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Good Bad Billionaire

How did the richest people make their billions? Make up your minds whether you think they are good, bad or just another billionaire. New episodes: Luciano Benetton and Elon Musk.

World Service,83 episodes

Episodes

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Sara Blakely: Shaping the world with Spanx
How Spanx reshaped celebrity style and made Sara Blakely a billionaire
05 Jan 2026,42 mins
Guy Laliberté: Cirque du Soleil’s clown turned CEO
How Guy Laliberté reinvented the greatest show on earth
05 Jan 2026,41 mins
Elon Musk: Money, memes and Mars
How Elon Musk became the richest person on the planet
01 Dec 2025,55 mins
Luciano Benetton: Famous fashion to cultural controversy
How fashion and controversy fuelled the rise of Luciano Benetton
24 Nov 2025,41 mins
Tyler Perry: Homeless to Hollywood entrepreneur
How Tyler Perry went from living in his car to becoming a Hollywood mogul
17 Nov 2025,42 mins
Lakshmi Mittal: King of steel
How Lakshmi Mittal built a steel empire and reshaped an entire industry
10 Nov 2025,44 mins
Michael O’Leary: Ryanair’s cost-cutting king
How Michael O’Leary turned Ryanair into the largest airline in Europe by cutting costs
03 Nov 2025,48 mins
Diane Hendricks: Building a fortune
From teen mom to roofing mogul: how Diane Hendricks built a $22 billion empire
27 Oct 2025,38 mins
John Fredriksen: Tanker king
Norwegian shipping magnate John Fredriksen owned the world’s largest fleet of oil tankers
20 Oct 2025,44 mins
Evan Spiegel: Snapchat fratboy
How disappearing messages app Snapchat made Evan Spiegel a billionaire at 25
13 Oct 2025,46 mins
Tatyana Kim: Russia’s online retail queen
How Tatyana Kim went from English teacher to head of Russian’s largest online retailer
06 Oct 2025,44 mins
Arnold Schwarzenegger: Muscles, movies, money
Arnold Schwarzenegger, from Mr Universe to cinematic superstar and billionaire investor
06 Oct 2025,46 mins
Coming soon: More tales of the mega-rich
The latest batch of billionaires includes film stars, tech bros and online retail giants
19 Sep 2025,1 min
Encore - Film Stories: George Lucas and Peter Jackson
How film directors George Lucas and Peter Jackson went from zero to a billion
08 Sep 2025,64 mins
The dead billionaires: What do you think?
Your verdicts on Rockefeller, Ford, Hughes, Walton and Green
27 Aug 2025,10 mins
Hetty Green: The 'witch' of Wall Street
Hetty Green was America’s richest woman, but was renowned as the nation’s biggest miser
28 Jul 2025,47 mins
Sam Walton: Walmart’s founder
Sam Walton’s discount store Walmart is the largest retailer on Earth
21 Jul 2025,44 mins
Howard Hughes: Eccentric aviator
The original weird billionaire, Howard Hughes went from playboy to paranoid recluse
14 Jul 2025,45 mins
Henry Ford: Putting the world on wheels
Henry Ford revolutionised American life by making mass-produced cars affordable to all
07 Jul 2025,52 mins
John D Rockefeller: The first billionaire
John D Rockefeller believed God wanted him to get rich – so he obliged
07 Jul 2025,47 mins
Coming soon: Good Bad Dead Billionaire
A new season with a difference: Famous dead billionaires and how they made their money
23 Jun 2025,1 min
Eike Batista: Golden grifter
Mining magnate Eike Batista was Brazil’s richest man, but corruption led to his downfall
26 May 2025,40 mins
LeBron James: King of the court
LeBron James is the first active NBA basketball player to become a billionaire
19 May 2025,48 mins
Masayoshi Son: High-tech gambler
Investor Masayoshi Son became notorious for making huge bets on technology companies
12 May 2025,44 mins
Strive Masiyiwa: Connecting a continent
Telecoms magnate Strive Masiyiwa escaped kidnap to become Zimbabwe’s first billionaire
05 May 2025,42 mins
Ike Perlmutter: Marvel’s empire builder
Ike Perlmutter, the CEO who reinvented Marvel
28 Apr 2025,46 mins
Selena Gomez: Actress, singer, beauty mogul
How Disney star Selena Gomez became a billionaire beauty entrepreneur
21 Apr 2025,47 mins
Orlando Bravo: Tech dealmaker
Orlando Bravo failed to become a tennis pro, but private equity made him a billionaire
14 Apr 2025,46 mins
Vince McMahon: Wrestling's ringmaster
Vince McMahon turned professional wrestling into a global phenomenon
07 Apr 2025,48 mins
Markus Persson: Minecraft maker
How did Markus Persson create Minecraft, the most successful computer game ever?
31 Mar 2025,46 mins