Episodes
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What do Airbnb, Facebook, Spotify, and LinkedIn all have in common? Peter Thiel. They made his fortune, but he’s since rejected Silicon Valley for being too "woke". He’s a contradictory character: a libertarian who made billions from big state surveillance; an intellectual who purports to hate politics, but who’s poured millions into political campaigns, including Donald Trump’s 2020 bid. Some call him a free-thinking genius, while others say he wants to watch Rome burn. Simon Jack and Zing Tsjeng tell the intriguing story of Peter Thiel, the man who ousted Elon Musk from their company PayPal, and who’s signed up to be cryogenically frozen. Then they decide if they think he’s good, bad, or just another billionaire.
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The woman behind the brand that revolutionised the way the world shopped and dressed. Doris Fisher and her husband Don founded The Gap together and made basics cool – their pocket t-shirt was worn by both Mick Jagger at Live Aid and Marty McFly in Back to the Future, while Sharon Stone donned a $25 Gap black turtleneck for the Oscars. Simon Jack and Zing Tsjeng follow Doris Fisher and The Gap’s rollercoaster story, from its birth in the summer of love selling Levi’s jeans, to crashing out of fashion, then rising to dominate the 1990s. Then they decide if they think Doris Fisher’s good, bad, or just another billionaire.
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Carlos Slim Helú's financial might has led some people to nickname his native Mexico ‘Slimlandia’. He dominates the country’s businesses, from telecoms to construction. But how did a man whose hero happens to be the Mongol warlord Genghis Khan get to be the richest person in the world? Many have blamed his monopolist business empire for Mexico’s slow economic development. Simon Jack and Zing Tsjeng tell the story of a baseball fan who’s calm in a crisis, rushing in to invest while others rush out. Then they decide if they think he’s good, bad, or just another billionaire.
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Roman Abramovich was known as the "stealth oligarch" before he stepped into the limelight as Chelsea football club’s sugar daddy owner. The man loves a yacht: his largest cost $427m, and has bullet-proof windows and an escape submarine. Abramovich made his fortune from post-Soviet privatisation, aided by a man known as the “Godfather of the Kremlin”, Boris Berezovsky, and close ties to Vladimir Putin in the early years of his presidency. But with recent reports of a suspected poisoning and sanctions against him in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war, Abramovich’s luck might be changing.
BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng track Abramovich’s meteoric rise from being a hard-up orphan to making billions from oil and aluminium. Then they decide if they think he’s good, bad, or just another billionaire.
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Mukesh Ambani caught the world’s attention when he forked out $600m on his son’s wedding, including a performance by Rihanna – but how did he become Asia’s richest person?
Mukesh grew his father’s polyester trading company, Reliance Industries, into a conglomerate. But when he died without a will, Mukesh had to fight his brother for control of the family business. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng follow Mukesh Ambani’s story from living in a Mumbai slum to building the world’s most expensive private residence - featuring an ice cream parlour and an artificial snow room - then decide if they think he’s good, bad, or just another billionaire.
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Metal man and football fan Patrice Motsepe rose out of post-apartheid South Africa to become the country’s first black billionaire. Under apartheid, Patrice had to get a special permit to study at an ‘whites-only’ university - the same that Nelson Mandela attended in the 1940s - becoming a lawyer before following the gold into the mines. When the racist regime finally crumbled, he benefited from Black Economic Empowerment initiatives that turbo-charged his wealth. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng track Patrice’s rise from asking to do the worst job in the mines to owning them. Then they decide if they think he’s good, bad, or just another billionaire.
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Jack Ma is the king of ecommerce in China. Nicknamed 'Daddy Ma', the former school teacher even appeared alongside martial arts legend Jet Li in a kung fu movie. But how did a scrawny, belligerent child, who was the only person who failed to get hired at his local KFC, become the chairman and CEO of online mega-platform Alibaba? BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng explain how a crazy trip to America, where Jack had to flee from a conman, ended up introducing him to the internet, which would make him his fortune. Then they decide if they think he’s good, bad, or just another billionaire.
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The story of how Yvon Chouinard, a reluctant billionaire who only wanted to climb and surf, harnessed his passions to create outdoor apparel brand Patagonia - before giving it all away to fight climate change. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng discover how the self-proclaimed "existential dirtbag" went from jumping freight trains and eating cat food to leading the charge for businesses to commit to environmental causes.
Simon and Zing track the life of a man who claims that calling himself a businessman is as difficult for him as it for others to admit to being an alcoholic or a lawyer. Then they decide if they think Yvon Chouinard is good, bad, or just another billionaire.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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?
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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?
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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.
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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.
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How a young man inherited an Australian newspaper and turned it into a global media empire. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng tell the origin story of the 92-year-old media magnate. He’s been called ‘evil’ and ‘a cancer’, for others he’s the champion of free press. He’s also one of the most powerful people on the planet. So which Rupert Murdoch is it: is he good bad, or just another billionaire?
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The story of Mexican drug lord Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, better known as El Chapo, the leader of one of the world’s most prolific, violent and powerful drug cartels.
BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng follow El Chapo from childhood in the Mexican mountain region of Sinaloa to the very top of the drug business and into the New York prison cell where he now resides.
Simon and Zing reveal how El Chapo innovated with tunnels along the US-Mexican border, escaped prison twice, and used extreme violence to gain power. Then they are given the simple task of deciding if he's good, bad, or just another billionaire.
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