EP 36 | Brightline’s Debt Crisis, Syracuse Enrollment Slumps & the Clippers Report

Jason Sanjana and Kevin Eckhardt open with a con artist who thirst trapped women out of $1.3 million by faking his way onto the San Francisco 49ers (02:46), a bit that nearly separated producer Tanya from ten grand. Then it is on to Brightline Florida (07:06), the only privately run inner city passenger railroad in the country, with ridership up double digits, EBITDA finally positive, and roughly $5.5 billion of debt that has been amended 19 times. The trains keep running. The company is probably filing Chapter 11 anyway. Meanwhile the All In podcast is holding it up as proof Florida can build. The conversation turns north to Syracuse (15:24), Kevin's alma mater, which missed its enrollment target and borrowed $458 million for dorms after 25 years of treating full paying international students as a renewable resource. Octus built a database of 92 distressed private colleges. Syracuse was never on it. Until now. Update Corner brings the Wachtell report on Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers, with David Zupkas, legal analyst at Octus, joining to break down the penalty and the fraudulent transfer fight (35:35). The show closes on Coyote vs Acme (44:42), a legal comedy that a corporation nearly buried for a tax write off. The metaphor escaped containment. ----more---- Hosted by Jason Sanjana & Kevin Eckhardt Guest: David Zubkis (Legal Analyst, Octus) Produced and Edited by Tanya Hubbard A Production of The Octus Podcast Network (00:05) - Cold open and compliance read (02:43) - Fake 49ers player scam (07:06) - Brightline Florida overview and success (08:12) - Why Brightline is heading to bankruptcy (10:31) - The four company debt structure explained (13:24) - Train travel in America (15:24) - Syracuse enrollment miss and dorm debt (18:20) - The distressed college database (20:53) - Endowments and systemic risk (22:25) - Why Syracuse first (35:35) - Wachtell report on the Clippers (37:39) - The Kawhi fraudulent transfer fight (44:42) - Culture Corner Coyote vs Acme (55:39) - Wrap and close