Hot Money: Agent of Chaos

Episode: "From The Financial Times: The Broker"

Date: February 17, 2026

Host: Pushkin Industries & Financial Times

Primary Reporter: Miles Johnson

Episode Overview

This episode, “The Broker,” traces the extraordinary journey of Will Sommerandike — a former college baseball hopeful and ex–Merrill Lynch stockbroker — as he goes from selling police surplus gear with his parents to becoming a pivotal, if shadowy, player in the modern global arms trade. The narrative unspools the new private architectures of Western warfare post-9/11, illuminating how covert supply chains, war entrepreneurs, and privatized logistics shape today’s conflicts from Syria to Ukraine. Through Sommerandike’s story, reporter Miles Johnson explores the blurred lines between capitalism, warfare, and morality.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins of a War Broker

• Baseball Dreams and Wall Street Cold Calls
  • Will Sommerandike begins as a dedicated, disciplined, yet ultimately unremarkable baseball player in Virginia Beach (04:54).
  • Transition from minor league baseball aspirations to financial hustling at Merrill Lynch, learning to “avoid a no” rather than land a yes (08:45).
  • Quote from Sommerandike:

    “You work with extreme personalities and big egos. There are borderline psychopaths in this business.” (30:40)

2. Early Failures and Reinvention

• From Brokerage to Startup Flop
  • Failed attempt to relocate a Major League Baseball franchise; accused by regulators of “fraud against an investor” after a failed startup — resulting in a suspension from the brokerage industry (14:22).

3. Birth of Regulus Global

• Pivot to the Defense Supply Chain
  • Sommerandike launches Regulus Global, a family operation selling surplus police equipment — “his parents probably thought I was batshit crazy” (18:45).
  • Early lessons: defense trade is “old school,” built on handshakes and building trust with suppliers and officials (21:20).
  • Quote (Sommerandike):

    “People want to look you in the eye. If you’re in someone’s office, you can see what matters to them — photos of their kids, their favorite team.” (21:45)

4. Integration into Covert Warfare Logistics

• The Syria Pipeline
  • Regulus grows by supplying Soviet-era weapons for CIA and SOCOM programs in Syria, quickly delivering weapons others couldn’t (25:10).
  • Sommerandike:

    “In any operation I’ve ever had, I’ve always been on the first flight. I want to see the entire operation myself.” (26:45)

• Corporate Layering and Outsourced Death
  • Series of subcontractors insulate the Pentagon — Regulus is at the end of this supply chain, with blurred accountability (28:10).
  • The Norwillo incident: defective grenade kills a U.S. contractor in Bulgaria; lawsuit ensues. Sommerandike maintains,

    “My job was to deliver equipment. I delivered equipment.” (29:50)

  • Items of war reduced to SKUs, “just numbers on a spreadsheet” (29:55).

5. Scaling Up: Yemen and the Ethics of War Supply

• Rising Revenues, Collateral Deaths
  • Regulus supplies Saudi Ministry of Defense during Yemen’s most brutal period. Sommerandike’s justification:

    “I comply with whatever the US government allows or asks me to do.” (32:10)

  • Exposure to mass casualties, emotional toll:

    “You know, you pick up smells and stuff. Seeing things is one thing, but smells, that’s what stays with you.” (31:35)

6. The Ukraine Invasion and New Frontiers

• Massive Opportunity, Escalating Risks
  • 2022: Russia invades Ukraine. Regulus receives urgent calls for Soviet-era arms. Massive deal with Ukraine worth up to $1.7 billion (34:15).
  • Sommerandike visits war-torn Ukraine, becomes emotionally involved for the first time:

    “Probably for the first time in my career, I’m tied emotionally to this.” (35:05)

• Bosnian Factories and International Dispute
  • Regulus buys Bosnian arms factories to meet demand; funds and deliveries stall, leading to arbitration with Ukraine (36:32).
  • Quote (Sommerandike):

    “There’s no sleeping...I feel like I’ve got two fire extinguishers on each side of my head. There are fires every day in Bosnia.” (36:52)

7. Geopolitics and the Precarious Arms Economy

• US Politics and Business Threats
  • Trump’s reelection (2024) threatens to end the Ukraine war and upend Sommerandike’s investments overnight (37:48).
  • Sommerandike on future prospects:

    “I hope the war stops tomorrow, it certainly needs to. But...there’ll be a multi-year effort just to reinventory things that have been used.” (38:02)

• Innovation and the Silicon Valley Defense Play
  • Launches “Union,” a new, high-tech arms manufacturer in Texas, adopting modern manufacturing techniques from Tesla and the auto industry (38:25).
    Quote:

    “I think the US Government will end up being our biggest customer.” (39:05)

8. Reflections on Morality, Competition, and Legacy

• Personal Detachment and Rationalization
  • Sommerandike claims to dislike war and guns; sees himself as a competitor maximizing logistics, not a moral agent (39:58).

    “Look, it would be great if it was all rainbows and sunshine, peace everywhere. But that’s not the world.” (40:07)

• Baseball as Metaphor
  • Enduring ambition — “Everyone's got competitive juices...that’s maybe what drives me.” (40:42)
  • He fears, ultimately, being remembered as “he had potential,” not an achiever (40:57).

Memorable Quotes & Moments by Timestamp

• On the cold call mindset:

  • “[At Merrill Lynch] the goal wasn’t to get a yes so much as avoid a no.” (08:45)

• On the arms business culture:

  • “There are borderline psychopaths in this business.” (30:40)

• On arms trading as a numbers game:

  • “The weapons were just another skew. Bombs were stock codes that could be purchased, financed, shipped.” (41:20)

• On the limits of morality in the trade:

  • “I comply with whatever the US government allows or asks me to do.” (32:10)
  • “Look, it would be great if it was all rainbows and sunshine, peace everywhere. But that’s not the world.” (40:07)

• On personal ambition:

  • “Everyone's got competitive juices…that’s maybe what drives me.” (40:42)
  • “The worst thing I would ever want is that by the time my end is here, they would say, man, he had potential.” (40:57)

Timed Key Segments

• The Birth of a Modern Broker: 01:39 – 18:30
• Integration into Arms Supply Chains: 18:31 – 29:50
• Major Conflicts: Yemen, Syria, Ukraine: 29:51 – 37:40
• Disputes, Industry Innovation, and Personal Reckoning: 37:41 – 41:57

Tone & Style

The episode is rich in narrative detail, journalistic curiosity, and a notably nonjudgmental, matter-of-fact tone—mirroring both Sommerandike’s pragmatic approach to war profiteering and the Financial Times’ investigative style. Intimate anecdotes (from amateur baseball heroics to factory buyouts) alternate with global stakes, creating a vivid panorama of one man caught between personal ambition and the brutal calculus of modern warfare.

For listeners interested in how the global arms trade operates in the shadow of regulation, morality, and geopolitics — this episode provides a rare, compelling glimpse behind the scenes, with the brisk pacing and unvarnished candor that defines both Hot Money and its Financial Times partner reporting.