Industry (2020) s03e03 Episode Script

1
HENRY MUCK: (OVER INTERCOM)
Look, as much as I love spending
these calls ducking and weaving,
I'm not sure why I'm getting
such a grilling
from the bank
that brought us to market.
FRANK WADE:
Henry, it's Frank Wade,
Pierpoint Equity Research.
I need to publish
a buy-sell recommendation
by the end of the week.
And the eight-percent fall
in share price
means the market is finally
waking up to the fundamentals.
But, of course, there's always
HENRY: Lumi is still
the future of the sector.
I I've been invited to speak
at the Global Climate Conference
this week.
Our panel is going to be
a positive catalyst
for the stock, and it will rally.
Do drop in if you're in Bern.
FRANK: Don't worry,
I'll be there.
- Um, but
- (SIGHS)
getting back to business
Why is that in-house analyst
being so confrontational
about a stock
that he's supposed to support?
FRANK: have you modeled
any spike in gas prices?
What would that do
to your suppressed price point?
I've bought more stock
since the lock-up period
ended a few days ago.
You don't get more of a bullish
signal from a CEO than that.
Frank doesn't sound like
a guy who's publishing a buy.
- To be honest, why would he?
- (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
The equity story is just getting
worse and worse.
And is it normal for there
to be, like, 20 analysts
and a thousand investors
on one call like this?
Either it's still a hot story
or they're rubbernecking.
(ANALYST SPEAKING OVER INTERCOM)
ROBERT SPEARING: Look, Pierpoint
publishing a research report on Lumi
at the climate conference
could be a disaster.
ERIC TAO: Adler's on that
climate panel with Henry.
With all the chatter on Lumi,
I've no idea how he intends
to fight that fire.
(CELL PHONE CHIMES, VIBRATES)
HENRY: Look at our numbers.
We've had record
subscriber growth.
That is the key metric
for our business. Sub-growth.
We continue to drive new users.
FUTUREDAWN EMPLOYEE 1: Do you think you
could get me
a membership at Koko House?
FUTUREDAWN EMPLOYEE
2: It's not a very hedge-fund
- friendly community
- Um Why did you book me coach?
HARPER STERN: Uh, short haul,
lower carbon footprint in the back.
ANNA GEARING: Hmm. Well,
this conference needs to go well
after that shitty Lumi earnings call.
How's my diary looking?
- HARPER: After the Lumi panel
- (KEYBOARD CLACKING)
you have a sit-down
with the Qatar Investment Authorities,
and Carlyle's ESG arm
just got back to me.
So, fully stacked.
Hmm! Harder to get a res
with me than Carbone.
Cheers.
FUTUREDAWN EMPLOYEE 2:
Anna hates that phrase
SIMON MONKS: Has Anna broached
a contract renegotiation
with you personally?
No. Why?
SIMON: Her lawyer contacted me direct.
She's offering a re-up.
A five-year deal.
As your counsel, this looks a lot like
one of those "Rokos-Howard
golden handcuff" situations.
It's a lot of money
But if I sign
and if I'm bid away, or I decide
to breach my contract,
Anna lays claim to what?
Five, ten percent of my future earnings
- for what?
- Twenty percent for five years.
- That feels spiteful.
- I totally agree.
She's also added something
called a philosophy clause.
Come again?
To protect the philosophy of the fund,
she wants sign-off on any trade
- you execute in any size
- Fucking cunt!
Apologies, that was
(SIGHS) beneath me.
So, I'm not allowed
to have my own ideas here,
but if I leave and have my own ideas,
she wants the money I make from them.
Have you got other offers on the table?
Your current deal has
a pretty iron-clad non-compete.
If you so much as blink at a competitor,
this year's comp becomes fully
at Anna's discretion.
(SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
What if I become the competitor?
Well
you'll leave a lot of money
on the table today.
Or you can roll the dice
on your talent, maybe.
Okay.
Say we're at the negotiation table,
make it look like we're interested.
- What will that buy us?
- Maybe a few days.
- Thank you, Simon.
- (SOFT MUSIC FADES) ♪
PETRA KOENIG: FutureDawn
has become a cult of personality.
It's not about the best idea,
it's about pleasing Mother.
All she wants to do
is sit on another fucking panel
and act like an omniscient
moral barometer.
I'm not going to sit here and outperform
while the fund underperforms
and collects passive fees
from investors
for being politically correct.
Well, then maybe
her offer just simply
expedites your decision?
Would you come with me?
In what capacity?
Jerry Maguire's goldfish?
(UPLIFTING MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
HARPER: By your own admission,
you like life behind your screens.
You're not a fundraiser.
I can help you sell fund.
You use your salesman's voice
to pitch me as a newfangled
equity long-short with macro-overlay.
- Sell my ideas.
- Yeah.
But I back your intellect.
So, you back mine,
we test the views together
and we back it.
Okay.
But we don't hand-wring,
or moralize or equivocate.
You put on the ideas that you
think will make money tomorrow.
That's your mandate.
How far along
were your other conversations?
Were they like a jump-off
for seed capital?
Very embryonic.
How much do we need?
So that banks will take us
seriously enough to cover us
and give us research and trading lines?
Three hundred million dollars.
- (SOFTLY) Shit.
- You have Anna's schedule at COP, right?
Yeah.
She is hunting some serious
ESG heavy hitters, like,
sovereign wealth funds, asset managers,
very deep pockets.
PETRA: When are they meeting?
Tomorrow afternoon, after her panel.
Why don't we check
if they're morning people?
