Ideas worth spreading

How the Panama Papers journalists broke the biggest leak in history

1,136,179 views | Gerard Ryle • TEDSummit

Gerard Ryle led the international team that divulged the Panama Papers, the 11.5 million leaked documents from 40 years of activity of the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca that have offered an unprecedented glimpse into the scope and methods of the secretive world of offshore finance. Hear the story behind the biggest collaborative journalism project in history.

Gerard Ryle led the international team that divulged the Panama Papers, the 11.5 million leaked documents from 40 years of activity of the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca that have offered an unprecedented glimpse into the scope and methods of the secretive world of offshore finance. Hear the story behind the biggest collaborative journalism project in history.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Find out who's behind almost 320,000 offshore companies and trusts from the Panama Papers and the Offshore Leaks investigations.

About the speaker

Gerard Ryle

Investigative journalist

See speaker profile

As director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Gerard Ryle is one of the key figures behind the Panama Papers.

| Watch

Panama Papers: One Source, 400 Journalists

German TV network NDR's documentary followed reporters from Iceland to Senegal as they investigated on the Panama Papers.

Bastian Obermayer and Frederick Obermaier | Oneworld Publications, 2016 | Book

The Panama Papers

Written by the two Süddeutsche Zeitung colleagues who were the first journalists to lay eyes on the Mossack Fonseca data, the book is a comprehensive account of the high stakes cooperative effort that brought collaborative journalism to the next level.

International Consortium of Investigative Journalists | Explore

The Panama Papers microsite

Browse stories about the giant leak of more than 11.5 million financial and legal records that exposed a system that enables crime, corruption and wrongdoing, hidden by secretive offshore companies.

Nicholas Shaxson | St Martin's Griffin, 2012 | Book

Treasure Islands

Although the journalist who authored Treasure Islands is also involved in advocacy, the book is still one of the best resources for understanding how the world of offshore tax havens works.

Learn more

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Find out who's behind almost 320,000 offshore companies and trusts from the Panama Papers and the Offshore Leaks investigations.