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

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For further reading:

How a deal with Elon Musk helped a telecoms tycoon save his company from bankruptcy

Trump forces billionaire to fold

Charlie Ergen: Media mogul at a Sprint

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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

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

Behind the Money