Jan Marsalek’s biggest coup – Morning Briefing Plus

Hello dear readers,

in December, my colleagues from the investigative department approached me about a special project relating to Wirecard. We had just published the Wambach report, the classified investigation into the work of auditing firm EY for Wirecard. A Handelsblatt cover story about it had made waves

Now the team around investigative boss Sönke Iwersen wanted to solve the biggest mystery of the Wirecard affair, namely the mysterious takeover of the Hermes Group. Wirecard paid 315 million euros for the Indian company in 2016. Today we know that the seller had just bought it himself: for 35 million euros.

In a captivating cover story, my colleagues now describe how this wondrous increase in money came about – and who benefited from it. To do this, they analyzed hundreds of thousands of e-mails from the former Wirecard servers, secret photos and previously unknown chat logs from ex-Wirecard board member Jan Marsalek.

It was research with many surprises. Secret meetings of Wirecard’s top staff in Indian luxury hotels, forged company brochures – as well as parties with young women and old wine bottles. During their research, my colleagues also came across a phantom, namely the electronic traces of a man who apparently drove the takeover like no other: Rahul Sharma.

On closer inspection it turned out: He didn’t even exist. After extensive research, my colleagues found a man whose name was Rahul Sharma. But he almost certainly didn’t handle a million dollar deal in India – because he is a doctor in Arizona. An unknown person copied his picture and used it to communicate with Wirecard.

If you put all these pieces of the puzzle together, a clear picture emerges: The largest takeover in the history of Wirecard was also the biggest coup by Jan Marsalek.

Incidentally, a whistleblower warned Wirecard’s auditor EY as early as 2016, that there were irregularities in the deal in India. Wirecard’s “Senior Management” was directly or indirectly involved in the fund, it was said at the time, and would have personally enriched itself through the takeover. The warning had no consequences.

Handelsblatt Live boss Ina Karabasz and Sönke Iwersen talk about the background of the research this week in a special edition of our podcast Handelsblatt Crime – a format that I would like to recommend to you anyway.

What else kept us busy this week:

1. Amid the highest tensions in the Ukraine crisis the 58th Munich Security Conference (MSC) opened yesterday – without the participation of Russia. “Today a new war is threatening – in the middle of our Europe,” said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her appearance at the MSC. With its troop deployment, Russia is making an absolutely unacceptable threat.
The nuclear power Russia, meanwhile, announced a maneuver using ballistic missiles. According to the Defense Ministry, the exercise this Saturday is led by President Vladimir Putin. The aim is to test the strategic nuclear weapons for their reliability. This crisis is not a Ukraine crisis, says Baerbock: “It is a Russia crisis.” A highly dangerous situation. Correspondents and reporters from the Handelsblatt monitor the situation for you around the clock.

2. The USA repeatedly threatens Russia with the “mother of all sanctions”. But all too often the focus is on blocking capital. The Americans shy away from the most effective measure: the boycott of Russian oil. Klaus Stratmann and Moritz Koch explain that there are mainly sensitive domestic political reasons for this.

3. When it comes to electromobility the German car manufacturers just got the curve. The real challenge now is digitization because, for example, the software in many cars is still reminiscent of the first Gameboy generation. This has dramatic consequences: In China, the most important foreign market for German manufacturers, vehicles from VW, Daimler and BMW are increasingly being left in car dealerships, reports the Handelsblatt Autoteam. Bytes have long been more important to Chinese consumers than horsepower.

4. The long hesitation in the digital transformation is now becoming expensive for car manufacturers. The suppliers of the future are no longer just Bosch, Conti and Knorr, but Google, Amazon and Nvidia. Car manufacturers need big tech for talking software and autonomous driving. A costly addiction. Because the tech companies demand a much higher contribution from the added value: Mercedes-Benz, for example, according to Handelsblatt research, has to share every euro it sells software components for autonomous driving with Nvidia. It’s about billions.

And if you haven’t had enough of the topic yet, you should definitely read the report on the development of the Tesla factory in Grünheide. Two years after the start of construction, the plant is about to start production. With fascinating details, Silke Kersting and Dietmar Neuerer trace how this was possible in Germany, where otherwise many things always take such an unbelievably long time – and why the whole thing almost failed because of the name of the factory.

5. For months, warnings of a bubble in the real estate market have been growing louder. Rarely, however, have they been as clear as last week: The purchase price increase is “surprising and frightening,” according to a report commissioned by the umbrella association of the real estate industry. In just twelve months, the purchase prices for condominiums in major cities have increased again by ten to 15 percent. Nationwide, the average price per square meter is 3140 euros.

6. Fear of war in Europe, inflation and turnaround in interest rates: The financial markets are also nervous these days. Especially in times like this, it is interesting to take a look at the world’s most well-known investors: how do Warren Buffett, Ray Dalio, David Tepper and George Soros position themselves in uncertain times? Some buy gold, some buy tech, and some just buy ETFs.

7. The turnaround in traffic is currently more of a dream than reality. By 2030, 15 million electric cars are to be rolling on German roads, the railways will be strengthened and combustion engines will largely be out of the market. But a simple look at the numbers shows that the goals are all unrealistic. The transport minister is facing a mission impossible, according to the report by my colleague Daniel Delhaes, which is well worth reading. His conclusion: The project can begin, but Transport Minister Volker Wissing has to do away with three major illusions.

8th. The Handelsblatt not only describes the economy as it is, our reporters also deal with the future laboratories of this world. That’s why I’m very pleased that my colleague Stephan Scheuer from Silicon Valley will report from now on.

9. However, the major tech innovations have long ceased to come only from Silicon Valley – China is also becoming increasingly important. That is why we are strengthening the Handelsblatt office in Beijing with our colleague Sabine Gusbeth, who previously had to wait months for her visa. Right from the start, she got her hands on an exciting study: Chinese researchers analyzed the technological weaknesses of the People’s Republic. Shortly after publication, the highly interesting analysis disappeared from the web. Because it ruthlessly shows the weaknesses of the Chinese high-tech location. Here are the top facts about China’s critical tech study that no one should read.

I wish you a nice weekend.

It greets you cordially
Yours Sebastian Matthes

Editor-in-Chief of the Handelsblatt

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