Great Business Stories

I’ll open up with an excerpt from a fantastic New Yorker article on Altman:"Altman has a relentless will to power that, even among industrialists who put their names on spaceships, sets him apart- and according to an OpenAI board member: “He’s unconstrained by truth. He has two traits that are almost never seen in the same person. The first is a strong desire to please people, to be liked in any given interaction. The second is almost a sociopathic lack of concern for the consequences that may come from deceiving someone.”So in this episode I look at Altman’s progression from app developer to a massively successful investor- eventually accumulating a $3.5 billion fortune from his investments, to taking over and growing Y Combinator, the most influential incubator and to then battling Elon Musk to eventually take charge of Open AI and by the time we get to the end, at the age of just 38 he’s become one of the most influential and powerful people in business and technology. It’s a cracking story- enjoy.

I’m going to kick it off with this excerpt from Oliver Shah’s excellent book on Green called Damaged Goods:“Mr Toad-like in appearance, with a bulging belly and a mischievous grin, Green turned into a business celebrity, often spotted on the front row of fashion shows between Kate Moss and Anna Wintour. Nut-brown from the Riviera sun, his silver hair slicked back into a rat’s tail, he relished the role he had carved out for himself as the retail industry’s roguish uncle.Bankers from Goldman Sachs and HSBC fell over themselves to offer him money and advice. Simon Cowell and Ronnie Wood attended his parties. He paid his wife almost £2bn of offshore dividends from his high-street empire and made two headline-grabbing hostile takeover attempts for Marks & Spencer. He was knighted by Tony Blair. It all came crashing down in 2016.”And that is the story I’m going to tell today—Philip Green, the one-time king of the high street. The opulent lifestyle, the aggression, the bullying, the greed—it’s a cracking story. Enjoy.

I’m breaking up Ackman’s story into three, maybe even four parts because, like him or loathe him, Ackman is a very interesting character. I’ll kick it off with a quote from Carl Icahn, the legendary Wall Street investor who has tussled with Ackman on more than one occasion, and this kind of encapsulates the core of Ackman’s character:“I would be a very happy man in life if I could be as certain of just one thing as he is certain about everything.”And really, that’s Ackman in a nutshell—supremely, annoyingly confident, to the point of arrogance. Yet it is this confidence, combined with intelligence and persistence, that has resulted in the Ackman we know today—sticking his nose into everything from college admissions, to DEI, to Israel and Ukraine, while also building up a fortune estimated to be $9.6 billion at the time of recording.So in this episode, I dig into how he started off. It’s a fascinating story. Enjoy.

I’m having a bit of a dig at Ross Perot’s height, but for a little guy, this guy had a lot of game—not just as a businessman. This guy could have been the US President.Here is a quote from Time Magazine from 1992, when he threw his hat into the ring to become president: "It's hard to envision a seriously short guy who sounds like a chihuahua as a charismatic threat to democracy, but it is delicious to watch the thrills of horror running through the establishment at the mere thought."Because as we’ll see in the story, Perot came this close to becoming the President of the United States in 1992. But this is a business story, so we will also, of course, be talking about his business achievements, which are just as big. He was IBM’s top salesman. He coined the term facilities management and created the first professional business model around it. Then he built and sold two multi-billion dollar companies.And even more intriguingly, he hired a special ops commander who then trained some of his own employees, and then they flew into Tehran and helped break two of Perot’s employees out of a jail in Iran. I mean, this story has it all. It is brilliant. Enjoy.

I’ll start with a quote from 2023 at a ceremony to announce and celebrate the retirement of the jumbo jet: ""“It is the most well thought out and safest aircraft ever built. Even when you understand the science behind flight, there’s nothing like seeing a 747 take flight to remind you that there’s also magic here.” So spoke John Travolta, the actor and plane nut — he’s a licensed 747 pilot and a huge fan of the plane. He actually has a house with a runway, and his planes, which include a 707, are parked outside. You really have to Google this — it's pretty amazing.But what I find even more fascinating than a 747 in flight or Travolta's home is how the 747 came into being: the agreement to build it was sealed with just a handshake on John Wayne's yacht, how Boeing overcame huge obstacles to build the biggest plane in the world in just 3 years — and to do this they had to build the biggest factory in the world, and it remains the biggest factory in the world — its construction almost brought down Boeing and its main partner Pan Am, and as you’d expect there are big personalities — it’s a thrilling story — enjoy.

