Elon Musk and the end of a telecom tycoon’s dream

Listen to this episode from Behind the Money on Spotify. In recent weeks, satellite business EchoStar has clinched multibillion-dollar deals with SpaceX and AT&T. It may sound like boom times for founder Charlie Ergen, but these deals illustrate something different: the abandoning of an ambitious, decades-long quest to build his own mobile phone network. The FT’s Wall Street editor Sujeet Indap and US trading and crypto correspondent Jill R Shah explain how Ergen’s fortunes changed, and the role Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump played in that.  Clips from CNBC, Reuters, Yahoo Finance, Echostar/Vimeo- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For further reading:How a deal with Elon Musk helped a telecoms tycoon save his company from bankruptcyTrump forces billionaire to foldCharlie Ergen: Media mogul at a Sprint- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Behind the Money has been nominated for a Signal Award in the Money & Finance category! It's a Listener Choice award, which means we need your help. Vote for us to win here. We appreciate your support!Follow Sujeet Indap on X (@sindap), or on Bluesky (@sindap.bsky.social). Follow Jill Shah on X (@jillrshah). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.