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Podcast

Tricolor Collapse, QVC’s TikTok Gamble & Kawhi Fallout

Kawhi Leonard
Netflix
Tiktok
Tricolor
Unknown Number
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Episode 16 of The Octus Download brings together the collapse of America’s credit-dependent economy, corporate desperation masquerading as innovation, and the spectacular failure of adult supervision.

Tricolor’s Overnight Implosion

Dallas, subprime auto lending. Tricolor Auto Group’s Chapter 7 filing represents more than a single company failure. It exposes the fragility of America’s $1.66 trillion auto debt market. The company served “credit invisible” communities, primarily Hispanic Americans in the Southwest, offering subprime loans at dealership locations.

Key players include:

  • JPMorgan Chase, Fifth Third Bancorp, and Barclays as warehouse facility providers
  • 65 dealerships across Texas, Arizona, California, and New Mexico
  • Double-pledging allegations that triggered the entire collapse

The business model relied on warehouse loans from major banks, temporary financing that allowed Tricolor to originate loans before selling them into securitization vehicles. When allegations arose about double pledging collateral—using the same assets to secure multiple loans—the flywheel stopped instantly.

QVC’s TikTok Hail Mary

The conversation shifts to QVC’s collision with 2025 reality. Market pressures include:

  • Customer count decline: From 11.6 million at COVID peak to 7.2 million today
  • Tariff impact: Half their goods originate from China
  • Cord-cutting devastation: Traditional viewership minutes plummeting
  • TikTok investment: 100,000 purchases through social commerce, representing double-digit percentage of domestic revenue

Octus Senior Distressed Debt Analyst Simran Bahl unpacked the company’s $5 billion debt structure, prepaid executive bonuses for 2025-2026, and John Malone’s characteristically convoluted corporate architecture. The billion dollar deferred tax liability creates unique restructuring complications that could favor bankruptcy over liability management exercises.

Netflix’s Unknown Number Reality Check

The episode wraps with Unknown Number, Netflix’s cyberbullying documentary that reveals the ultimate plot twist (Spoilers ahead): the teenage victim’s mother orchestrated years of sexually explicit harassment messages.

The key failures documented include law enforcement’s delay in subpoenaing VPN records for months and the school administration’s decision to blame students while filming a Netflix documentary. Additionally, the community response was marked by every adult prioritizing attention over child protection.

The hosts’ analysis reveals how moral panics about social media consistently scapegoat children while adults orchestrate actual harm. The documentary inadvertently demonstrates that the call is coming from inside the house—literally.

Listen & Subscribe

Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Produced and edited by two-time Emmy Award-winning producer Tanya Hubbard.

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