See if we can get them to join our cause
and swipe them from under Anna's nose
before she's hoovered down
that inedible continental breakfast.
These are, like, flagship ESG vehicles.
They're going to a climate conference.
I bet I can prove
returns trump ideology.
You ready to sell this idea?
What flight are we on?
Fuck yeah.
WILHELMINA FASSBINDER: As you know,
Bill Adler was meant to be
on that Finance
and the Climate Crisis panel
with Lumi and FutureDawn partners.
I want you to go instead.
Adler is taking
some family time in Europe.
Lumi just had
a pretty rocky earnings call.
Well, everyone is pointing fingers
about how this has been mismanaged.
Who are you pointing fingers at?
All anyone's talking about
in the advisory world
is that we may have overvalued Lumi.
And now all the other companies
in our ESG pipeline
are wondering whether we're
the right bank to take them public.
Europa Gaz is up next.
Am I right to be concerned
about our ESG pivot?
Someone of Adler's level
dropping out this soon
after the shitshow IPO is very bad PR,
and it is making Europa
even more nervous.
This panel is critical
to displaying an air
of competency to our clients.
I need you to sit
next to the CEO of Lumi
and make it seem like the process
was hugely beneficial to all parties.
- You want me to oversell it?
- Well, that's your job.
Isn't it?
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
I assume you're fluent enough
in the Lumi story to step into the void?
I've got someone in my team
very close to the CEO
who could brief me.
Good. You know, when you make partner,
they make it seem like
you're at the top of the ladder.
But you're actually just
at the bottom of a new one.
HARPER: No! COP is a conference
for business interests
hiding behind climate change.
But there's loads of scientists there.
Well, I don't understand. How
It it has nothing to do with science.
YASMIN KARA-HANANI:
It's not about science.
DAVE: Climate change
isn't about science?
I don't wanna be that guy, all right?
But at this point, the only solution
to climate change is a financial one.
Well, both my bosses and I are going.
Although, I think one of them
is more attuned
to the whiff of bullshit
- coming off of it.
- (LAUGHS)
Yeah, Eric wants me to brief him
for the panel on the flight over.
Everyone seems to think
that Lumi and Pierpoint's panel
at the climate conference
is make or break
for the Lumi share price.
What?
- What, cause I'm not capable?
- No. (CHUCKLES)
No, it's Eric's asked me to go as well.
You could have told one of us.
How many buzzwords
and pieties can people use
to dress up the hunt for cash?
(CHUCKLES)
- (CHUCKLES) Yeah, my mate, Gus
- (INDISTINCT CHEERING)
is in Palo Alto working for a VC
called Decarbonization Ventures.
All right, all right, I've gotta
go and tutor an eight-year-old
with more expensive clothes than me.
Thank God I remembered
to take my Lexapro.
Otherwise, I'd unload a clip
into the little prick.
BYSTANDER 1: Hey, Digger,
let's get the unicorn in.
- DAVE: Bye, baby.
- BYSTANDER 2: Is it that kinda night?
BYSTANDER 1: Demi Riquísimo's
playing Fabric Room Two.
- He's going back-to-back
- (ROBERT LAUGHS)
all night long with DJ Tennis.
Don't worry, I'm never
seeing him again after tonight.
- YASMIN KARA-HANANI: Aw!
- Shame.
Why? (CHUCKLES)
He has a big, uncircumcised hog,
which I found
relentlessly distracting
on cold and lonely nights.
- He's the full package.
- HARPER: I know. His package is
- (CELL PHONE VIBRATES)
- YASMIN: Sorry.
Sorry, I've got to take this.
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- (CELL PHONE VIBRATES)
(SIREN WAILING IN DISTANCE)
Hi, Denise, how are you?
DENISE OLDROYD:
Hey, I just got a text
from an old silk
from our chambers.
In confidence,
your dad's boat's back in the U.K.
Okay. How much do you think it's worth?
DENISE:
Valued at 11 million in 2019.
That's great.
I mean, that's great. Right?
And, actually,
we've had the interiors done
at Loro Piana upholstery recently,
so it might be worth a premium.
No, no, it's it's not yours to sell.
Charles didn't even own it anymore.
He was leasing it
from Hanani Publishing,
and Scotland Yard
are investigating it now.
The Mallorcan police
are doing interviews
- with everyone on the boat.
- What?
Wh Why?
Are the Mallorcan police
going to speak to me?
DENISE: I don't know. Look, between us,
Hanani Publishing are thinking
about how to make up
their losses on the money
your father embezzled
from the company.
YASMIN:
But we've been through this.
- You know I don't have any money.
- (TOILET FLUSHING)
DENISE: What about
your Pierpoint job?
Thank God you've got that income.
- (WATER RUNNING)
- Yeah, I mean,
you don't deserve all this shit.
(CHUCKLES) Speak soon.
(SMOOTH POP SONG PLAYING) ♪
(CELL PHONE CHIMES, VIBRATES)
(DOOR OPENING)
Why is Yasmin texting you so late?
ERIC: We work together.
(CELL PHONE CHIMES, VIBRATES)
Do you want me to leave?
Maybe you need someone younger?
Maybe we're in very different places
in our lives.
(CHUCKLING) Oh, my gosh.
Okay.
Oh, God, that is such fucking
typical fuckboy prevarication.
Do you know what?
Can I make something crystal
for you, honey? You're an old man.
I I don't fuck
like one though, right?
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
YASMIN: So, this is just Davos
with a fashionable green veil?
Just ESG enough to appease Democrats,
and anti-woke enough
not to trigger Republicans.
