1. WeCrashed

Apple + (Trailer), 2022, feature drama starring Anna Hathaway and Jared Leto

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👀 What it is about

A mini-series drama about the famous start-up, WeWork, that rents out fancy co-working spaces all over the world, including in Germany. The series focuses on the rise and fall of the company and its stock market valuation.

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What makes the story of WeWork so interesting? Well, they enjoyed seemingly boundless success. Investors blindly believed in the company because of their well-sold vision. There’s also the failed Initial Public Offer (IPO). And the controversial founder Adam Neumann who managed to market just another real estate company as a new type of tech company.

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💡 Here's what you get

• An A-list cast.
• Understand what IPO means, the importance of a company's prospectus, and how and why an IPO can fail.
• An insight into the founder of WeWork who is an eccentric and fascinating guy! He walks around the office barefoot, smokes joints, and forbids his employees to eat any meat while on business trips.

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2.King of Stonks

Netflix (Trailer), 2022, 1 season, comedy-drama series based on the Wirecard scandal

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👀 What it is about

Actually it’s about the Wirecard scandal: When the fictional financial company, Cable Cash, goes public it wants to be one of the biggest players in the financial industry — so it invents millions in revenues that don't actually exist.

The main character, Felix Ahmad, is a talented IT programmer much like his real-life counterpart Jan Marsalek from Wirecard. (Marsalek, incidentally, has disappeared off the face of the earth since June 2020!)

In the series, Ahmad pulls the strings: he starts illegal relationships with fake companies and the mafia, and he defrauds investors (those who have bought shares in Cable Cash). He later seeks to escape with the help of the secret service — which is what many people suspect Jan Marsalek tried to do.

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💡 Here's what you get

• It’s super entertaining and binge-worthy! You never know who's going to come out on top.
• You’ll learn which players were important in the Wirecard scandal and how companies manipulate things to succeed on the stock market.

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Extra film tip on Jan Marsalek: The Great Fake.

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3. Dirty Money

Netflix (Trailer), 2018, 2 seasons, True Crime

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👀 What it is about

This true crime drama series is about real business scandals including: Volkswagen, Trump's shady son-in-law Jared Kushner, the US flagship bank Wells Fargo, and many more.

Our favorite episode is episode 2 of season 2, "The Man at the Top". The Malaysian president throws lavish parties, buys luxury goods, and steals several hundred million euros from sovereign wealth funds — behavior which almost drives Malaysia into national bankruptcy. This episode highlights the explosive power of force and money, and shows how one person’s actions can impact other people’s lives.

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💡 Here's what you get

• You'll understand how corporations and individuals manipulate the financial system to their own advantage — as a result you’ll learn to be more mindful of your own money!
• And, by the way, money really is dirty! Up to 3,000 bacteria live on a single banknote. That's why it's better to bank digitally 😉.

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4. For financial hotshots: Bad Banks

Netflix (Trailer), 2 seasons, the third is scheduled for release in September 22

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👀 What it is about

Investment Banking: The main character, Jana, is an investment banker who gets fired. Her former boss finds her a new job in Frankfurt and Jana is quickly successful. But, her ex-boss has something on her and keeps getting in touch. We don't want to spoil it for you, but let’s just say that with the right info and contacts Jana throws her new employer into chaos, and it all works to her advantage.

The second season is about start-ups in Berlin, revenge, power struggles, and old versus young. You never know exactly who’ll win the conflict. Several plots play side by side in the second season but many people say it’s not as good as season one — you’ve been warned! And the jury’s out on Season 3.

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💡 Here's what you get

• Have your say when it comes to the best-reviewed German series!
• You’ll learn how investment banking works and what kind of secret scandals (might!) happen in the skyscraper offices of Frankfurt and Luxembourg.

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5. Top tip: Rising High

Netflix (Trailer), 2020, 94 minutes. Okay, it's a movie and not a series, but it’s a very good one

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👀 What it is about

This is about the dream of living in luxury and real estate fraud on a grand scale.

The main character Viktor works in construction. He has an idea to sell a penthouse to his foreign colleagues at a cheap price. So, he pretends to be a successful young entrepreneur and forges a contract. At some point he meets the gangster Gerry (Frederick Lau).

Viktor is the sleazy entrepreneur, while Gerry pulls the strings in the background. There're also a lot of parties… and the downfall of the whole web of lies!

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💡 Here's what you get

• You’ll understand how easy it is to get (and then lose) millions with document forgery and real estate fraud.
• Rising High is not based on a true story but it reminds us a lot of the very real S&K scandal, where 2 young men committed real estate fraud on a grand scale.

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🤓 If you're now asking yourself:

"But where is the scene from where Margot Robbie is drinking champagne in a bathtub?", we recommend "The Big Short". Topic: financial crisis. Streamable on JOYN and Amazon Prime.

Those are our top 5 series (well, four and one movie!) about money. Feel free to send us your best movies, shows, and podcasts about money via Insta DM to @owwnapp. Thx!

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