The longtime intelligence officer talks about managing China, the psychology of Putin, and why spies shouldn’t expect recognition.

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2025-richard-moore-weekend-interview/

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  1. *Editor-at-Large Mishal Husain for Bloomberg News*

    For nearly 40 years, Richard Moore was a career spy in Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service — better known as MI6 — unable to tell anyone but his closest friends and family what he did for a living. When he was appointed chief of the agency in 2020, that changed: The name of the person in the top role is the only one made public.

    Moore stepped down at the end of September, and this conversation is one of his first interviews since: a look back at the world in which he began his intelligence career and the one we live in today.

    In office, Moore was known — as all MI6 chiefs are — as ‘C’, the role Ian Fleming turned into James Bond’s boss ‘M.’ And perhaps those long-honed skills in being unobtrusive are still intact: When he arrived at Bloomberg’s London office for our interview, he slipped past the small welcoming party and collected his badge without us even spotting him. It might have been the flat cap and overcoat — or maybe it’s just how he’s operated for decades: discreet, unassuming, in the shadows.

    [Read the full interview here.](https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2025-richard-moore-weekend-interview/?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc2MzE5ODQzOCwiZXhwIjoxNzYzODAzMjM4LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUNVBDV0xHUFdDRzkwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJEMzU0MUJFQjhBQUY0QkUwQkFBOUQzNkI3QjlCRjI4OCJ9.ilQD3YcpcEvlrReb1mAZRQAqHYHE2y33QU3MbDCi-Eo) You can also [listen to this interview](https://omny.fm/shows/the-mishal-husain-show/richard-moore-was-paid-to-steal-secrets-not-solve-mysteries) and follow The Mishal Husain Show on [iHeart Podcasts](https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-mishal-husain-show-300204707/), [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mishal-husain-show/id1845840408), [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/4cJNIDbIEyNyaS7EWVh5Hh) or wherever you get your podcasts.

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