Afleveringen
-
In this episode we get into the Trevor Milton/Nikola scandal- it's a great story, although it would have been better if he got what he deserved
Subscribe now to access the 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 â â â clicking on this link â â â or going to patreon.com/greatbusinessstories
-
In this episode I look at some of the best short-selling stories from the inception of short selling in 1609 and all the way up to 2025- we cover the legendary Jesse Livermore, the Piggly Wiggly short sale, the spectacular short pulled by Porsche- and more. It's a cracker of an episode
Subscribe now to access the 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 â â â clicking on this link â â â or going to patreon.com/greatbusinessstories
-
Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
-
Adam Osborne was one of the most important figures in the early years of the personal computer and yet, Iâd never heard of him- heâs an extraordinary figure and itâs a great story- enjoy
Subscribe now to access the 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 â â clicking on this link â â or going to patreon.com/greatbusinessstories
-
The title says it all- in this episode I do a deep dive on Bernie Ecclestone, the controversial F1 supremo for over 40 years.
Subscribe now to access the 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 â clicking on this link â or going to patreon.com/greatbusinessstories
-
Subscribe now to access the 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
Youâll find out pretty quickly that both myself and Keith are big fans of Diller- heâs the guy who brought us Roots, and in so doing he pioneered the introduction of the TV mini series- he green lighted some of the best TV comedies- from Cheers to Taxi to the Simpsons not to mention some of the best movies of the 80âs.
He also got involved in some of the biggest, most high profile and dramatic media battles of the 80âs and 90âs. And then he pivoted, - and he pivoted many times throughout his career eventually becoming the main driver behind online dating- he got in early with Match.com and later his company bought plenty of fish, tinder and practically owned the dating sector.
And though it all, Diller was this calm, very classy guy- it makes for a fascinating story, enjoy.
-
this is the story of one of the most remarkable and probably overall talented people weâre ever likely to cover.
A rugby superstar who would go on to lead Heinz for 20 years, become one of the highest paid and most successful CEOâs during that time while at the same time building a media and business empire on the other side of the ocean, who charmed and mixed with global elite, became Irelandâs first billionaire and then lost it all. Itâs a remarkable story - enjoy
-
2008 was a monumental year- financial markets collapsed and many countries, including Ireland, where both myself and Keith live, found out pretty quickly that weâd been living in a bubble.
And while the impact of this crash affected so many people around the world, I donât think any other country had such a huge proportion of its citizens affected as adversely as the 370,000 people in Iceland.
So in this episode we examine why Iceland pivoted from its traditional industries into banking, how its economy grew at a breakneck speed and then how it all came crashing down.
-
The WeWork story is one that most of us are familiar with but as youâd expect we go deep into how Nueman was able to raise billions from some of the savviest investors, and from other investors like Softbank, who, as we find out, arenât very savvy at all.
What I love about this story is that as soon as I started digging, I kept coming across facts and figures and quotes from Neuman that just left me stunned- how did he get investors to fall for his schtick?
We dig into Masayoshi Son the founder of Softbank, this revered investor who takes the biggest bets and also, the most reckless ones.
Even if you thought you knew the WeWork story, as I myself thought, I promise that thereâs a lot in here that will keep you in a state of disbelief.
Itâs an incredible story- enjoy
-
this is such a fascinating story for so many different reasons- we have traders who were found guilty and sent to jail in the UK for a crime that that apparently wasnât a crime
We have senior bankers caught on tape talking about collusion and openly manipulating the interest rates and yet they werenât even charged and we have regulators who knew everything that was going on who had solid eveidence to go after senior bankers yet chose to stitch up those further down the line.
This story goes to the heart of everything that is wrong with the financial sector which is why I love it, hope you do too
-
In this episode we dig down into the very beginnings of social media, where MySpace was streets ahead of everyone else.
And then Rupert Murdoch, the most famous, the most feared and perhaps one if not the most successful media tycoons of the 20th century enters the fray and I donât know about you, but any business story that has Rupert Murdoch in it is going to be a cracker.