I just love this story - it has everything - Jonathan Abrams, a young, smart coder from Canada, moved to California because he wanted to be at the very heart of the internet boom. And on nothing more than an intuition, a feeling of how things should be online, he comes up with the framework for a social media platform, the very same model that MySpace, Facebook and all the others then learnt from or copied. But Abrams and Friendster were first, and for a brief moment, they were the hottest property in Silicon Valley - Google tried to buy them. VCs were desperate to invest with them - and within just a few months, it all fell apart, leaving the door wide open for MySpace and then Facebook. It’s a fascinating story, enjoy

I’ve wanted to dig into  Packers life for a long time now, because one thing I’ve come to know from over 35 years of reading business stories is that when it comes to big characters with the most drama- the media tycoons always win hands down. And so it is with Packer we’re talking getting into an actual brawl with heavies hired by Rupert Murdoch, transforming televised sport, having his name dragged into rumours about drug trafficking and even murder, winning and losing tens of millions in casinos in London and Las Vegas. Packer was without doubt one of the larger than life figures ever in business and it’s a cracking story, enjoy.

This is the remarkable story of how Agha Abedi built BCCI, a global bank founded in Pakistan that was revered by its ordinary customers and employees. Abedi was seen as more than just a banker- a visionary and philanthropist. But there was a second bank within the bank called the Dark Network, and this secret side of the bank provided special services for corrupt politicians, funded wars, washed Pablo Escobar’s drug money, facilitated the murky dealings of MI6,  the CIA among others and then it all came crashing down from an undercover operation straight out of the movies . It’s a fascinating story- enjoy. 

This, I promise you,  is one of the most audacious and just jaw dropping financial schemes that I’ve ever come across. Two young outsiders initially taking on and beating Cornelius Vanderbilt, the richest man in America and then on the back of their success, they attempt to corner the gold market. It's got everything, political corruption, backroom deals in Albany, a siege in New Jersey, back stabbing and betrayal, and the first Black Friday ever 1869, when the markets crashed and Wall Street descended into chaos.It's a cracking story — enjoy.

This guy is non stop business- even when he’s partying, it’s business. Here’s guy who owned 5 retail stores while still in high school, was making millions by the time he was 18, was CEO of a public company at just  23 and over the last 10 years he has transformed the whole sports licensing and sports fan business through fanatics, a $25 billion company that’s still private. Rubin is just 100% non stop hustling, and I would say he’s the most relentless business person I’ve covered up until now and he makes for a fascinating story- enjoy.

I know what you’re thinking- the Swedish guy who built IKEA- kind of boring - right. But as regular listeners will know by now, I love business, not just the scandals or the high tension battles, but I love finding out how these huge businesses were built, because I know behind every big business is a fascinating entrepreneur, even if they appear outwardly boring- and that’s exactly how it is with Kamprad- this guy is was at one time the richest person in the world, yet at the very same time used teabags twice to save money, and and the way he built his business by not just focusing on cost- which was his obsession, but by watching everything, observing his customers, talking to his staff- it’s fascinating, and of course like every billionaire he had his controversies- it makes for a cracking story - enjoy

Regular listeners will know that I have a special grá as we’d say in Ireland or a love for the whole internet bubble era- it’s when I first got into business and it was such a wild time, and the yahoo story encapsulates this so brilliantly- 2 guys  working on a hobby and within just 4 years their hobby is worth $100 billion, helped in no small way by an unheard of $100 million investment from  Masayoshi Son of SoftBank, they turn down the opportunity to buy Google for just $1 million but do buy lots of other companies at crazy valuations- it’s a cracking story- enjoy. 

Soros’s life is extraordinary. A Jewish teenager who survived the Nazi occupation, fled communist Hungary with almost nothing, and went on to build one of the most remarkable investing careers in modern history.We’re talking about some of the boldest trades ever made. In his most famous bet — the one that led to the label “the man who broke the Bank of England” — Soros personally made around $650 million.But the money is only part of the story. He also gave away roughly $32 billion, becoming one of the most polarising figures in finance and politics.And while we’ll touch on that controversy, this episode is really about the trades — how he thought, how he positioned, and why they were so extraordinary. I love this storyEnjoy.

