Good Bad Billionaire is a new BBC Sounds podcast that tells the stories of people who have gained super-wealth.
The first episode delves into the story of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, tracking his journey from starting the company, to becoming one of the world’s richest and most famous people.
Other episodes include billionaires like pop superstar Rihanna, Star Wars and Indiana Jones creator George Lucas and businesswoman and pop culture icon Kim Kardashian.
Zing Tsjeng, Editor-in-chief of VICE and Simon Jack, BBC business editor host the podcast that tells the story of a single billionaire in three chapters.
Chapter 1. Zero to a Million: Tracking a billionaire from their first job to their first million.
Chapter 2. A Million to a Billion: The story accelerates as the subject heads towards insane levels of wealth.
Chapter 3. The Good, The Bad, and the Wealthy: This is where Simon and Zing finish the story and judge the achievements of its central character, deciding if they’re good, bad or just wealthy.
Simon and Zing cast their final judgement on each billionaire, rating them between 1-10 on categories including philanthropy, villainy, power and legacy.
Zing Tsjeng says: “Researching these billionaires’ stories has been truly fascinating.
“The one-percenters we cover have been on some gripping journeys to personal fortune – some more, er, convoluted and tricky than others – and it’s been eyebrow-raising seeing the different choices they made when deciding how to amass and spend their wealth.
“I can’t wait to hear what the listeners think about the people we’ve featured and our judgement of them.”
Simon Jack Editor adds: “Whether you are horrified or inspired by the mega-rich, their influence is hard to ignore.
“Tracing the path to super wealth of the likes of Jeff Bezos, Rihanna, Kim Kardashian and others also tells us something about ourselves and the things we need, value or enjoy.
“Recording Good Bad Billionaire together with Zing has been fascinating and fun and I can’t wait to hear what the listeners think.”
New episodes of Good Bad Billionaire will be available weekly on BBC Sounds from 29 August.
