Tom Burgis Keynote Speaker

Award-winning investigative journalist
Bestselling Author of 'Cuckooland- Where the Rich Own the Truth' and 'Kleptopia: How Dirty Money Is Conquering the World'
Reported from more than 40 countries for the FT and The Guardian

Tom Burgis's Biography

Tom Burgis is a bestselling author and award-winning investigative reporter.

His latest book, published in February 2024, is Cuckooland: Where the rich own the truth. His previous book, Kleptopia: How dirty money is conquering the world, was published in 2020 and became an international bestseller. It exposes the hidden connections that link a massacre on the Kazakh steppe and a stolen election in Zimbabwe to the City of London and the White House. The book shows how the world’s kleptocrats – those who rule through corruption – are uniting and threaten to overwhelm democracy.

After abandoning early efforts as a wandering poet, Tom served as a foreign correspondent in South America and Africa. He spent 16 years at the Financial Times, including as a long-standing member of the investigations team. He has exposed corruption scandals, covered terrorist attacks, coups, neo-Nazis and forgotten conflicts, and traced dirty money around the world. His journalism has won awards in the US, UK and Asia. In 2023 he joined The Guardian as an investigations correspondent.

His first book, The Looting Machine, was published in 2015. It revealed how the exploitation of Africa’s vast natural resources condemns the continent to corruption, conflict and poverty. The New York Times called it a ‘brave, defiant book’. It won the Overseas Press Club of America’s award for the year’s best book on international affairs.

Tom lives in London with his wife, daughter and son. He is working on his next book.

Can Democracy withstand Kleptocracy ?

Corruption and Authoritarianism

International affairs

Investigative journalism

He helps leaders and organisations understand the hidden forces shaping global politics, corruption and financial power, equipping audiences with practical insights into geopolitical risk and the challenges facing democracy.
He translates complex investigations into compelling, accessible stories, helping audiences understand how corruption, illicit finance and political influence affect business, governments and societies around the world.
He combines decades of frontline reporting with deep investigative expertise, offering a unique perspective shaped by his work uncovering corruption, organised crime and international power networks across multiple continents.
As an award-winning investigations correspondent for the Financial Times and The Guardian, and bestselling author of The Looting Machine, Kleptopia and Cuckooland, he is one of the world’s leading voices on corruption, kleptocracy and global finance.
His thought-provoking keynotes equip audiences with practical frameworks to better understand geopolitical uncertainty, financial crime and the global forces reshaping business, politics and international affairs.