DiscoverGood Bad Billionaire
Good Bad Billionaire
Claim Ownership

Good Bad Billionaire

Author: BBC World Service

Subscribed: 56,753Played: 134,457
Share

Description

How did the planet's richest people make their billions? From celebrities and secretive CEOs to sporting legends and tech titans, Simon Jack and Zing Tsjeng find out, and then decide whether they think they’re good, bad, or just another billionaire.

Ever wondered how Taylor Swift went from country singer to money-spinner? How Amazon boss Jeff Bezos came to launch one of the biggest corporations of the internet age? And how six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan made his fortune with Nike? Good Bad Billionaire is here to analyse the minds, motives and money of some of the world's wealthiest individuals. No detail is too small and no story too wild to uncover.

Join us on a global journey, discovering all we can about some of the richest people on the planet. We hear about billionaires in Russia, China, New Zealand, India, Nigeria and the UK. In the United States, there are those who made their money in Silicon Valley, on Wall Street and high street fashion.

Exploring the lives of Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch, El Chapo, Narayana Murthy and Kim Kardashian, this podcast paints a vivid picture of business, entrepreneurship, capitalism and how our world really works.

In season two, we learn how the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, Peter Jackson, Doris Fisher and George Soros came to join the billionaires' club. We explore how Tiger Woods went from a child golfing prodigy to the world’s highest paid athlete, how a communist mime artist became the boss of fashion house Prada and how Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich bought an English football club. Find out how Mukesh Ambani became Asia’s richest person, and how Patrice Motsepe became the first black billionaire in a post-apartheid South Africa.

Plus, we examine some of the biggest names behind the technology shaping our world – the founders of TikTok, Google, ChatGPT, Alibaba and Bumble.

But it's not just how these billionaires made their money; it's what they did with it next. Ultimately, Simon and Zing consider whether they think these people are a force for “good”, the opposite, or somewhere in between.

Join Simon Jack, business editor for BBC News, and journalist, author and podcaster Zing Tsjeng as this podcast unravels tales of fortune, power, ambition and moral responsibility, and invites you to make up your own mind: are they Good, Bad, or Just Another Billionaire?

New episodes released on Mondays.

