Sheelah Kolhatkar
Sheelah Kolhatkar is a staff writer at The New Yorker, where she covers Wall Street, Silicon Valley, economics, and politics. She has written about the Uber C.E.O. Dara Khosrowshahi, the parents of the F.T.X. founder Sam Bankman-Fried, the billionaire hedge-fund founder Paul Singer, the rise of artificial intelligence, and the future of the American worker. She appears regularly as a television commentator on business and political issues. Previously, Kolhatkar was a features editor and a national correspondent at Bloomberg Businessweek, where her work was honored with a New York Press Club Award. Her writing has also appeared in New York magazine, The Atlantic, the Times, and the Times Book Review, among other publications. Her first book, “Black Edge: Inside Information, Dirty Money, and the Quest to Bring Down the Most Wanted Man on Wall Street,” was named one of the New York Times Critics’ Top Books of 2017. Before becoming a journalist, she worked as a hedge-fund analyst in New York City.
Has Capitalism Been Replaced by “Technofeudalism”?
The former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis argues in his new book that Big Tech has turned us into digital serfs. One solution? A “Star Trek”-based economy.
The Rural Ski Slope Caught Up in an International Scam
A federal program promised to bring foreign investment to remote parts of the country. It soon became rife with fraud.
Revenge of the Luddites!
The author of “Blood in the Machine,” a history of the tech-destroying movement, holds a tribunal for a Ring camera and a printer. (Guilty objects get sledgehammered.)
The First Week of Sam Bankman-Fried’s Criminal Trial
The initial days set up the question at the heart of the case: Is the crypto mogul a fraudster, or did he simply lose control of a company that grew too fast?
The F.T.C. Finally Takes On Amazon
The government has filed a long-awaited antitrust suit against the company, which controls a sweeping share of the U.S.’s online-shopping market. What will it accomplish?
Inside Sam Bankman-Fried’s Family Bubble
At Stanford Law School, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried specialized in ethics and social fairness. Now that their son stands accused of one of the largest financial frauds in U.S. history, they’re scrambling for legal escape routes.
The Real Stakes of the Google Antitrust Trial
The case, centering on Google’s dominance in the search-engine industry, will have implications that ripple throughout the tech world, and beyond.
A Setback in the F.T.C.’s Fight Against Big Tech
The agency’s failure to block a merger of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard represents the latest in a series of blows to its campaign to rein in tech giants’ economic power.
How Alex Spiro Keeps the Rich and Famous Above the Law
With a common touch that appeals to juries and a client list that includes Elon Musk, Jay-Z, and Megan Thee Stallion, he’s on a winning streak that makes his rivals seethe.
Will the 99-Cent Slice Ever Become the 0.000033-Bitcoin Slice?
The actor Ben McKenzie, who has moonlighted as an author and prominent cryptocurrency skeptic, tries to buy some pizza and a coffee using crypto.
Gloria Gaynor, Still Surviving in New Jersey
As a bio-pic premières at the Tribeca Film Festival, the singer talks about how “the song” was almost a B-side, and the joys of cooking with cream-of-mushroom soup.
Silicon Valley Bank and the Dangers of Magical Thinking
The gutting of federal regulations is partially to blame for the bank’s crisis. But so is a belief, prevalent in the finance and tech worlds, that profits will come forever, and that there is little need to plan for a rainy day.
MoviePass, Take Two!
Stacy Spikes, whose subscription service relaunched last fall, discusses the corporate takeover that bankrupted it, and being called an “idiot” by Bob Weinstein.
Does the President Have Control Over Inflation?
Republicans have blamed Joe Biden for inflation rates, and Biden has claimed credit for reducing them. But maybe neither is entirely deserved.
How Serious Are Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alleged Campaign-Finance Violations?
He gave to Democrats, and claims that he also gave to Republicans through dark-money donations. But the money may have never been his to give.
The Pressure Increases on Sam Bankman-Fried
The government claims that his company was engaged in fraud from the start. If that’s correct, was he dishonest or deluded, or both?
Vivek Ramaswamy, the C.E.O. of Anti-Woke, Inc.
By mocking corporate virtue-signalling on climate change and racial justice, the biotech founder is becoming a right-wing star.
Will the FTX Collapse Lead to Better Cryptocurrency Regulation?
