Good Bad Billionaire

How did the richest people on the planet make their billions?

World Service,58 episodes

Episodes

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Sir Richard Branson: Sky's the limit
From The Exorcist to 400 companies: How music sent Sir Richard Branson into space
19 Mar 2024,48 mins
Sir Jim Ratcliffe: Man U mogul
He's spent big on Manchester United, but how did Sir Jim Ratcliffe become a billionaire?
12 Mar 2024,48 mins
Bernie Ecclestone: Fast money
How Bernie Ecclestone won control of Formula One, and how it all came crashing down
05 Mar 2024,50 mins
Gina Rinehart: The other Iron Lady
How Gina Rinehart amassed a $30 billion fortune to become Australia's richest person
27 Feb 2024,50 mins
Charles Koch: Dark money’s slick operator
How oilman Charles Koch and his feuding family turned black gold into dark money
20 Feb 2024,38 mins
Taylor Swift: Swiftonomics
From country songs to private legal battles, how Taylor Swift became a billionaire
13 Feb 2024,53 mins
Warren Buffett: The oracle of Omaha
How Warren Buffett became the richest investor ever after buying his first shares at 11
06 Feb 2024,54 mins
NR Narayana Murthy: India's IT innovator
The father of India's IT boom, and the father-in-law of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
30 Jan 2024,53 mins
Rupert Murdoch: The Succession prequel
How Rupert Murdoch turned a failing Australian newspaper into a global media empire.
23 Jan 2024,52 mins
El Chapo: Cocaine kingpin
The story of Mexican drug lord Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, better known as El Chapo
16 Jan 2024,50 mins
Jay-Z: A business, man
How hip-hop’s first billionaire, Jay-Z, went from dealing grams to winning Grammys
09 Jan 2024,52 mins
Michael Bloomberg: Market master
How did being fired from Wall Street lead Michael Bloomberg to a $96 billion fortune?
12 Dec 2023,49 mins
Patrick Soon-Shiong: Cures for cash
Why was biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong sued by his brother... and Cher?
05 Dec 2023,39 mins
Bill Gates: Software hardman
Bill Gates was the richest person in the world for more than a decade
28 Nov 2023,60 mins
Sam Bankman-Fried with Michael Lewis
The spectacular rise and fall of the FTX crypto empire, with special guest Michael Lewis.
21 Nov 2023,59 mins
Denise Coates: Ultimate gambler
How Bet 365 boss Denise Coates gambled it all to become the world's highest paid woman
14 Nov 2023,46 mins
Michael Jordan: Most valuable player
How basketball superstar Michael Jordan became the world's first billionaire athlete
07 Nov 2023,52 mins
Kim Kardashian: Breaking the internet
From leaked sex tape to business mogul, how Kim Kardashian leveraged fame for money
31 Oct 2023,49 mins
Bernard Arnault: The wolf in cashmere
French entrepreneur Bernard Arnault vies with Elon Musk to be the world's richest person
24 Oct 2023,43 mins
Viktor Bout: Merchant of death
How Viktor Bout made billions selling weapons to just about anyone who wanted them
17 Oct 2023,36 mins
George Lucas: Box office billions
How George Lucas became a billionaire filmmaker, despite directing just six movies
10 Oct 2023,39 mins
Oprah Winfrey: Queen of all media
How Oprah became the richest African American of the 20th Century, and queen of all media
03 Oct 2023,38 mins
Chuck Feeney: All duty
How Chuck Feeney built an empire selling duty free, then gave it all away to charity
26 Sep 2023,37 mins
Adam Neumann: The cult of WeWork
How Adam Neumann oversaw one of the most spectacular business fails in modern history
19 Sep 2023,42 mins
Sir Philip Green: King of the high street
How Sir Philip Green ruled over a retail empire, before it all came crashing down
12 Sep 2023,40 mins
Rihanna: Turning beauty into billions
How pop star Rihanna became the richest-ever person from Barbados
05 Sep 2023,35 mins
Jeff Bezos: Get big fast
How did Amazon boss Jeff Bezos become the first person worth over $100 billion?
29 Aug 2023,36 mins
Introducing... Good Bad Billionaire
Find out how billionaires got so rich: are they good, bad, or just a billionaire?
21 Aug 2023,2 mins