
About
Tom Burgis is a bestselling author and award-winning investigative reporter.
His latest 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.
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.
UK agent - Sophie Lambert sophie.lambert@cwagency.co.uk
US agent - Sloan Harris sharris@icmpartners.com
Dramatic rights - Luke Speed luke.speed@curtisbrown.co.uk
Speaking - Karen O’Donnell karen@chartwellspeakers.com
You can reach Tom directly on tomburgis@gmail.com
If you have a story tip, the simplest and safest way to send it to Tom is to use an encrypted app. Signal or Telegram are best, on +44 7813 550 521.
Other journalism

The Making of a Neo-Nazi Killer
What drove the Thomas Mair to kill Jo Cox in the days before the EU referendum?


What is African art?
The concept raises difficult questions but the work speaks for itself



The Trouble with Hinkley Point
Why Jane Fonda is to blame for the UK’s nuclear problems

Appearances


The Africa Report podcast
Tom and legendary Africa journalist Patrick Smith explore the African angle on Kleptopia



Trumpcast


Reasons to be Cheerful with Ed Miliband and Geoff Lloyd


China in Africa


The Steinmetz affair


UK nuclear energy


How the secrecy industry works


On Tommy Mair


Oxford Literary Festival


Centre for Investigative Journalism


The New Economy


Center for Strategic and International Studies


Oslo Freedom Forum