Karp is, without question, one of the most unlikely, outspoken, and polarising CEOs in the world — a hyperactive, self-proclaimed neo-Marxist and a classical liberal who built Palantir, a software company involved in some of the most controversial government projects of the past two decades.That includes working with ICE, defence contracts with the Pentagon and the CIA, helping Ukraine hold off a Russian invasion, and supporting governments around the world during COVID, all the while building Palantir from zero into a company that today is worth $375 billion.It’s not a simple story. But it is a fascinating one.

 I borrowed the title from a Bloomberg article on Singer where they also described him as aggressive, tenacious and litigious to a fault. I’ve wanted to cover Singer and his firm Ellliott management event since I read the The Caesar’s Palace Coup and the book mainly deals with how Apollo the hedge fund, led by Leon Black who I also did an episode on a few months ago. The book shows how Apollo is the big beast on Wall Street and uses it’s reputation to intimidate other firms and creditors, except for 1 firm- Elliott management founded by Paul Singer. In this episode we find out how Paul Singer built Elliott to become the most powerful and feared activist hedge fund in the world- and feared not just by CEO’s and company boards, but also by countries. This really is a fascinating story- enjoy. 

This is a story I was completely enthralled by when it broke back in 1995. Leeson’s face was splashed across every newspaper in the days after he disappeared, having brought down Barings Bank by concealing massive losses and then trying to trade his way out of trouble — only to end up losing £827 million- about $1.3 billion.It was nearly 30 years ago now, so I’d forgotten most of the details, which made revisiting it all the more fun. It’s a cracking story. Enjoy.

Like most of you, my perception of Parker was as a reckless party boy who somehow inserted himself into 3 of the most influential internet companies—Napster, Facebook and Spotify. Through the movie The Social Network, he's come to be seen as scheming and duplicitous. But that's not the guy I found when I dug deeper—the real Sean Parker is more nuanced and all the better for it. It's a cracking episode, enjoy.

This has been one of my favourite stories to research — because this story is just that good. It begins with a young engineer running a small construction company, he has an epiphany in the back of a New York taxi.From there, it unfolds through boardroom upheavals, aggressively structured deals, and a long-term vision that never wavered. What sets Arnault apart isn't just the finance or tactics — it's the creativity you rarely see in a business titan.It's a cracking story. Enjoy.

Promoted at just 26 to head AOL’s messaging platform, then spearheaded Facebook's growth helping to grow it from 15 million users to 840 million, buying 10% of the Golden State Warriors for just $25 million, being the public face of SPACs- a move that tarnished his reputation, co-hosting the massively popular All-In podcast, and just in the last few weeks, making billions from a very early AI investment- it’s a cracking story- enjoy. 

Here's a guy who won the equivalent of £350,000 on a horse race when he was just 16 years old, made international headlines at 21 for eloping with the daughter of one of the world's richest men, employed 400 people by the time he was 23, and went on to become one of the most ruthless and cunning corporate raiders in the US during the 80s, and then emerged in the 90s as one of the most prominent anti-globalisation and anti-EU voices, helping to lay the foundation for what would become Brexit. And all the while publicly juggling his time between his ex-wife, his current wife, and his mistress. It's a cracking story – enjoy.

I wanted to dig into Livermore’s story ever since i came across him in the episode we did on short sellers- and what a story this is- he became a full time trader the age of 16, he built his own system that earned him billions in today's money, but so many times he didn’t follow his own system and went broke and bankrupt many times. This is the guy who shorted the 1929 crash and made over $2 billion from it. It’s a fascinating story- enjoy 

Hsieh sold his first company when he was just 26 years old for $265 million. He then built Zappos into an online retailing giant from zero revenue to $2 billion dollars and in doing so he really did revolutionise online business by offering the type of customer service that was unheard of back- free shipping both ways, 365 day returns. He wrote a book that that stayed at number 1 for 27 weeks, and put $350 million dollars of his own money into redeveloping downtown las vagasBut behind the success was a man chasing something he could never quite catch—trying to engineer happiness, and this became an obsession that consumed him.

