Sönke Iwersen is one of Germany’s most distinguished investigative journalists and a sought-after speaker on topics such as investigative reporting, economic crime, and media responsibility. With over two decades of experience in uncovering high-stakes scandals, he provides unparalleled insights into the hidden machinery of corruption, fraud and corporate misconduct.
Since 2006, Sönke Iwersen has been with Handelsblatt, where he has led the investigative research department since 2012. Under his leadership, it has become one of Germany’s most formidable watchdog units, exposing fraud at the highest levels and earning multiple prestigious awards. He is also the driving force behind the acclaimed podcast Handelsblatt Crime.
Recognized as Business Journalist of the Year, Iwersen has received some of the industry’s highest honors, including three Wächterpreis der Tagespresse awards, the Henri Nannen Prize, and the Kurt Tucholsky Prize for literary journalism.
His investigative work has left a lasting mark across nearly every major industry. In 2008, he publicised a surveillance scandal at Deutsche Bahn. A year later, he revealed how a Henkel employee attempted to defraud Daimler of €90 million through a forged sponsorship contract. In 2010, together with Jürgen Flauger, he uncovered the Teldafax scandal, earning him the Georg von Holtzbrinck Prize.
His exposé on the Ergo sex-party scandal sent shockwaves through the corporate world and forced a dramatic restructuring within the company. The case was later featured in the exhibition “Shameless? Changing Sexual Morals” at the House of History in Bonn. He also uncovered fraudulent practices in Riester pension contracts and unethical policy restructuring.
Since 2014, Sönke Iwersen has been at the forefront of investigating the Cum-Ex affair—the biggest tax fraud scandal in European history. His relentless reporting was instrumental in triggering a parliamentary inquiry in the Bundestag. In 2024, alongside Volker Votsmeier, he exposed a judicial scandal involving prosecutor Anne Brorhilker: Germany’s leading Cum-Ex investigator was systematically undermined and publicly discredited by her superiors – until she was finally forced to resign.
Iwersen’s investigations have also reverberated across the globe. He uncovered previously unknown details about Edward Snowden’s escape, traveling to Hong Kong to meet the people who risked their lives to hide him. His reporting gave these unsung heroes a voice and sparked international headlines. For this work, he was awarded the Kurt Tucholsky Prize, with the jury praising his razor-sharp storytelling and ability to expose global injustices.
In Germany, Sönke Iwersen earned critical acclaim for his investigative work on the collapse of Schlecker and his deep-dive series on Dieselgate, the largest emissions fraud scandal in the history of the German auto industry. Together with Felix Holtermann, he drew attention to the scandal surrounding Envion – the largest virtual initial public offering (ICO) in Germany. The Berlin-based crypto company raised 100 million euros from investors without ever commencing business operations.
In 2019, his revelation of the Nazi past of Roland Berger’s father made waves worldwide, covered by The Economist, The New York Times, and The Guardian. For this, he was awarded the prestigious German Reporter:innenpreis.
Sönke Iwersen – Lecture: Tesla
In March 2025, Iwersen’s book The Tesla Files was published by C.H. Beck Verlag, co-authored with his Handelsblatt colleague Michael Verfürden. It provides a stunning deep dive into a company – and a man – who inspire awe and fear in equal measure.
Elon Musk is the most powerful man on the planet. Tesla made him a three-hundredfold billionaire. His satellite network Starlink shapes the course of war in Ukraine. He wields his social media empire, X, as a propaganda machine. And in 2024, he went one step further – buying his way into U.S. politics.
As a U.S. shadow president and multi-industry titan, Musk portrays himself as the savior of civilization. But beneath this carefully crafted persona lies a disturbing reality: an alarming number of workplace accidents in his factories, catastrophic failures of Tesla’s autopilot system, and a long trail of broken promises that overshadow his empire’s success.
In The Tesla Files, Sönke Iwersen tears down Musk’s facade. His lecture uncovers how he gained access to 100 gigabytes of internal Tesla data – and what court records, whistleblower accounts, customer testimonies, and interviews with bereaved families reveal. His findings expose a company spiraling out of control, led by a CEO willing to push the limits of ethics, safety, and accountability. Many of Musk’s grand promises – from self-driving cars to Mars colonization – are nothing more than smoke and mirrors.
But one thing is certain: Musk should never be underestimated. He is the first true global oligarch. The world is his – everyone else is merely a tenant.
Who is Sönke Iwersen?
Sönke Iwersen is a German journalist and head of the investigative department at Handelsblatt. After training at the Axel Springer School of Journalism, he began his career as a business editor at the Stuttgarter Zeitung. Since 2006, he has worked for Handelsblatt, where he established the investigative team in 2012, which has received multiple awards under his leadership. Iwersen has been honored with several prestigious journalism awards, including the Henri Nannen Prize, the Kurt Tucholsky Prize, and the German Reporter Prize. His investigative reporting has uncovered major scandals, such as the Deutsche Bahn spying scandal, the Cum-Ex tax fraud scheme, and the Nazi past of Roland Berger’s father.