The highest concentration
of financial heavyweights
in the smallest square footage
looking for investment there?
It'd be like using sticks
of TNT to fish.
We'll use the flight time
so you can bring me up-to-speed
on Lumi and the sector comm's flows.
Fly in, present a united front.
Poster children
of a new kind of capitalism.
(JET ENGINE WHIRRING)
Why are we both here?
Did Henry ask for me specifically?
He did, but that doesn't mean
you're not useful to me.
Well, then can I at least help
brief you on Lumi during the flight?
Absolutely.
Hi.
So, what's the street saying
in terms of brokers'
recommendations on Lumi?
Likely the syndicate banks will publish
a mixture of buy and hold.
Our analyst Frank's
the tastemaker
in the energy sector though,
so people are waiting on his view.
When's he publishing?
(PILOT SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)
I heard whispers the next 48 hours,
but I imagine it'll be after.
Our research team
know to manage the rollout
of positive catalysts on the stock.
His note would be more effective
with breathing room after the panel.
And you're confident
it'll be a positive?
I mean, his tone on the call
was a bit hostile.
We did the IPO.
He knows who butters his bread.
- You got any scotch?
- Uh, we have Macallan 18.
(PILOT CONTINUES SPEAKING)
left turn, two-zero-five
degrees to
You know what?
We can drink when we've brought it home.
- PILOT: 3,000 feet. Any questions?
- COPILOT: No.
- PILOT: Okay.
- Focus.
PILOT: Safety procedure inspection
before we start the checklist to
- Mr. Tao! (LAUGHS)
- ERIC: Hey.
- The willing sub.
- (CHUCKLES)
(SIGHS) Look, between us,
I'm really glad you're replacing Bill.
I had a preview
of his planned panel remarks,
and they were
they were reading a tad sterile.
(BOTH LAUGH)
HENRY: Maybe we could,
uh, folk it up a bit.
Make people really feel something.
Sell the way we feel about it.
Exactly. Yeah. (CHUCKLES)
Well, uh (CLEARS THROAT)
Uh, guys, this is actually
a tad awkward.
Uh, we've got our other cabin
for our bankers.
You know, I I don't want to be, uh,
that person, but, um
(CLEARS THROAT) you know in the, uh,
unlikely event of a
a crash landing,
you'll all be safer in the back.
(CHUCKLES) It's, uh, through here.
I've got a couple of friends
joining for the ride.
Uh, Yasmin, um, why don't you
hang up top with us?
Someone told me you used to work
in private wealth at Pierpoint.
I could, uh I could use a steer.
(SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Absolutely.
Super. Uh, Caedi, uh, you don't mind
bunking with the gentleman
from Pierpoint, do you?
- CAEDI MCFARLANE: Not at all.
- HENRY: Great. Great.
Oh, fab.
Well, guys,
it's great to have you aboard.
- Hey, beautiful. How's it going?
- HENRY: Lindt, you fucking tosser.
- Hello.
- XANDER LINDT: How's it going?
- HENRY: Who's this?
- XANDER: She has a million
Instagram followers
and calls Diplo "Wesley."
That's all you need to know.
HENRY: Glad to meet you. Pleasure.
Henry has a taste for shiny, new things.
- HENRY: Excited?
- Very much so.
My, uh, godfather, Otto,
is hosting a drinks mixer tonight.
We'd love for you to come.
(SOFT MUSIC FADES) ♪
Hey. Where do I recognize you from?
(ROBERT AND ERIC TALKING QUIETLY)
You've got that that look.
I don't know.
- Porn.
- (XANDER LAUGHS)
No, I never watch it.
Unless it's directed by women.
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
My family's in
the chocolate business, but, um,
I'm an investor and a producer.
(SNIFFS)
I'm an investment banker.
I work at Pierpoint.
Ah. I thought you were
just dating Henry.
(CHUCKLES)
(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
I've got cramp in my jaw
from pretending to smile.
They're not going to beat us.
(CHUCKLES) Everybody does.
- (CAR DOOR CLOSES)
- That's sorta my problem.
Isn't that Frank Wade,
our energy analyst?
I hope his mood's improved
since that Lumi earnings call.
ERIC: Frankie!
When are you publishing
your buy note on Lumi?
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
RECEPTIONIST: Welcome Mr. Tao.
- May I have your passport?
- ERIC: Of course.
Are we expecting a fresh dump overnight?
(SIGHS) Unfortunately, we are having
- an unnaturally warm winter.
- (KEYBOARD KEYS CLACKING)
I have you in a mountain-facing deluxe.
May I have the passport
for your guest, please?
- (TELEPHONE RINGING)
- Uh, excuse me?
- Uh, look No, uh, no.
- (LAUGHS)
Uh, we're not together.
- RECEPTIONIST: Uh
- Uh, it's Robert Spearing.
- Oh.
- (TELEPHONE RINGING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- Very sorry, sir.
- (KEYBOARD KEYS CLACKING)
There is no record
of a booking under that name.
Ah, fuck.
The desk assistant must have fucked up.
I'd usually be able to accommodate you,
but this weekend
is a special circumstance.
Look, I'm a bit of a VIP.
I'm on a panel.
What country are you a delegate of, sir?
What? Papua New Guinea.
Okay. Well, everyone's
on some form of panel.
Can you make my room up to be a twin?
Sir, I am very sorry.
There is nothing we can do.
This is room 300
and it's first exit up the stairs.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Sorry.
PETRA: Eight thousand francs
on my personal card,
and it looks like something
Trump vomited up in the '80s.