The company’s spectacular downfall could cause future investors to be more cautious, and government agencies that oversee digital assets to be clearer and more stringent.
Will Sanctions Against Russia End the War in Ukraine?
D.C. bureaucrats have worked stealthily with allies to open a financial front against Putin.
Biden’s Student-Debt Plan Could Chip Away at the Racial Wealth Gap
Loan forgiveness and other measures don’t solve the problem of rising tuition costs, but they could help some Black families start to catch up.
Has Capitalism Been Replaced by “Technofeudalism”?
The former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis argues in his new book that Big Tech has turned us into digital serfs. One solution? A “Star Trek”-based economy.
The Rural Ski Slope Caught Up in an International Scam
A federal program promised to bring foreign investment to remote parts of the country. It soon became rife with fraud.
Revenge of the Luddites!
The author of “Blood in the Machine,” a history of the tech-destroying movement, holds a tribunal for a Ring camera and a printer. (Guilty objects get sledgehammered.)
The First Week of Sam Bankman-Fried’s Criminal Trial
The initial days set up the question at the heart of the case: Is the crypto mogul a fraudster, or did he simply lose control of a company that grew too fast?
The F.T.C. Finally Takes On Amazon
The government has filed a long-awaited antitrust suit against the company, which controls a sweeping share of the U.S.’s online-shopping market. What will it accomplish?
Inside Sam Bankman-Fried’s Family Bubble
At Stanford Law School, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried specialized in ethics and social fairness. Now that their son stands accused of one of the largest financial frauds in U.S. history, they’re scrambling for legal escape routes.
The Real Stakes of the Google Antitrust Trial
The case, centering on Google’s dominance in the search-engine industry, will have implications that ripple throughout the tech world, and beyond.
A Setback in the F.T.C.’s Fight Against Big Tech
The agency’s failure to block a merger of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard represents the latest in a series of blows to its campaign to rein in tech giants’ economic power.
How Alex Spiro Keeps the Rich and Famous Above the Law
With a common touch that appeals to juries and a client list that includes Elon Musk, Jay-Z, and Megan Thee Stallion, he’s on a winning streak that makes his rivals seethe.
Will the 99-Cent Slice Ever Become the 0.000033-Bitcoin Slice?
The actor Ben McKenzie, who has moonlighted as an author and prominent cryptocurrency skeptic, tries to buy some pizza and a coffee using crypto.
Gloria Gaynor, Still Surviving in New Jersey
As a bio-pic premières at the Tribeca Film Festival, the singer talks about how “the song” was almost a B-side, and the joys of cooking with cream-of-mushroom soup.
Silicon Valley Bank and the Dangers of Magical Thinking
The gutting of federal regulations is partially to blame for the bank’s crisis. But so is a belief, prevalent in the finance and tech worlds, that profits will come forever, and that there is little need to plan for a rainy day.
MoviePass, Take Two!
Stacy Spikes, whose subscription service relaunched last fall, discusses the corporate takeover that bankrupted it, and being called an “idiot” by Bob Weinstein.
Does the President Have Control Over Inflation?
Republicans have blamed Joe Biden for inflation rates, and Biden has claimed credit for reducing them. But maybe neither is entirely deserved.
How Serious Are Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alleged Campaign-Finance Violations?
He gave to Democrats, and claims that he also gave to Republicans through dark-money donations. But the money may have never been his to give.
The Pressure Increases on Sam Bankman-Fried
The government claims that his company was engaged in fraud from the start. If that’s correct, was he dishonest or deluded, or both?
Vivek Ramaswamy, the C.E.O. of Anti-Woke, Inc.
By mocking corporate virtue-signalling on climate change and racial justice, the biotech founder is becoming a right-wing star.
Will the FTX Collapse Lead to Better Cryptocurrency Regulation?
The company’s spectacular downfall could cause future investors to be more cautious, and government agencies that oversee digital assets to be clearer and more stringent.
Will Sanctions Against Russia End the War in Ukraine?
D.C. bureaucrats have worked stealthily with allies to open a financial front against Putin.
Biden’s Student-Debt Plan Could Chip Away at the Racial Wealth Gap
Loan forgiveness and other measures don’t solve the problem of rising tuition costs, but they could help some Black families start to catch up.