Bradley Hope is a speaker on geopolitical risk and the changing media environment. He co-founded new media production studio Project Brazen with his Billion Dollar Whale co-author Tom Wright.
Billion Dollar Whale launched Hope into public consciousness. He and Wright were journalists at the Wall Street Journal when they uncovered massive fraud at the heart of the Malaysian government. Najib Razak and his cronies were using so-called sovereign wealth fund 1MDB as a private slush fund. Enabled by the charismatic fraudster Jho Low, billions of dollars earmarked for Malaysian development projects had gone into private pockets.
Wright and Hope were Pulitzer Prize finalists for their work detailing the scandal. Billion Dollar Whale was also named Book of the Year by the Financial Times and Fortune magazine. Bradley Hope recently featured in the hit Netflix documentary on the subject, Man on the Run.
Hope’s investigative career continues to flourish. In 2021, he co-wrote Blood and Oil. It’s the first biography to document Mohammed bin Salman’s rise to power. Hope writes a balanced account of Saudi Arabia’s young ruler. It does not shy away from the brutal elements of his reign but also offers a bullish outlook for the gulf state’s future. Blood and Oil was longlisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year awards.
At Project Brazen, Hope’s investigative instincts are channelled into a series of popular podcasts. Recent projects include tales of art theft in Dynamite Doug, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in Kabul Falling and US military corruption in Fat Leonard.
An expert in corruption and political risk, Bradley Hope advises firms on navigating complex characters and environments. Hope is based in London.