This is the amazing story of Yoshiaki Tsutsumi (tsoo-TSOO-mee)- who for 4 years solid from 1987-1990 was ranked the richest person in the world, the most powerful and probably revered business person in Japan throughout the 70’s and 80’s. And yet for all his wealth and power, there is very little known about him- but what we do know his rise and very public fall- because there is a big fall, make for a fascinating story- it’s a cracking episode - enjoy

I’m being a bit flippant here because this is a guy who worked hard for his money- he became a millionaire at 31 and then proceeded to build a company that had the most successful IPO opening day in history up to that point, and within 9 months of that IPO he sold the company for $5.7 billion becoming a billionaire- yet astonishingly at the time of the sale that company has revenues of just $40 million. How did he manage that?He then did what every sports fan would dream of doing and bought his favourite basketball team and turned them from also-rans into champions. He hasn’t been lucky all of the time- he’s had tussles with the SEC, got caught up in the #metoo movement, missed out on an investment that could have netted him $4.75 billion, but through Shark tank and other high profile investments, he’s now being mentioned as a potential presidential candidate for 2028. It’s a fascinating story- enjoy.

2001 was Sam Waksal’s year.Seven years after discovering Erbitux — the so-called wonder drug — everything seemed to be falling into place. The drug had made it onto the cover of Business Week, Waksal’s company ImClone’s stock was at record highs, and he was living like a celebrity. There were photographs of him with Mick Jagger, Lorraine Bracco, Matthew Modine. He was best friends with Martha Stewart, dated her daughter Alexis for years, and he’d just sold $111 million worth of shares.To anyone watching, Waksal looked like the golden boy of biotech — a scientist-turned-successful entrepreneur. But within months, he’d be kicked out of his own company, under federal investigation, and eventually sent to prison — dragging others, most famously Martha Stewart, down with him.And of course that moment didn’t come out of nowhere. It started years earlier, and to understand how he got there, we have to go back to the beginning.

It was the autumn of 1996. Jeff Bezos had just raised eight million dollars, putting Amazon’s valuation at around sixty million. Revenue that year was $15.7 million, small yes, but growing at a huge rate and it had caught the attention of two men who’d built an empire out of books the old-fashioned way — Leonard and Stephen Riggio, founders of Barnes & Noble.Their chain was the heavyweight of American bookselling: hundreds of superstores, nearly two billion dollars in annual sales, and a reputation for crushing smaller rivals.That autumn, the Riggio brothers invited Jeff Bezos to dinner in New York for what was described as a frank but cordial conversation. They told him they admired what he’d built, acknowledged that Amazon had the early lead online. But, they said plainly, if Barnes & Noble launched its own e-commerce site, their scale and publisher relationships would allow them to “surpass Amazon easily” in both selection and price.They floated alternatives — a partnership, maybe a strategic alliance, maybe for Bezos to lead Barnes & Noble’s online strategy.Bezos declined. Steve Riggio left the dinner unconvinced and said after the meeting. “That purely virtual model won’t cut it in the long term.”Now… to understand how Bezos ended up across the table from the biggest booksellers in America just over a year after setting up Amazon, you have to go back to where it all began.

Throughout my 20’s Weill was a constant presence in the business magazines that I read because he was always doing deals, always adding a little bit more to his growing business and it all added up because by the turn of the century he had built the biggest bank in the world- a remarkable achievement- but he didn’t do it all on his own- he had his protege- Jamie Dimon, without doubt the most influential and powerful banker of the last 20 years. I dig into Weill's early years when he built his first business, sold it and then through acquisitions- some good, some bad, he built the biggest bank in the world with Dimon, we look at his relationship with Dimon, why he sacked Dimon, how that impacted his legacy- it’s a cracking story- enjoy.

I’m sure I’ll come across other people I admire for their business acumen but after researching Dell for this episode, he’s at the top- one of these people who is just brilliant at businessAt 16, he made more money in one summer than his teachers made all year.At 18, he was building computers in a dorm room with sales reaching up to $80,000 some monthsBy 27 he was the youngest CEO ever to lead a Fortune 500 company. He did it by always thinking about how to consistently eliminate unnecessary steps. But he’s tough as well- there were big battles with Carl Icahn where Dell comes out on top. And what I really, really love about Michale Dell is he does it all with no ego, no scandal, no politics- just great business. It’s a cracking episode, enjoy.