- (CHUCKLES)
- Ugh.
Oh, well, at least we can use it
to take meetings.
(SIGHING)
If Anna reaches out to you
about my diary while I'm here,
just tell her I had to stay
in London, okay?
She won't be suspicious
after the contract?
(SIGHS)
Say I'm with my son. She'll understand.
Tell her I'll be there in time
for her panel.
Buys us the morning.
HARPER: Right. I'll tell her
I'm working from home.
- (CELL PHONE CHIMES)
- Mm. (CHUCKLES)
Weird timing. Anna's just
sanctioned me to spend
800 quid on a pair
of Aimé Leon Dore New Balances
- for her daughter's birthday.
- (SCOFFS)
- What a considerate mother.
- Are you good tonight?
I said that I would go meet
a friend briefly at a party.
Okay.
Just remember we have an 8:00 a.m.
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- (JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
ROBERT: Any sign of Frank?
ERIC: Just a bunch of suits
cosplaying environmentalists.
- (CHUCKLES)
- ANNA: Eric?
Hi.
Are you guys heading to Condé Nast?
I need my beauty sleep pre the panel.
Did you see Morgan Stanley
published on Lumi?
Very noisy sell recommendation.
Who cares about Morgan Stanley?
Then why is the stock down
five percent after market?
I mean, I'm slightly worried
about sharing the panel
with Henry tomorrow.
We're going to look like goons
if we trumpet the future
of an equity story
that's getting pummeled.
A few of my more skittish
investors want me to fully
unlever the fund's position on Lumi.
- Okay, well
- Anna, please, can we get to Condé Nast?
- I need to get eyes on Leo.
- (CHUCKLES)
Olaf, um, Eric Tao and Robert Spearing,
- sales at Pierpoint.
- Ah.
Gentlemen, this is Olaf Heindorf,
- CFO of Europa Gaz.
- It's a pleasure to meet you.
We're honored to be taking you public.
Well, let's hope your investment
banker's attitude
to due diligence has sharpened
since the Lumi deal.
- (ANNA CHUCKLES)
- Can I expect you
at our panel tomorrow?
Front and center.
I'd like to leave impressed.
Don't disappoint me, Mr. Tao.
- (SPEAKS FRENCH)
- Okay. D'accord. See you.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
- Hi, Frank.
- (TENSE MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
ROBERT: Look,
I know this is not the most
appropriate time to introduce myself.
I'm Robert.
- Spearing.
- Yeah, I know who you are.
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
We have a WhatsApp where we share
the directory photos of all the hottest
and straightest Pierpoint employees.
Ooh! What an honor.
Uh, look, I'm gonna cut the crap.
You know the whole world's
waiting on your note with bated breath.
Yeah, I think you overrate
how much people like research.
- (CHUCKLES)
- (SIGHS)
You're not gonna publish a sell
on Lumi during the conference, are you?
FRANK: Is Eric nervous
for the panel tomorrow?
- ROBERT: Should he be?
- (CHUCKLES)
I'm gonna do what I always do.
The thing that is ethical
and intellectually correct.
Plus, it would really hurt
my comp if I published
a sell recommendation now.
And it's a compliance issue.
And I really love me some compliance.
("Z'ALP" BY JODLERKLUB
EDELWEISS THUN PLAYING) ♪
(SINGING IN SWISS GERMAN) ♪
My initial impression
of this climate conference
is that it's like Cannes,
except the attendees are richer, uglier,
and somehow more insecure
than movie people.
AURORE ADEKUNLE: Otto, darling!
- Aurore!
- (CHUCKLES)
- Hello.
- Sorry I was held up.
Macron and his business minister
were chewing the Chancellor’s ear off
about strike action,
and minimum service levels,
and blah, blah, blah, blah.
ALEXANDER NORTON: The PM was daft
to let the Chancellor take his place.
That's hardly leadership
on the world stage.
Your readers would never forgive him
if he looked like he was serious
about the climate catastrophe.
Every meeting I've had, Henry,
is about the impending spike
in natural gas prices.
Are you going to be passing
the cost on to consumers?
Because a lot of my constituents
signed up to Lumi's service.
Does everything have to be
immediately political?
If there's more than one person
in the room, Henry,
- it's political.
- Otto.
OTTO: It is.
AURORE: Hello, darling.
Lovely to see you.
- Have you got a drink?
- No.
- I'm gasping.
- I'll direct you
- in the right direction.
- (LAUGHS)
(MELLOW SONG PLAYING) ♪
XANDER: Were you avoiding me?
YASMIN: No.
No, um
I actually wanted to ask you
if your family office have
any Sales and Trading coverage.
You're alluring.
Very elusive.
- Not intentionally.
- (DOOR OPENING)
XANDER: You’re at the Grand, right?
- Mm-hmm.
- XANDER: Yeah, my family owns it.
I'm DJ-ing in the basement tomorrow.
- Those statements are unrelated.
- (CHUCKLES)
But you should you should come with.
We can discuss whatever
you wanna discuss there.
Maybe someday.
- XANDER: Yeah.
- Yeah.
You know, I, um
I've dabbled in some amateur mentalism
and I'd like to think that I'm
a pretty good reader of people.
I sort of get the feeling
that you are really
very sad.
Look, I'm, um, not interested, okay?
XANDER: I gathered you'd open
your legs for a bottle of 1942,
given your situation.
(CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING ON TV) ♪
We need to spend as little time
in here as possible.
You were right about Frank, by the way.
He's a company man.
I told you.
Shame about the snow.