40 Episodes
Reverse
Whitney Wolfe Herd, the “queen of the swipes”, launched a female-led dating app after a public scandal around her sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit against Tinder. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng follow her story from a popular student with a flair for marketing, to carving her own path in the male-dominated tech world. Owning the ‘girlboss’ image, she took her company Bumble public aged just 31 with her baby "on her hip", making her the youngest self-made female billionaire. But she wouldn’t stay one for long. Simon and Zing explore her story before deciding if they think she’s good, bad, or just another billionaire.
Industrialist Aliko Dangote is known as a mild-mannered cement tycoon who often drives himself to business meetings. How did he become the world’s richest black person? Dangote rapidly dominated Nigeria’s cement, sugar, flour and fertiliser markets. He says his mission is to make Nigeria’s economy self-reliant, without requiring Western investment or imports. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng look back on Dangote’s life - from a childhood selling sweets in the playground to becoming a watchword for success in Nigeria. Then they decide if they think he’s good, bad, or just another billionaire.
How is freshly minted billionaire Sam Altman shaping our future through his company OpenAI and ChatGPT? He made his fortune by investing in huge tech start-ups like Reddit and Airbnb, before turning his attention to artificial intelligence - being fired and re-hired by his own company in the process. Altman believes that OpenAI, with him in charge, can make the world a better place. Yet he’s also preparing for the apocalypse, just in case AI turns on its creators and attacks humanity. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng tell the story of Sam Altman - the first openly gay billionaire on the podcast so far - before deciding whether they think he’s good, bad, or just another billionaire.
How did an unassuming software engineer become one of the richest people on the planet? This is the story of how Zhang Yiming transformed social media by creating TikTok, and how the Chinese tech company ByteDance became a multi-billion dollar business. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng explore Yiming’s various successes with different apps before he hit the jackpot with TikTok. Then they decide whether they think he’s good, bad, or just another billionaire.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw built a pharmaceutical empire after failing to get a job brewing beer. She also overcame gender bias to become India’s first self-made female billionaire. Her company Biocon is now Asia's biggest insulin producer. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng follow her story, from a childhood living on a brewery compound in Bangalore to adventures in Australia and Ireland. How did Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw go from extracting enzymes from papaya fruit to mass-manufacturing medicines and being named among Time magazine's most influential people in the world? She calls herself an accidental entrepreneur; Simon and Zing decide whether they think she’s good, bad or just another billionaire.
George Soros escaped Nazi occupation in Hungary, before becoming one of the most successful investors in history. After making his name on Wall Street and setting up the hedge fund Quantum, he also become known as “the man who broke the Bank of England” after making a billion dollars in a day by “betting against” the pound. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng track the incredible life of one of the world’s most polarising billionaires, and find out how the philanthropist became the target of countless conspiracy theories. According to Soros himself, he’s “a little good, a little bad”. Ultimately, Simon and Zing decide whether they think he’s good, bad, or just another billionaire.
Jerry Seinfeld has a life-long obsession with jokes, but his smash hit sitcom turned the New York stand-up into the richest comedian of all time. Seinfeld was the most watched programme in America when it ended in in 1998, but it’s what came next that made the real Jerry Seinfeld mega rich – streaming and syndication. Simon Jack and Zing Tsjeng find out how transcendental meditation, a top Hollywood agent, the unexpected death of a parent and an “inability to act” all helped drive his spectacular success, before deciding if they think he’s good, bad, or just another billionaire.
How did Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson become one of only four filmmakers worth a billion dollars, and one of just three billionaires from New Zealand? BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng find out how a childhood obsession with movies led to a booming film industry in Jackson’s homeland. From Bad Taste to King Kong and The Hobbit, he went from shooting home movies and directing low budget horror films to running a major special effects house and creating some of cinema's biggest hits. Simon and Zing look back at the life of a Wellywood legend, before deciding if they think he’s good, bad, or just another billionaire.
How a communist mime artist became the billionaire boss of a luxury fashion house. Miuccia Prada changed her name, then made it famous with one of the runway’s biggest brands. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng explain how the Italian fashion designer turned her grandfather’s shop into a fashion powerhouse. Alongside her husband, she’s run her empire from Milan for over four decades, becoming known affectionately known as ‘the master of ugly’. Simon and Zing look back on her life before deciding if they think she’s good, bad, or just another billionaire.
By founding Google, tech titan Sergey Brin helped shape the internet. He also got very, very rich, as his company Alphabet became one of the biggest in the world. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng tell the story of the billionaire who partied on planes after escaping prejudice in Russia. Sergey Brin and his best friend Larry Page became two of history’s biggest tech giants by building the planet’s most popular search engine. How did their technology startup become one of the world's biggest companies? Simon and Zing find out, before deciding if they think he’s good, bad, or just another billionaire.