Most of us know who Reid Hoffman is- I thought I knew a good bit about him before we did that episode on PayPal, but it was while researching that episode that I found out just how smart and how strategic he is. He was one of the first people in silicon valley to understand the potential of the internet to build social networks- he was one of the very first investors in Friendster and in Facebook and of course he built LinkedIn, selling it to Microsoft for $26 billion. He was a founding investor in Open AI, one of the first investors in AirBnb- this guy has had so  much success but it hasn’t been all plain sailing- he got caught up in his own Jeffrey Epstein story- it’s a cracking episode- enjoy.

He was once the second richest man on Earth — richer than Bezos, Arnault, Buffet. He left school at 15 and over the last 50 years he has built a huge empire spanning ports, power plants, airports, his success fuelled by risk, relentlessness, and a powerful friendship with India’s prime minister.I knew about Adani for a while but it only when I mentioned him briefly when I was talking about the Hindenburg Group in the episode on Short Sellers that i thought I’d love to cover this guy- and his story is so well worth it- there’s billions, there’s a kidnapping, there’s a terror attack, there’s a lot of alleged corruption- it’s a cracking episode — enjoy.

Black made billions with junk bonds, complex financial engineering, buying bankrupt companies and turning them around- he was aggressive, ruthless and very good at what he did.He was Michael Milken’s right hand man. After Milken went to jail, Black built Apollo - an asset manager overseeing $850 billion. He bought the painting The Scream for $120 million. And now he’s forced to explain why he paid Jeffrey Epstein $158 million —after Epstein had served jail time.It’s a cracking episode—enjoy.

I love business stories from any time- as long as it’s full of drama, success or failure, interesting characters, I don’t care if it a year old or 1000 years old, and the Tulip Bubble from the 1700’s has drama in spades- I’ve always wanted to dig into it because tulipmania is remembered as the first market bubble. I mean picture the scene, january of 1637, in taverns across Holland, fortunes were made and lost on flowers that bloomed for just one week a year. Men traded houses, farms, for a single bulb. The story has been told for centuries as the world’s first great financial bubble—the madness of crowds overtaken by financial speculation. It’s a tale of greed, folly, and overnight collapse.But there’s a twist in this tale and who doesn’t love a good old twist?It’s a cracking story—enjoy.

Khashoggi has been on my radar since I was a teenager-because he was always in the photos at the best parties- this 5 foot 4, bald Saudi businessman surrounded by the rich, the famous and of course beautiful women. Back then he was described as being one the richest men in the world —  he was certainly the biggest spender. He threw the biggest parties, owned 3 jets and built the world’s most expensive yacht.But behind the glamour was something darker. He brokered billion-dollar arms deals, sent escorts to charm world leaders, and helped dictators stash their stolen fortunes and as a result, he got caught up in some of the biggest scandals of the 80’s.Khashoggi was a networker, a fixer, a man who lived on the thin line between business and crime. Presidents, kings, and CEOs all needed him, and that was his ultimate protection. It’s a fascinating story- enjoy

I wanted to cover this story because I’m a huge Formula 1 fan—and if you follow F1, you can’t ignore Red Bull. And I knew the bones of the story, about how Mateschitz took a weird Thai tonic for truck drivers and turned it into a multi billion dollar global empire.But he did more than just launch a product- he created a whole new category—and then to promote it, he didn’t just attach red bull to extreme sports- Red Bull became a part of extreme sports to such an extent that they created their own extreme sports.And the most extraordinary thing about it all, and I’m saying this as someone who drinks Red Bull, is that the product itself doesn’t really taste nice- how did he do it?It’s a cracking episode—enjoy.

it's the story of how two childhood friends bolted a motor to a bicycle — and more or less ignited a cultural revolution because over the next century, Harley-Davidson became a symbol of rebellion, of freedom and of AmericaBut behind  the myth, the company has had a turbulent time. There were strikes, near-bankruptcy, Japanese rivals, political trade wars, and even Warren Buffett riding to the rescue.Today, Harley is still the most famous name in motorcycles... and yet it’s in dire straits, it’s big bike sales have been dwindling and it’s move to modernise has been disastrous- it just sold 33 of it’s electric bikes in the last quarterSo what happened?This is the story of Harley Davidson. And it’s a cracking episode — enjoy.