(ROBERT MUNCHING)
So, what's the story with you and Yas?
Are you together,
or with benefits, or what?
We're flatmates.
- As colleagues.
- Come on.
(SCOFFS)
"The maximum amount of money
doing the maximum amount of good."
Can you smell the bullshit
coming off that?
Sounds about the right tone for here.
("PARCE QUE TU CROIS"
BY CHARLES AZNAVOUR PLAYING) ♪
- (SINGING IN FRENCH) ♪
- (LAUGHS)
Oh, I, uh
- Yes, of course.
- Excuse me for two minutes.
I'll be back.
(AURORE SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)
Oh, my God, I am so glad you're here.
- Thank you for coming.
- Yeah, of course.
YASMIN: I'm so fucking alone.
Um, do you think
you could intro me to Otto?
- Can it wait?
- (SIGHS)
My colleague, Petra,
set some investor intro meets
for us tomorrow,
but I just I I feel like
he might be more our tempo.
(CHUCKLES)
- Okay.
- Thank you. Thank you.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- Otto!
- OTTO: Yes?
- This is Harper.
- HARPER: Stern. Harper Stern.
Oh, great. Who invited you?
(CHUCKLES) Uh, why do you assume
I'm not influential enough
to make the list?
Um, because you're a diminutive woman.
Well, the climate crisis
would be resolved
if women were in charge, right?
I prefer the kind of feminism
where women can be cunts.
- Oh.
- (HENRY AND AURORE CHUCKLING)
YASMIN: Harper works at
I used to be a trader at Pierpoint.
We met on that shoot with Jesse Bloom.
Or, can we no longer say
- his name out loud?
- (LAUGHS)
I'm a trader now. A PM.
- I'm pitching a new fund.
- AURORE: Oh.
ESG?
- No.
- OTTO: Oh.
Well, I would, uh,
choose your audience carefully.
You wouldn't believe how strong
an opiate politics is.
Even convinces some people
that they're happy losing money.
- Aurore. (LAUGHS)
- (AURORE CHUCKLES)
Hey, um So, um, is
is your dad really on the run,
or did did you kill him or something?
HARPER: What?
- Mate, what the fuck?
- (CHUCKLES)
(SCOFFS) Oh, my God.
OTTO: Xander, you do realize
Charles Hanani
HENRY: Yas! Yas! Yas!
Were you, like,
gossiping with him about me?
I'm sorry. He's such a fucking
Yeah, I'm not gonna use that word.
It's not very PC.
No, wait, wait, wait, wait.
(SIGHS) I didn't say anything.
I might have told him your name,
and, you know, sorry,
I shouldn't have done that,
- but, uh
- Can I go?
Like, in a professional capacity,
can I leave now?
Yeah. (CHUCKLES)
I'm not keeping you here.
Yeah, you were never here
in a professional capacity.
Yes, I was!
Yes, I fucking was!
Excuse me.
- Just wait for me. Yas
- Is it bad that I miss him?
But I just don't understand.
I don't understand
how I can miss him if I hated him.
Maybe I didn't. Maybe I never hated him,
because otherwise,
why do I feel like this?
Why do I feel like this when he's
He's
- (GASPS)
- (HEARTBEAT THUMPING RAPIDLY)
- Please
- Fucking whore!
(SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
At least you had the privilege
of having a father
to fuck you up in first place.
(CHUCKLES)
- I'm sorry. Not helpful at all.
- (SNIFFLES)
HARPER: I'm sorry.
(SIGHS) - HARPER: Look,
you need to be strong, okay?
And it will pass.
I know that much. It will pass.
This doesn’t pass.
Of course it fucking does.
You're right.
(SNIFFLES, SIGHS)
You're right. (SNIFFLES)
You're right. (CHUCKLES)
Hey.
Nikki Beach.
(CHUCKLES)
HARPER: Hey, come here.
(YASMIN CHUCKLES, SNIFFLES)
- (SOMBER MUSIC FADES) ♪
- (BREATHES DEEPLY)
(KEYBOARD CLACKING)
We're an event-driven equity
long-short with macro-overlay.
I'm a seasoned stock picker,
and Harper here
is a talented macro trend analyzer.
Mm-hmm.
We represent the Church Commissioners
for England fund.
We manage the Church of England's money.
- So, you were at FutureDawn, right?
- Mm.
You were across their Lumi investment?
PETRA: Yeah.
I think the stock
will eventually prove to be
what it is, a disease-riddled dog.
I did engineering at MIT.
I did two years at CERN.
- Not far from here, actually.
- (KEYBOARD CLACKING)
You know, there are
a lot of ESG funds here
looking to raise money.
Where do you see your edge
in this space?
We intend to be a little less
- philosophically
- Dogmatic.
- MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT: Dogmatic?
- Mm.
That word seems
to be doing a lot of work.
Sorry, is your boss
going to be joining us?
To be honest, I'm here as a courtesy,
and I think it's important
that juniors start to build
their own little networks.
- Well, good for you.
- Yeah.
- That's very con Yeah.
- Hmm.
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
This is an invitation
to make serious money.
Let's get Jesus out of those sandals
and into some Jordans.
You'll get proper returns
dressed in whatever politics you want.
I bet you've seen
a baby-faced kid with an iPad,
transcribing stuff for her boss
who can't be bothered to show.
Couple McKinsey types
fiercely trying
to out-outrage each other.
Textbook.
People are gonna dance around it,
but if they're gonna invest, one word.
Outperformance,
outperformance, outperformance.
People are playing politics.
They'll be less inclined to if you
can prove supernormal returns.
