Frost and Dave Schilling. Karen Lowe is our Producer Emeritus. Our executive producers are Jenny Lauer Beckman and Marshall Louie. For wondering.
- [37:36]
Katie
Imagine this. You help your little brother land a great job abroad, but when he arrives, the job doesn't exist. Instead, he's trapped in a heavily guarded compound, forced to sit at a computer and scam innocent victims. All while armed guards stand by with shoot to kill orders. Scam Factory, the explosive new true crime podcast from Wondery, exposes a multi billion dollar criminal empire operating in plain sight. Told through one family's harrowing account of sleepless nights, desperate phone calls and dangerous rescue attempts, Scam Factory reveals a brutal truth. The only way out is to scam their way out. Follow Scam Factory on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of Scam Factory early and ad free right now by joining Wondery Plus.