Good Bad Billionaire

Good Bad Billionaire

BBC
Business Entrepreneurship Society & Culture
en

How did the richest people on the planet make their billions? From Selena Gomez to Jeff Bezos, and now we find out about five dead billionaires. Meet pioneers who helped build the United States of America: the world’s first billionaire John D Rockefeller, motor magnate Henry Ford, the aviator and filmmaker Howard Hughes, Walmart founder Sam Walton, and Hetty Green - once dubbed “The Witch of Wall Street”. These iconic billionaires may be long dead, but their fingerprints are all over modern industry - in business trusts, IPOs, and mass production. They did it all first, but how did they make their billions?

Good Bad Billionaire is the podcast that analyses the minds, motives and money of some of the world's wealthiest individuals. Simon and Zing explore the lives of the super-rich and famous, tracking their wealth, philanthropy, business ethics and success. From iconic celebrities and secretive CEOs to sporting legends and titans of technology, Simon and Zing find out how they made their money, and then it’s over to you to decide whether 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? Trawl through the archives to find out how Selena Gomez went from a child Disney star to a mega-magnate of makeup and how Martha Stewart, the “original lifestyle influencer” became one of the most successful women in business. We explore the life of British inventor James Dyson and learn about some of the big names behind Minecraft, Marvel, WWE and the ultimate reality TV show – Big Brother.

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

Discover how the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, Peter Jackson, Doris Fisher and George Soros came to join the billionaires' club. Learn 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 came to buy 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 will help you decide whether they’re a force for good, bad, or somewhere in between. Join Simon Jack, the business editor for BBC News, and journalist and author Zing Tsjeng as this podcast unravels tales of fortune, power, economics, ambition and moral responsibility, ultimately inviting you to make up your own mind: are they good, bad, or just another billionaire?

We’d love to hear your feedback. Email goodbadbillionaire@bbc.com or drop us a text or WhatsApp to +1 (917) 686-1176. To find out more about the show and read our privacy notice, visit www.bbcworldservice.com/goodbadbillionaire

Episodes (51)

The dead billionaires: What do you think?

The dead billionaires: What do you think?

August 27, 2025 10m
What did you think of John D Rockefeller, Henry Ford, Howard Hughes, Sam Walton and Hetty Green?These five titans of American industry include an oil tycoon, a motor magnate, an eccentric aviator, the...
Hetty Green: The 'witch' of Wall Street

Hetty Green: The 'witch' of Wall Street

August 04, 2025 47m
Hetty Green was America’s richest woman, but was renowned as the nation’s biggest miser. But she built her investment fortune in an era before women could even vote.Journalist Zing Tsjeng and BBC...
Sam Walton: Walmart’s founder

Sam Walton: Walmart’s founder

July 28, 2025 44m
Sam Walton put discount megastores on the map and built the largest retailer on Earth. He founded Walmart, which now has around 10,500 stores across 19 countries, and 255 million customers a week,...
Howard Hughes: Eccentric aviator

Howard Hughes: Eccentric aviator

July 21, 2025 45m
The original weird billionaire, Howard Hughes was a filmmaker, a playboy and a world record-breaking aviator. He was also an obsessive germophobe who died a paranoid recluse.Journalist Zing Tsjeng and...
Henry Ford: Putting the world on wheels

Henry Ford: Putting the world on wheels

July 14, 2025 52m
Henry Ford may not have invented the car, or even the assembly line, but he perfected them. His Model T – nicknamed “Tin Lizzie” – made cars affordable for the average worker, not just the rich. He...
John D Rockefeller: The first billionaire

John D Rockefeller: The first billionaire

July 07, 2025 47m
John D Rockefeller built his fortune refining oil and founding Standard Oil. A pioneer of the U.S. business trust, he helped shape the structure of the modern corporation. His influence lives on in...
Coming soon: Good Bad Dead Billionaire

Coming soon: Good Bad Dead Billionaire

June 23, 2025 1m
We’re back – but with a difference! Find out how some of the world's most famous dead billionaires made their money. Meet five billionaires who helped build the United States of America. First up: oil...
Eike Batista: Golden grifter

Eike Batista: Golden grifter

June 02, 2025 40m
Mining magnate Eike Batista was once Brazil’s richest person, but corruption led to his downfall.

BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng lift the lid on a flashy and eccentric...
LeBron James: King of the court

LeBron James: King of the court

May 26, 2025 48m
LeBron James was selling out basketball arenas while still in high school. At just 18, he said he was offered a $10 million cheque from Reebok - on the spot - if he agreed not to meet any other...
Masayoshi Son: High-tech gambler

Masayoshi Son: High-tech gambler

May 19, 2025 44m
Investor Masayoshi Son became notorious for making huge bets on technology companies. He once lost 96% of his fortune, but he’s still a billionaire thanks to successes like Yahoo! and Alibaba.

BBC...
Strive Masiyiwa: Connecting a continent

Strive Masiyiwa: Connecting a continent

May 12, 2025 42m
Telecoms magnate Strive Masiyiwa escaped kidnap to become Zimbabwe’s first billionaire.BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng tell Masiyiwa’s story from a youth fleeing...
Ike Perlmutter: Marvel’s empire builder

Ike Perlmutter: Marvel’s empire builder

May 05, 2025 46m
Former Marvel CEO & Chairman Isaac "Ike" Perlmutter brought Marvel back from the brink of ruin and helped launch the Marvel cinematic universe. He brought Iron Man, The Hulk and The Avengers to...
Selena Gomez: Actress, singer, beauty mogul

Selena Gomez: Actress, singer, beauty mogul

April 28, 2025 47m
Selena Gomez is one of the youngest newly minted billionaires, thanks to her Rare Beauty brand. But you likely know her from her Disney kid days on The Wizards of Waverly Place, award-winning turn in...
Orlando Bravo: Tech dealmaker

Orlando Bravo: Tech dealmaker

April 21, 2025 46m
Orlando Bravo failed to become a tennis pro, but became richer than any tennis player in history by pivoting to the world of finance. He’s the first billionaire from Puerto Rico and earned his fortune...
Vince McMahon: Wrestling's ringmaster

Vince McMahon: Wrestling's ringmaster

April 14, 2025 48m
Vince McMahon made stars out of wrestlers like Hulk Hogan, John Cena and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. He turned professional wrestling into a $6.8 billion industry with his company World Wrestling...
Markus Persson: Minecraft maker

Markus Persson: Minecraft maker

April 07, 2025 46m
Minecraft is the most successful computer game ever. It's sold 300 million copies, built an active community of fans and there's now even a Minecraft movie. So how did one man - Markus Persson -...
John de Mol: Big Brother’s daddy

John de Mol: Big Brother’s daddy

March 31, 2025 41m
By reinventing reality TV, John de Mol changed television history and made a billion dollars. He’s the father of Big Brother and the man behind The Voice, Deal or No Deal and Fear Factor. BBC business...
Sir James Dyson: Sucking up the cash

Sir James Dyson: Sucking up the cash

March 24, 2025 46m
A blocked vacuum cleaner led to a billion-dollar idea for British inventor Sir James Dyson. After studying art, then reinventing the wheelbarrow, Dyson struck gold with his iconic bagless vacuum, but...
Martha Stewart: The original lifestyle influencer

Martha Stewart: The original lifestyle influencer

March 17, 2025 51m
Martha Stewart revolutionised home entertaining with her recipes, home decor and TV shows, becoming one of the world's most successful women in business. Known as the ultimate homemaker and the...
Encore - Chuck Feeney: All duty

Encore - Chuck Feeney: All duty

February 17, 2025 38m
When Charles "Chuck" Feeney first appeared on the world's rich lists in the 1980s, he had built a billion-dollar business selling duty free goods to tourists. But he'd also given most of his money to...
Encore - Taylor Swift: Swiftonomics

Encore - Taylor Swift: Swiftonomics

February 03, 2025 53m
A year after first being declared a billionaire, Taylor Swift’s rarely been out of the headlines or the charts. The pop superstar’s Eras tour finally came to an end, and she’s been continuing to break...
Peter Thiel: Paypal mafioso

Peter Thiel: Paypal mafioso

December 02, 2024 46m
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...
Doris Fisher: Don’t mind The Gap

Doris Fisher: Don’t mind The Gap

November 25, 2024 42m
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...
Carlos Slim Helú: Telecom titan