The actual physical track record
is a due diligence rubber stamp
down the line once we've got interest.
That's the only way you get interest.
There's too much competition.
Thanks for, uh, "Deez nuts."
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(DOOR OPENING)
- (SIGHS)
- (DOOR CLOSING)
How hard is it to get a track?
Ugh! I don't keep it on my desktop.
Elevating a request for it internally
would have raised a red flag.
Why can't you just, like,
take pictures of it
off your compliance person's screen?
I don't think that's legal.
- ANNA: We can talk about
- HARPER: Fuck. Move.
PETRA: The fuck are you doing?
What the fuck?
We need to go this way.
(ANNA AND ERIC SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Fuck.
That was Eric and Anna.
I just, like, thought they shouldn't
see us together, right? (CHUCKLES)
Sorry for pushing you.
I'm a little further along
in life than you.
(SCOFFS) Maybe it's not wise
for me to start again.
Again. Fuck. I’m going to Anna’s panel.
Maybe we should just go back to London
and forget this ever happened.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PEAKS) ♪
REALITY TV STAR 1: Obviously,
I'm getting a little sick and tired
- (CELL PHONE VIBRATES)
- of raggedy-ass bitches,
who take Spirit flights
and forget to change
their tampons, accusing me of
Harper, hi.
- What are you up to?
- YASMIN: You know.
Important Pierpoint stuff.
HARPER:
I'm I'm in a bit of a jam.
YASMIN: What's going on?
Are you and Petra working
on something?
HARPER:
Petra's going out on her own
and I have
an opportunity to follow.
YASMIN: I fucking knew it.
HARPER: She's having second thoughts
and I need to push her over the edge.
We're trying to raise funds
and we don't have
a physical track of Petra's returns.
When you covered Anna,
did you keep a record
of her physical track?
YASMIN: No.
But Pierpoint Asset Management
invest in FutureDawn.
So, someone in PAM will have access
to FutureDawn’s traders' performance.
- (SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
- That checks out.
I think our, um, our grad,
Sweetpea Golightly,
did a rotation in PAM.
So, she'll know a junior
in that division.
Great, yeah. Um,
could they get Petra Koenig’s track
as innocently as possible? Screenshots?
Okay.
I'll lean on them
and make it happen, but, um
If I if I do this,
I want your fund’s commission
next to my name.
Bitch, you know I always
wanted you to work for me.
(CHUCKLES)
(CHATTER ON TV CONTINUES)
REALITY TV STAR 2: Bitch,
you better buckle that fucking mouth
right now, you slimy-ass ho!
- (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
- (SOFT MUSIC PEAKS, FADES) ♪
Eric, tell us a little bit
about Henry and Lumi's journey.
- (MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
- ERIC: You know,
when Henry first came into Pierpoint,
I know my colleagues
were so impressed with his vision.
Here was a young man
who wanted root-and-branch change
in an industry.
Wean people off
their dependency on fossil fuels
while also bringing the man
on Main Street’s bills down.
It was a bespoke,
local execution of a global vision.
HENRY: There was a, you know,
- a real sense of kismet.
- (CELL PHONE VIBRATES)
HENRY: Yeah, I remember
that rainy Tuesday very fondly.
- (ERIC AND HENRY CHUCKLE)
- (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
HENRY: Uh, it felt like
the beginning of a revolution.
And I was sick to death
of these corporate elites
preying on the little guy.
- So, that kind of became a
- ROBERT: What the fuck?
- a mission statement.
- YASMIN: What?
ROBERT: Frank's just published a hold.
HENRY: I wanted to break
- the monopolistic
- YASMIN: Fuck me.
stranglehold that the, uh,
of the cartel that
the energy majors were running.
(AUDIENCE APPLAUDS)
ERIC: As we roar into the twenties,
Pierpoint and Lumi share the same ethos.
We want to see
the maximum amount of money
doing the maximum amount of good.
It's a credo, I know,
progressive funds
like Anna's share, too.
MODERATOR: What do you think
of the U.K. government's
commitment to net zero?
Well, some say it's a luxury
that they can't afford
with the impending energy crisis.
It's it's not a luxury,
it's a necessity.
You know, we work very closely
with the U.K. government.
The Energy Secretary Aurore Adekunle
has been a huge champion of ours.
MODERATOR: Well, we have a roving mic
in the crowd. So, I would like
to throw the floor
to our audience for some Q&A.
Yes.
NATE WAGHORN: Hi, panel.
Nate Waghorn, MarketWatch.
The growing number
of Lumi sell recommendations
published from banks
that didn't do its IPO.
The rally in natural gas.
Is this a panel or a funeral?
This isn't the WEF.
We're here to talk
about the climate catastrophe.
Do any of us look like
we're at a funeral?
(ALL LAUGH)
Okay, another question. Let's see.
Yes, lady in the back.
HARPER: Hi, Harper Stern.
I am a macro trader and a junior PM.
Petra Koenig and I have come
to COP to launch a new fund,
spinning out of FutureDawn.
My question is why is Pierpoint holding
this ideas festival in the shadow
of a climate conference?
We have a green-energy CEO, a senior PM
- of a green-leaning fund
- (SIGHS)
and a random salesman
from an American investment bank.
Is this just the media financial complex
patting itself on the back?
And surely your sales patter
must be moot,
given Frank Wade at Pierpoint
has now published a hold on Lumi.
(INDISTINCT MURMURS)
HARPER: Given you
are the lead underwriter,
it is tantamount to a sell.
