Good Bad Billionaire
By BBC Radio 5 Live
Simon Jack and Zing Tsjeng find out how the richest people on the planet made their billions, and then they judge them. Are they good, bad, or just another billionaire?
Good Bad Billionaire is here to lift the curtain on the minds, motives and money of some of the world's wealthiest individuals. Hosted by Simon Jack, Business Editor for BBC News, and journalist, author and podcaster Zing Tsjeng, this ground-breaking new series examines the rise of a different billionaire each week to answer the question: Are they good, bad, or just another billionaire?
From Silicon Valley tech titans and secretive CEOS, to Wall Street moguls, pop stars and sporting legends, Simon and Zing will find out how these billionaires made their riches - from the very start to the very top. No detail is too small, no story too wild and no business deal too shady for them to uncover. How did Amazon boss Jeff Bezos launch one of the biggest corporations of the internet age? How did six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan make a fortune from product endorsements with sports giant Nike? How did Rihanna come to sign with Jay-Z and to found a beauty product empire? And how did Chuck Feeney earn the title of 'the James Bond of philanthropy'?
With episodes examining Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, George Lucas and Kim Kardashian, these stories paint a vivid picture of business, entrepreneurship, capitalism and how our world really works.
But it's not just about how these billionaires made their money; it's about what they did with it next. Simon and Zing put each on trial to find out: is this billionaire a force for good or an agent of chaos? Or perhaps somewhere in between.... Join our hosts each week as they unravel tales of fortune, power, ambition and moral responsibility, and invite you to weigh in on the verdict: Good, Bad, or Just Another Billionaire?
Latest episode
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Peter Thiel: Paypal mafioso
How Peter Thiel made his fortune from huge tech companies then renounced Silicon Valley -
Doris Fisher: Don’t mind The Gap
How American businesswoman Doris Fisher and her husband founded a clothing empire -
Carlos Slim Helú: Telecom titan
Mexican telecom company boss Carlos Slim Helú was once the richest person on Earth -
Roman Abramovich: Premier League oligarch
How Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich got rich, then got sanctioned -
Mukesh Ambani: Asia’s richest person
How Indian multinational conglomerate boss Mukesh Ambani built Asia's biggest fortune -
Patrice Motsepe: Mining magnate
How Patrice Motsepe became the first black billionaire in post-apartheid South Africa -
Jack Ma: China's ecommerce CEO
How Jack Ma brought ecommerce to China by creating online mega-platform Alibaba -
Yvon Chouinard: A $3 billion giveaway
The founder of sporting apparel firm Patagonia made billions - then gave it all away -
Whitney Wolfe Herd: Dating app entrepreneur
How the woman who founded dating apps Bumble and Tinder was briefly a billionaire -
Aliko Dangote: Africa’s richest person
Aliko Dangote started a cement business, and went on to become Africa’s richest person