I’ve wanted to cover Wynn for ages because this is the guy who built modern day Vegas- make no mistake about it-He took Vegas from its mob and gambling roots into a resort destination focused on luxuries, high-end amenities and family-friendly spectacles. The Vegas we see today was built and shaped by Wynn- his vision, his ambition, his attention to detail. And then after 50- years being at the very top of the food chain in Vegas, it all came crashing down- literally overnight. It’s a fascinating story- enjoy

He was once a star trader with Julian Robertson's Tiger Capital, he then left and set up his own Asian hedge fund only to fall into trouble, charged with insider trading, come out of that scandal, build a personal fortune estimated at $20 billion, became known within Wall Street as the greatest investor you’ve never heard of.” and then loses it all, within a matter of days- who was Bill Hwang, where did it all go wrong for him , and even more importantly, at least for me how this story shines a light on what is a ticking timebomb that I believe is going to result in another serious financial meltdown-wits a cracking episode, enjoy

When he was just 24 years old Andreesen launched Netscape, the browser and company that kicked off what became the dot com boom, became a multi millionaire and took on Bill Gates and Microsoft - and he lost.Then he started a new company, right as the bubble burst, and pivoted and persevered until he sold it and made another fortune. And then he started a16z, one of the most powerful venture capital firms in the world. And along the way he has had numerous controversies while also setting himself up as this very powerful kind of evangelical, but if you ask me, fanatical, techno optimist.This is the story of Marc Andreessen. And it's a cracking episode—enjoy.

To clarify the title- I don’t love the Webvan story because it failed- I don’t like to see any company fail, but because the story behind Webvan is the story of the internet boom, those 5 years from 1995-2000 when me and my friends were young, eager, hungry and the internet opened up so many opportunities for us. And the Webvan story, it’s ambition, it’s scale, it’s stated purpose to replace grocery shopping- yes pretty mundane but also hugely impactful, and it’s demise was so fast a, it makes for a fascinating story set in a time that I have nothing but very fond memories of- enjoy, it’s a cracker.

At age nine, Jensen Huang couldn’t speak English and was scrubbing toilets in a Kentucky reform school. By 35, he’d taken Nvidia public. And by 60, he’d built the most valuable company on Earth.How?By betting everything—twice—on markets that didn’t even exist yet. First gaming. Then AI.He convinced Sega to pay him not to deliver a chip. He built a million-selling chip in eight months, when the industry standard was two years. Now, with Nvidia powering the AI revolution, the world runs on chips bearing his vision.This is the story of Jensen Huang. And it’s a cracking episode—enjoy.

Have you even heard of Victor Posner? I hadn’t but if you’re a fan of this show, you’ll know that one of mine and Keith’s favorite books of all time is Barbarians at the Gate, a rip roaring story about a leveraged buy-out and attempted hostile take over of RJR Nabisko from the 1980’s. So I love the drama around hostile takeovers, and I wanted to find out- who first started hostile takeovers in the 20th century, and it turned out to be this guy Victor Posner, I can say that I’d never come across such a lowlife. If you're ever looking for a person that symbolises everything that’s wrong with capitalism- and just to note- I’m a fan of capitalism overall- then Posner is your poster boy.

In 2012, Russian special forces arrived at Pavel Durov’s door—automatic rifles in hand. He didn’t answer and curiously, they left. They were there because Durov had built VK, Russia’s answer to Facebook, and was refusing Kremlin demands to take down certain pages. It made him a symbol of resistance. Or so the legend goes.The truth? It’s difficult to say with any certainty. He called himself a defender of privacy, but quietly handed over user data in India. He raised $1.7 billion for a blockchain dream, only to have it shut down by the SEC. And in 2024, he was arrested in Paris for failing to stop criminal abuse on his platform.He’s part visionary, part myth maker—equal parts privacy evangelist and pragmatic businessman.This is the story of Pavel Durov- whatever the full truth is, it makes for a cracking episode—enjoy.