I guess the gentleman
who said funeral didn't misspeak.
(SOFTLY)
Fucking thing's down 15 percent.
We are a financial institution
trying to do good.
Whether we like it or not
every debate is linked.
It starts and ends with capital.
And that's Yes, thank you,
thank you. Thank you very
That is all the time we have for today.
Thank you kindly to the team from Lumi.
We've thoroughly enjoyed
having you here on today's panel.
Thank you for your candid
responses to these questions.
Ladies and gentlemen,
the team from Lumi.
- (TENSE MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
PETER FERGUSSON: You got
a marketing deck for your fund?
It's refreshing to hear
a dissenting voice
that sounds like the one in my head.
(CHUCKLES) Uh, we are working on it.
PETER: Does your fund have a name?
That would be a good place to start.
What the fuck is wrong with you?
In what way was that professional?
What were you gonna do?
Sit in that fund and make a salary
by passively accruing fees?
You are an intellect.
You deserve autonomy.
Do you need a fucking dictionary?
You literally just tried
to make that decision for me.
I'm going back to London.
This was a huge fucking mistake.
Serves me right for getting
involved with a child.
- (KNOCKING ON DOOR)
- (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
I'll get it.
"Fortune, good night. Smile once more.
Turn thy wheel."
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC FADES) ♪
OTTO: All of the companies
parading around here
are only really interested
in their bottom-line exposure
as the world heats up.
It's people really just
convincing themselves
that what's good for their bottom line
is also good for the human condition.
(PETRA CHUCKLES)
I'm not saying BlackRock
doesn't wanna effect change
when it uses its proxy votes
to push whatever
political agenda it has.
But in the cold light of day,
I'd wager its investors
don't give fuck about activism.
Or they're deluded enough to think
it's going to earn them
an actual return.
Very well put.
I mean, I'm not a climate denier.
I found that whole crowd
rather Neanderthal.
But if Venice ends up
on the seabed in 2075, who cares?
It's a shithole in summer.
And I don't intend to be around
to see it sink.
Right, let's get down to brass tacks.
We'd like to see your returns, Petra.
Well, uh, that's not
technically possible
- right now, but
- HARPER: It is.
They are on your email.
Peter, maybe Petra could take you
through her last five years.
See if her numbers
and strategies live up to the billing.
Petra, show him.
Show him.
Right.
OTTO: Good.
- After we spoke last night
- (GLASSES CLINK)
I called a mutual friend of ours,
currently residing
in FCC Butner, North Carolina.
How is Jesse?
He's working on his putting.
Butner is at the cushier end
of federal correctional facilities.
Minor charges. God,
he's like Al Capone. He's lucky.
- What did he say about me?
- OTTO: Oh, it's as I inferred.
"War of all against all."
You're a troublemaker.
Peter was a troublemaker also.
You're one of us. (SIGHS)
- You're one of the bandits.
- (PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(SIGHS)
- Santé.
- Cheers.
(PENSIVE MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
(PENSIVE MUSIC FADES) ♪
I, um
I’m sorry the panel got a bit testy.
You have no idea how in-your-bones
exhausting it is pretending
nothing's wrong.
Lumi stock's down another 20
percent after Pierpoint’s note.
Still many millions of dollars
if you sell your shares now.
Before it goes to zero.
Come on.
Why else would
the lock-up period be so short?
Do you really think you see me?
Is that your skill?
You know
I didn't buy into the image
the media portrayed of you.
I'd ask you to extend me
the same courtesy.
Petra’s trading book is only 20 percent
of FutureDawn,
but it makes up
over 50 percent of the fund’s
final performance
over the last five years.
OTTO: Hmm.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Yes, I like the idea of a punt
on a sharp-elbowed start-up.
Give you some rope,
small seed investment.
Godfather you.
I can market you as a story.
The moment I anoint you
opens the doors to other people's money.
Two women who flew
into a climate conference
and left with a sin stock fund.
God, there's a lot
of contradictions, though.
- PETRA: Mm-hmm.
- Right, I love it.
Look at you both. What a picture.
You've, uh, such a progressive look.
New look, same great taste.
(LAUGHS)
Gold. Come on.
- (UPLIFTING MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
- (DOOR OPENING)
- (DOOR SHUTTING)
- (BOTH LAUGH)
(PETRA SIGHS)
HENRY: My dad
Reggie.
One weekend
he stood up
from the Sunday lunch table
without a word.
They found him two days later.
He'd walked out onto the moor
and blown his head off.
I didn't believe he could have
done that to himself.
When I started having similar thoughts
in my last year of school,
they called it
suicidal ideation.
I'd finally made peace
with the fact he'd ended his own life.
The only way I could get
rid of those thoughts
was by building something of my own.
And I would do anything
anything
to avoid feeling
that kind of helplessness again.
I'm so sorry.
This is the worst I've felt
since he died.
I hope
you find peace faster than I did.
It's, uh
It's very selfish of me
arranging for you to come.
But I figured we might get
a minute alone
like this and
Fuck it. Anything would be worth that.
Okay. Big come on.
What do you actually
want me to do with that?
Hmm?
I, um
I haven't had sex in five months.
And you're still alive?
(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(UPBEAT MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
- HENRY: Celeste, hi.
- CELESTE PAQUET: Hi, Henry.
That, uh, panel feels like
the end of the road, I'm afraid.
The market killed us.
I'd like to, uh,
unwind my personal stake
in the company
and crystallize the profit now.
No, no, I I know. Yeah.
If, uh, my market order's worked
from the open,
how much will I get out?
Woof.
