Good, bad, or just another billionaire?
From international golfing champion Tiger Woods to Italian fashion designer and businesswoman Miuccia Prada, to ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman, the second run of episodes of Good Bad Billionaire spotlights a new cast of famous faces.
In a new season, from the BBC World Service, Simon Jack, Business Editor for BBC News, and Zing Tsjeng, journalist, author and podcaster, find out how the richest people on the planet made their billions, and decide whether they think they are ‘good’, ‘bad’, or just another billionaire.
From celebrities and secretive CEOs, to sporting legends and Silicon Valley tech titans, the podcast explores the minds, the motives, and the big money behind some of the world’s richest people.
Join us on a global journey, discovering all we can about some of the wealthiest people on the planet. We hear about billionaires in the US, the UK, Italy, Mexico, China, New Zealand, India, South Africa Nigeria, and elsewhere around the world. – BBC
The show looks at how Tiger Woods went from a child prodigy to the world’s highest-paid athlete, how a communist mime artist became the boss of fashion house Prada, and how hedge fund tycoon George Soros escaped Nazi occupation to become one of the most successful investors in history. The programme also explores how a mining magnate became the first black billionaire in post-apartheid South Africa, and how an Indian multinational conglomerate boss built the biggest fortune in Asia.
Simon and Zing will also examine some of the biggest names behind the technology shaping our world – the founders of TikTok, Google, ChatGPT, Alibaba and Bumble. How did a Chinese social media app, Tik Tok, become a multi-billion dollar business and take over the social media world? How did ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman make a billion investing in tech start-ups like Reddit and Airbnb? And how did the founder of Google, Sergey Brin, shape the internet by building the planet’s most popular search engine?
Good Bad Billionaire tells tales of tech titans, Wall Street moguls, pop stars, sporting legends, CEOs and entrepreneurs, analysing their minds, motives and morals – assessing what it really takes to join the billionaires’ club. Will Zing and Simon decide they think each billionaire is good, bad, or somewhere in between?
Zing Tsjeng, journalist, author and podcaster:
“You can tell a lot about someone by following their money – and how they made it – so I’m thrilled to be back with Simon to explore even more eyebrow-raising stories of the mega-rich. Even more people have joined the billionaire ranks since we were last on air, so there’s a lot to talk about! Reuniting with Simon for the new season from the BBC World Service has been great fun and we can’t wait for listeners to dig in.”
Simon Jack, Business Editor for BBC News:
“Since we made our last series, there are now 141 more billionaires on the planet. With this number increasing each year, there is no better time to shine a light on the world’s richest people and to assess whether we think they are using their power for good. Season two promises more scandal and intrigue as we ask why dozens of people have more than billions of others.”
Join Simon and Zing as this new season unravels tales of fortune, power, ambition and moral responsibility, and invites you to make up your own minds on their final verdict. Season 2 of Good Bad Billionaire has 20 episodes and launches on 29 July. New episodes are released very Monday wherever you get your podcasts. You can hear the latest episode a week early on BBC Sounds.