Golfing superstardom made him incredibly rich. Personal disasters nearly took it all away. How did Tiger Woods go from a child golfing prodigy to the world’s highest paid athlete for a whole decade? BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng explain how one of the greatest golfers of all time broke barriers in his sport, winning 15 major golf championships and 82 PGA Tour events. He’s an inductee into the World Golf Hall of Fame, won the Masters five times, the PGA Championship four times and both the Open and the US Open three times, as well as helping the US win the Ryder Cup. High-profile sponsorship deals and business ventures made him a billionaire, but then came affairs, car crashes and scandal. Simon and Zing track the spectacular rise of this global sporting superstar, then decide if they think he’s good, bad, or just another billionaire.
How one social media site birthed an empire. The story of Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook.BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng take us from his childhood to joining the billionaires club soon after, at just 23, then on to his current status as one of the four richest people on the planet. He dropped out of Harvard to mix with other founders in Silicon Valley and still retains absolute control over his company, now called Meta.From buying up Instagram and WhatsApp, getting investments from Peter Thiel and Bill Gates, they trace Zuckerberg's spectacular rise. Plus discover what was true and what was made up in David Fincher's film about him, The Social Network.
From The Exorcist to owning 400 companies, how music sent the Virgin entrepreneur into space. He's an island owning adventurer, but he's incredibly shy. He's the record label owner who doesn't even like music. Journalist Zing Tsjeng and BBC business editor Simon Jack try to understand a man of many paradoxes and ask whether he's good, bad, or just another billionaire?
He's spent a billion on Manchester United, but how did Jim Ratcliffe become a billionaire?BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng learn how the Premier League club's new co-owner got rich via some daring investments and impressive acquisitions. They learn how he made his name in petrochemicals before founding one of the industry's biggest conglomerates.Simon and Zing also discover that he mortgaged his own house to fund a business, as well as uncovering his investments in cycling, sailing and, of course, football. Then they decide if he's good, bad, or just another billionaire.
How the Formula One supremo won control of a sport, and how it all came crashing down. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng trace Bernie Ecclestone's unique rise and fall. From modest beginnings selling second hand cars, he built Formula One into a one man empire worth billions. How did he go from the very top to tax fraud, and is good, bad, or just another billionaire?
How mining magnate Gina Rinehart amassed a $30 billion fortune to become Australia's richest person and earn a reputation for being highly litigious.BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng uncover a woman who has taken legal action against her father's widow, her own biographer and the biggest mining company in the world, and who has been sued by her own children, twice.They follow Rinehart's story from her outspoken father's discovery of huge deposits of iron ore in Western Australia to inheriting the business and turning it into a multi-billion dollar powerhouse. It's a story that takes in secessionist politics, indigenous land rights and lots and lots of family feuds.
How oilman Charles Koch turned black gold into dark money. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng investigate the feuding family that has shaped US politics for decades. The Koch family battles made “Dallas and Dynasty look like a playpen” with brother against brother, and even twin against twin. But Charles Koch succeeded as heir to the oil fortune, and spent the billions earnt from oil creating a right wing political network dubbed 'The Kochtopus'. So is he good, bad or just another billionaire?
Journalist Zing Tsjeng and BBC business editor Simon Jack uncover the huge public feuds and private legal battles that made the most famous woman in the world. She can change the economy, but is Taylor Swift good, bad, or just another billionaire?
How Warren Buffett became the richest investor in history, amassing a fortune of over $120 billion, without moving from the Nebraska home he bought in 1958.BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng discover how Buffett earned his first money as a six year old, bought his first shares at 11 and filed his first tax return at 13. He went on to formulate his own investment philosophy on the way to becoming incredibly rich.Simon and Zing reveal Buffett's biggest deals and pithiest phrases from his decades if investing, as well as his unconventional love life. Then they decide if he's good, bad, or just another billionaire.
How NR Narayana Murthy, now known as the father-in-law of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, first became known as the father of India's IT boom.Journalist Zing Tsjeng and BBC business editor Simon Jack explain how Murthy made Infosys, the technology company he founded with six friends and some cash borrowed from his wife, a world leader in outsourcing.Simon and Zing reveal how 20th Century Indian politics, an early passion for computers, and a shocking experience behind the Iron Curtain all played a role in making Murthy spectacularly rich. Then they decide if he's good, bad, or just another billionaire.
loading
Comments (9)

Sai Krishna

hii ✨

Sep 9th
Reply

FORTY7

I REALLY ENJOYED AND LEARNT .more love from 🇰🇪 kenya

Sep 2nd
Reply

Sir, LEMMY

The 20,000sq bunker got me thinking dude know where to spend his money

Apr 29th
Reply (1)

Maryam N

😍😊

Feb 29th
Reply (1)

Samanta tanzeem

🔴💚CLICK HERE Full HD✅720p✅1080p✅4K💚WATCH💚ᗪOᗯᑎᒪOᗩᗪ LINK 👉https://co.fastmovies.org

Jan 29th
Reply

Val Bacon

I really enjoy this podcast. It's a short story of how someone became rich, their lifestyle and spending. Some people I have heard of, others I haven't, but then I find myself looking more into them. The only thing that irritates me is when Simon appears to cover his mouth when talking sometimes!

Jan 27th
Reply

Mr kibria

💚🔴💚WATCH>>ᗪOᗯᑎᒪOᗩᗪ>>LINK>👉https://co.fastmovies.org

Jan 27th
Reply

Norbert Hauser

great series that shines a light on how the world works.. one might have different opinions about the rating of each billionaire

Sep 26th
Reply