Okay, um, can you email me
once that transfer is in my account?
(SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Most companies fail.
Most companies fail.
Most companies
fail.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
WILHELMINA:
Hi, Eric, it's Wilhelmina.
Olaf just called.
Europa Gaz wanna push the IPO,
citing macro conditions.
So, it's a soft firing.
I can't believe
that we're so fucking siloed
that Frank was allowed to go rogue
- and publish like that.
- WILHELMINA: It's not good.
- We need to be more joined up.
- Is this a bellwether?
Are the other IPOs
in the pipeline secure?
Or are they gonna get cold feet?
WILHELMINA: (SIGHS) Look,
I don't wanna wall-cross you.
This is more
of an executive conversation.
Above your level.
What happened at the panel
was out of my control.
Bill wouldn't have
handled it any better.
- God damn it.
- (BOTTLES CLINKING)
(LIVELY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Can you lose Rumpelstiltskin here?
Look at this old fuck.
- Baby, he can hear you.
- Hmm. You think?
Heard he got cucked
by some little girl on stage.
(CHUCKLES)
I'm really sorry about him.
He's being a fucking asshole.
I'm Suzie.
Robert.
- (CHUCKLES)
- (SUZIE HUPPERT CHUCKLES)
Uh, Robert Spearing.
Nice to meet you.
Why did you publish during the panel?
Because there was an avalanche
of competitors publishing
and I didn't want to be last.
You were very bullish
when the bank were fishing
for Lumi investors.
And the macro environment
and the outlook changed.
And I didn't, by the way,
publish a sell.
But what would it have
looked like if I published a buy
after Pierpoint got called out
like that at the panel?
You do know that a hold
is effectively a sell signal
to the market,
given that you work for us?
Not where compliance is concerned.
Look, I may work for an institution,
but I'm not institutionalized.
Well, the least you could do
is buy me a drink.
- (CHUCKLES)
- (CHUCKLES)
(KNOCKING ON DOOR)
(KNOCKING ON DOOR GROWS LOUDER)
Yeah?
YASMIN: Eric, it's Yas.
We have a meeting.
What the fuck?
Fuck me.
(KNOCKING ON DOOR)
ERIC: Coming!
- YASMIN: Hi.
- Hi.
I emailed you. I've set up
an introductory meeting
with a new fund.
Okay. I'll I'll be right down.
Okay.
ERIC: Hey.
Hey.
Robert, you're a lot of fun.
Can you get your things together?
Uh, 2,000, right?
Uh, no, it was 10,000 for overnight,
and then an extra 1,000
'cause you wanted to kiss me,
and then an extra 8,000
'cause, you know
Anal.
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
Uh, we can just call it 20 grand.
How was it?
I Do I fuck like a young man?
You fuck like a young man
who has a lot of money.
(CHUCKLES)
I can give you my Coinbase details.
Do you mind staying here?
And I'll I'll be right back
- and I'll pay you!
- Okay, wait, what?
No. What the fuck, dude?
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- Where did you sleep?
- Uh
The room seemed pretty loud,
- so I absented myself.
- Thanks. Sorry. I
wasn't really thinking.
This is between us, right?
Oh, hey! Thank you
for a fantastic evening.
Robert Spearing, everyone!
Eric?
Our nine o'clock?
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
- Wha what is this about?
- I'm just doing my job, okay?
We want Pierpoint to be our broker.
We have an assets
under management threshold
for clients we take on.
Uh-huh. And what is that threshold?
Three hundred million dollars,
give or take.
Otto Mostyn’s anchor investment
in our fund
is two hundred million dollars
and his commitment has opened
the door to more investment.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC STING) ♪
Look, this is in all
of our interests, right?
We give you a commission,
you service us.
Please have a seat.
(MUSIC INTENSIFIES) ♪
HARPER: Look, we're doing you a favor.
You're landing the buzziest fund
out of this investment summit.
And what will your bosses think
if we went to GS, MS,
and Pierpoint was
our first breakfast of the day?
Do you know
who you're dealing with here?
PETRA: It's a bit rude to talk about her
like that in front of her.
What do you want?
PETRA: The practical things
a fund expects from its broker.
Trading color, fair spreads,
timely research, corporate access.
Well, obviously,
Pierpoint is first class
in all of those areas.
And my existing relationship with Harper
means that I can offer you
a bespoke service.
- Hmm.
- HARPER: And I expect you
to answer the phone every time I dial.
First-class service.
And eye contact.
Eric.
Look at me.
(TENSE MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
Your face is shimmering.
You have glitter all over your face.
(CHUCKLES)
(LAUGHS)
(CHUCKLES)
HARPER: Just had
a prelim call with Otto's office
and their accounts
are gonna send through e-ma
("GYMNOPEDIE NO. 1"
PLAYING ON PIANO) ♪
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
You know what partnership means, right?
Yes. No unilateral decisions.
You don't need to feel insecure
about not being a people person.
You just hadn't found your people yet.
- (CHUCKLES)
- (SNICKERS)
So, what are we gonna call
this new venture?
Um, I kind of like Leviathan.
(UPLIFTING MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Hmm.
Merci.
I'm starting to think that
things would have worked out
exactly the same without us.
I can't believe there wasn't any snow.
(INSTRUMENTAL VERSION OF ♪
"MUSIC TO WATCH
GIRLS BY" (BY ANDY WILLIAMS PLAYING) ♪
(MOANS)
(MOANING)
(HENRY MOANING)
(SONG CONTINUES PLAYING) ♪
(SONG CONCLUDES) ♪