I love this story and I kinda love Estee lauderIn 1953, she told the world she’d found a secret recipe that she called Youth Dew —gifted by her uncle to a Russian princess. In truth? It was bath oil from an ex-boyfriend's lab. But the scent was sultry, the price was right, and women couldn’t get enough. And Youth dew would go on to pull in $150 million a year.She claimed her father was a European aristocrat who wore gloves on Sundays. Actually? He ran a hardware store in Queens.But she was one of the sharpest business minds of the 20th century, driven by a belief in herself, but also in a belief that she was empowering women.From mixing creams in a shed to building a billion-dollar dynasty, the story of Estée Lauder is a cracker—enjoy.

What if I told you that the greatest cinematic universe of the 21st century almost went out of business because of the views of an influential psychiatrist. Or that in 1996 it went bankrupt because of the reckless ambitions of the guy behind Revlon, the cosmetics brand?And that one of the bondholders during the bankruptcy proceedings included the legendary and feared corporate raider Carl Icahn, who ended up getting outsmarted by the guys who eventually sold Marvel to Disney for $4 billion.This isn’t just the story of superheroes. It’s the story of scrappy pulp magazines, of American culture in the 20th century, it’s the story of the creation of comic book characters that were turned into a multi-billion dollar licensing business, and it's a cracking story, enjoy. 

For all non Irish and UK listeners who mightn’t be aware of Mike Ashely, the billionaire retailer, than you're really in for a treat from alcohol fuelled meetings, to corporate espionage, this story of one of the UK’s most successful businessmen is a cracker, enjoy

This is the story of Palmer Luckey the guy who single handedly kickstarted modern virtual reality barefoot, in a garage, surrounded by a Frankenstein mess of hacked GameCubes and government-surplus headsets. He then sold his 2 year old company to facebook for $2 billion and was then controversially kicked out of Facebook. But he bounced back by founding a defense tech company named after Aragorn’s sword in Lord of the Rings—a startup now worth $28 billion, quietly rewriting the rules of modern warfare with AI-powered drones and virtual border walls.This is the fascinating story of a flip-flop-wearing, conspiracy-loving massively controversial tech disruptor who also happens to have the world’s largest video game collection in a missile silo 200 feet underground. Enjoy—it’s a cracker.

This is such a great story, like the very first Atari product was a wooden cabinet, with two knobs, and a piece of paper stuck onto it that read “Avoid Missing Ball For High Score.” Their first expansion plan involved literally sawing a hole in the wall to steal office space next door. And what if I told you that the same man who invented modern gaming also created the Chuck E Cheese chain of pizza joints. And he also turned down the opportunity to invest $50,000 for one third of Apple. The story of Nolan Bushnell is a hell of a ride—enjoy.

Welcome to the story of Yvon Chouinard and Patagonia — a company born in a tin shed, raised on anti-consumerism, and transformed into one of the boldest business experiments of the 21st century. Buckle up.

This is fascinating episode where we do a brief history of diamonds- what are the biggest, most valuable diamonds, and then we dig into some of the key people -how Cecil Rhodes built De Beers into a diamond monopoly, how Ernest Oppenheimer transformed diamonds by more or less inventing the concept of the diamond engagement ring, how Beny Steinmetz  who built a $6 billion fortune has seen that dwindle and faces extradition and jail terms in different jurisdictions, and how the emergence of lab grown diamonds has exploded in the last decade- it’s a fantastic episode with so many different stories- enjoy.

I love covering stories where it’s just about how someone does something differently, has a different worldview, and then uses that to have such a big and positive impact. I came across Paul Graham when I read the excellent book The Power Law by Sebastian Mallaby —it’s full of great stories from the world of venture capital. Before I read it, I had heard of Y Combinator, but I’d never dug into its foundation. But Mallaby, in his book, does—and it’s fascinating. So I was so happy to do a bit more digging myself.Paul Graham set up Y Combinator, and over the years it has invested in 5,000 startups. These companies collectively hold a combined valuation exceeding $600 billion. Notably, more than 400 of these companies are valued at over $100 million, and over 100 have achieved valuations surpassing $1 billion. But it’s about more than money or numbers—it’s about this guy with huge intelligence, and a singular and very philosophical way of looking at business and startups, and how he revolutionised the sector.Subscribe now to access the longer co-hosted episodes released on the 1st of every month as well as lots of bonus episodes and ad free weekly episodes.Subscribe via Spotify Subscriptions, Apple Subscriptions or on Patreon by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠clicking on this link ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠or going to patreon.com/greatbusinessstories