Carlos Slim Helú: Telecom titan

November 18, 2024 46m
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...
Roman Abramovich: Premier League oligarch

Roman Abramovich: Premier League oligarch

November 11, 2024 40m
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...
Mukesh Ambani: Asia’s richest person

Mukesh Ambani: Asia’s richest person

November 04, 2024 42m
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...
Patrice Motsepe: Mining magnate

Patrice Motsepe: Mining magnate

October 28, 2024 40m
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...
Jack Ma: China's ecommerce CEO

Jack Ma: China's ecommerce CEO

October 21, 2024 43m
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...
Yvon Chouinard: A $3 billion giveaway

Yvon Chouinard: A $3 billion giveaway

October 14, 2024 47m
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...
Whitney Wolfe Herd: Dating app entrepreneur

Whitney Wolfe Herd: Dating app entrepreneur

October 07, 2024 42m
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...
Aliko Dangote: Africa’s richest person

Aliko Dangote: Africa’s richest person

September 30, 2024 38m
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...
Sam Altman: ChatGPT and the AI revolution

Sam Altman: ChatGPT and the AI revolution

September 23, 2024 45m
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...
Zhang Yiming: TikTok’s tech boss

Zhang Yiming: TikTok’s tech boss

September 16, 2024 46m
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...
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw: Beer, brewing and biotech

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw: Beer, brewing and biotech

September 09, 2024 34m
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...
George Soros: 'The man who broke the Bank of England'

George Soros: 'The man who broke the Bank of England'

September 02, 2024 45m
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...
Jerry Seinfeld: The world’s richest comedian

Jerry Seinfeld: The world’s richest comedian

August 26, 2024 36m
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...
Peter Jackson: Lord of the Films

Peter Jackson: Lord of the Films

August 19, 2024 46m
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...
Miuccia Prada: ‘Ugly fashion’

Miuccia Prada: ‘Ugly fashion’

August 12, 2024 40m
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...
Sergey Brin: Googling billions

Sergey Brin: Googling billions

August 05, 2024 47m
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...
Tiger Woods: Golf’s ‘golden boy’

Tiger Woods: Golf’s ‘golden boy’

July 29, 2024 40m
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?...
Mark Zuckerberg: Move fast and get rich

Mark Zuckerberg: Move fast and get rich

March 26, 2024 56m
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 Zuckerberg's childhood to joining the...
Sir Richard Branson: Sky's the limit

Sir Richard Branson: Sky's the limit

March 19, 2024 48m
From The Exorcist to 400 companies: how music sent Virgin entrepreneur Richard Branson into space. He's an island owning adventurer, but he's incredibly shy. He's the record label owner who doesn't...
Sir Jim Ratcliffe: Man U mogul

Sir Jim Ratcliffe: Man U mogul

March 12, 2024 48m
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...
Bernie Ecclestone: Fast money

Bernie Ecclestone: Fast money

March 05, 2024 50m
How Bernie Ecclestone won control of Formula One, and how it all came crashing down. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng trace a unique rise and fall. From modest beginnings...
Gina Rinehart: The other Iron Lady

Gina Rinehart: The other Iron Lady

February 27, 2024 50m
How mining magnate Gina Rinehart amassed a $30 billion fortune to become Australia's richest person, but also earned a reputation for being highly litigious.BBC business editor Simon Jack and...
Charles Koch: Dark money’s slick operator

Charles Koch: Dark money’s slick operator

February 20, 2024 38m
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...
Taylor Swift: Swiftonomics

Taylor Swift: Swiftonomics

February 13, 2024 53m
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...
Warren Buffett: The oracle of Omaha

Warren Buffett: The oracle of Omaha

February 06, 2024 54m
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...
NR Narayana Murthy: India's IT innovator

NR Narayana Murthy: India's IT innovator

January 30, 2024 53m
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...
Rupert Murdoch: The Succession prequel

Rupert Murdoch: The Succession prequel

January 23, 2024 52m
How Rupert Murdoch 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...
El Chapo: Cocaine kingpin

El Chapo: Cocaine kingpin

January 16, 2024 50m
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...

About this Podcast

Copyright
(C) BBC 2025
Language
en
Categories
Business, Entrepreneurship, Society & Culture, Documentary