Good Bad Billionaire

The second episode of Inheritance: Samsung sees the company grow into a global tech giant. The series takes you inside the billion-dollar deals and the family power struggles that shape global empires. When your relatives are also your business partners, every decision is personal. In these dynasties, the boardroom isn’t just about profit - it’s about survival.

Host: Elise Hu Producers: Simon Tulett and Sally Abrahams Fact-checkers:...

Simon and Zing introduce the first episode of a brand-new podcast, Inheritance: Samsung. The series takes you inside the billion-dollar deals and the family power struggles that shape global empires. When your relatives are also your business partners, every decision is personal. In these dynasties, the boardroom isn’t just about profit - it’s about survival.

Host: Elise Hu Producers: Simon Tulett and Sally Abrahams Fact-checkers: M...

Toto Wolff is the most successful team principal in Formula One history. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng find out what drives him. From losing his father and abandoning his own racing dreams, Toto Wolff redirected his love of risk and need for control into venture capital, making millions during the early tech boom. But Toto Wolff couldn’t stay away from motorsport. After a crash that almost killed him, ...

Ronnie Screwvala changed the viewing habits of the world’s most populous country, India - but he started out selling toothbrushes. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng chart his journey, from knocking on apartment doors in 1980s Mumbai selling cable TV, to building a media empire that would transform Indian entertainment. Ronnie Screwvala launched the first Indian daily soap opera, the country’s most popular...

Larry Ellison’s business mantra is simple: “It is not sufficient that I succeed — everyone else must fail.” From humble beginnings as an adopted child in Chicago to becoming one of the richest men in history, BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng trace the relentless ascent of one of Silicon Valley’s most combative and controversial figures.

After recognising the commercial potential of databases, Larry Ellison f...

Once hailed as the next Steve Jobs, Elizabeth Holmes became the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire after founding Theranos, a startup that promised to revolutionise healthcare with hundreds of blood tests from a single drop. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng trace Elizabeth Holmes’s journey from precocious Stanford student to biotech entrepreneur, before unpacking how secrecy and hype masked a tec...

Peggy Cherng never set out to work in fast food, but her engineering mindset transformed how millions of Americans eat. Journalist Zing Tsjeng and BBC business editor Simon Jack trace Peggy Cherng’s journey: from electrical engineering and simulating battlefields, to co-founding Panda Express with her husband Andrew and becoming a billionaire. By applying data and rigorous standardisation, Peggy Cherng helped turn a single mall foo...

How Ben Francis went from pizza delivery boy to the UK’s youngest billionaire, by founding sportswear brand Gymshark. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng explore Ben Francis' remarkable rise: from sewing gym vests in his parents’ garage, to innovating in influencer culture. In Gymshark, Ben Francis created one of the fastest growing fitness brands in the world, with the ambition to take on athleisurewear giant...

She skateboards to work, has a skydiving license, and was the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire. Journalist Zing Tsjeng and BBC Business Editor Simon Jack tell the story of Lucy Guo and trace her trajectory to becoming one of the tech titans. From dropping out of college to join Peter Thiel’s Fellowship, to couch-surfing as a millionaire, they follow Lucy Guo's journey to found Scale AI, a company that trains artificial...

It’s time to hear what you, our listeners, think of Elon Musk. Journalist Zing Tsjeng and BBC business editor Simon Jack read your feedback to our Elon Musk episode: do you think he’s good, bad, or just another billionaire? Good Bad Billionaire is the podcast that explores the lives of the super-rich and famous, tracking their wealth, philanthropy, business ethics, and success. There are leaders who made their money in Silicon Va...

David Geffen is the money man behind Crosby, Stills and Nash, Guns N' Roses, Cher, Shrek, Gladiator, and even Cats the musical. Journalist Zing Tsjeng and BBC business editor Simon Jack tell the remarkable story of the Brooklyn boy who conquered Hollywood and became an entertainment mogul. From starting in a New York agency mailroom to the heart of Laurel Canyon’s hippie-rock scene, David Geffen rubbed shoulders with almost every m...

Sara Blakely grew up in Florida and dreamed of becoming a lawyer, but after failing the LSAT twice, she pivoted to sales and later entrepreneurship. Frustrated by uncomfortable hosiery, Blakely cut the feet off her tights and sparked an idea that would change fashion. With no formal business training, she cold-called hosiery mills and landed her first big break with Neiman Marcus, then with the Oprah Winfrey show. Spanx went from a...

Guy Laliberté went from busking on the streets of Quebec to entertaining Hollywood celebrities and wearing a clown nose on the International Space Station. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng tell the story of the Cirque du Soleil founder, and how he turned his passion for parties into a billion-dollar entertainment empire. Good Bad Billionaire is the podcast that explores the lives of the super-rich and fam...

Elon Musk’s extraordinary rise, from a troubled childhood in apartheid-era South Africa to becoming the first person to amass half a trillion dollars.

BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng chart Elon Musk's journey to becoming a multi-billionaire entrepreneur: from tech giant PayPal, to revolutionising electric cars at Tesla, and launching rockets at SpaceX. But becoming the richest person in the world comes wi...

Luciano Benetton rose from poverty in postwar Italy to found a chain of 7,000 high street fashion stores and create some of the most controversial advertising campaigns in history, becoming a billionaire along the way. Journalist Zing Tsjeng and BBC business editor Simon Jack discover how it all started for Luciano Benetton with a yellow sweater knitted by his sister, on a journey that takes in Benito Mussolini, Dolce Vita, Formu...

From a childhood marked by abuse and trauma, Tyler Perry worked whatever jobs he could to fund his self-written and produced play for six years: sometimes performing to an audience of just one. But then success literally came calling for the future billionaire, and kick-started his rise in showbiz.

Journalists Zing Tsjeng and Simon Jack explore how Tyler Perry’s faith, relentless work ethic, and deep understanding of his audience he...

Lakshmi Mittal grew up in Kolkata, where he gained early experience in his father’s steel business before founding his own steel mill in Indonesia in his twenties. By adopting mini-mill technology and electric arc furnaces, Lakshmi Mittal produced steel more efficiently than traditional methods and began acquiring underperforming state-owned mills around the world, setting him on his path to becoming a billionaire.

Journalists Zing...

How Michael O’Leary, the outspoken CEO of Ryanair, turned a struggling regional airline into a €28 billion powerhouse by relentlessly cutting costs and embracing controversy.

BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng uncover how O’Leary - who neither founded Ryanair nor intended to work in aviation - redefined the airline industry. Through radical cost-cutting, lightning-fast plane turnarounds, and headline-grabbing ...

Diane Hendricks rose from a teenage mother on a Wisconsin dairy farm to become America’s richest self-made woman, building a $22 billion fortune through roofing giant ABC Supply.

BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng trace her journey from selling homes to leading the largest roofing supplies company in the US. From renovating properties to reshaping her hometown of Beloit, Hendricks’ story is one of grit, ambiti...