The Louvre Heist and Shady Billionaire Art Owners

"Parisian Heist" author Jo Piazza joins Amy to break down the October 2025 Louvre robbery — the suspects, the mysterious "sponsor," and why authorities aren't sure the suspects are telling the truth.

Plus: why museum security is so basic, how art gets used to launder money and fund violent crime, the billionaire families who quietly run the art market, and what a $181 million Jackson Pollock says about the state of art and wealth.

(00:00) Introduction

(02:30) Recap: the Louvre heist, October 19, 2025

(04:30) The Isabella Stewart Gardner heist: $500M, still unsolved

(07:30) The arrests and the mysterious "sponsor" named Joe

(08:30) How basic museum security really is

(13:00) What was stolen: the Napoleonic crown jewels

(16:30) The Wildensteins & how art launders money

(30:00) The $60 billion shadow art market

(31:00) Restoring Empress Eugénie's crown & the French jewelry houses

(38:30) The $181M Pollock & Jerry Saltz's takedown of the art market