Article: The Myspace Meltdown: Murdoch, Missteps, and the Lost Battle for Social Media
-
Welcome to todays episode "Ackman vs. Icahn: The Herbalife Battle That Shook Wall Street"- now shook might be too strong a word- but it definitely gripped Wall Street and the business media as billionaire hedge funders Bill Ackman and Carl Icahn publicly feuded when Ackman took a short position on Herbalife and Icahn took the other side of the bet.
https://gbspod.com/blog/ackman-vs-icahn-the-herbalife-battle-that-shook-wall-street
-
In the episode we look at how 2 very different, diametrically opposed men came together and built a tiny Canadian wireless company into a huge success, and in doing so transformed the way people did business.
And Blackberrys werenât just transformative, they were loved.
The company was just hitting its stride when the rug was pulled from underneath them by Steve Jobs with the launch of the iPhone in 2007.
But as always, whatâs really interesting here are the main characters involved, how they built up the company, the pitfalls they encountered but also the nuances- itâs not as straightforward as youâd think- for example did you know that the iPhone captured just 1% of the smartphone market in its first full year, and that the iPhone wasnât even the best selling phone at Christmas 2008, it was outsold by a Blackberry. And indeed Blackberry kept growing and reached its peak 4 years after the launch of the iPhone- this is a cracking story and I hope you enjoy it.
-
To subscribe on Patreon go to: https://www.patreon.com/greatbusinessstories
Link to the story on our blog: https://app.podcastpage.io/settings/great-business-stories/blog/edit/sumner-redstones-battles-billion-dollar-deals
Redstone, who died in 2020 is one of the most interesting and successful media moguls of the the 20th century - he bought MTV before it took off, he bought CBS and Paramount studio.
We examine how he built his business from a handful of cinemas to a media empire
We dig into the huge deals he got involved in
We ask if he was a true visionary or a hugely ambitious opportunist
We look at how his dysfunctional and fractured relationship with his family led to the dynasty-like soap opera that probably eclipsed his business successes.
Also, this episode was recorded in 2023 so before Paramount was sold.
And just to let you know, at the start of the podcast we mention our main sources- thereâs a link at the bottom of this podcast that brings you to our blog where the main sources are highlighted at the top of the article, and thereâs links to some really great photos there that are relevant to this story.
-
PayPal: The Greatest Startup Story of All Time
This has been one of my favourite stories to cover, because you have such big characters who are now very much sitting at the top of the table business wise - weâre talking Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman, David Sacks and many more.
And itâs fascinating to recall how these guys started out and nearly didnât make it
There is so much drama in the story with boardroom coups, Russian fraudsters, Musk being forced to merge his company against his will, the dotcom bubble bursting- I loved it
Click on the following link to go our article on this episode where we have links to our main sources as well as relevant photos: gbspod.com/blog/paypal-greatest-startup-story-of-all-time
-
In today's episode, we're digging into the Tyco scandal of the early 2000s, specifically focusing on Tyco's CEO Dennis Kozlowski, who was charged and convicted of stealing $132 million from Tyco to fund a lavish lifestyle.
While other Tyco executives were also charged, and there were additional charges that we don't delve into, we do mention them briefly. However, our main focus is on the primary charges against Kozlowski.
What's really unusual about this story is that both Keith and I started our research believing we knew the story - a tale of corporate greed. We expected to uncover why and how Kozlowski syphoned off so much money.
But as we dug deeper, the actual story turned out to be quite different, and it makes for a great episode.
We hope you enjoy it!
-
This is the fascinating story of how Jho Low, young Malaysian businessman educated in Harrow formed one of the most notorious and lucrative business partnerships with the Malaysian Prime minister and they syphoned off a jaw dropping $4.5 billion
Itâs the story of how Jho Low and his friends spent their ill gotten gains by splashing out on parties, multi-million dollar properties, jewellery, art as well as financing Hollywood movies- 1 movie in particular that youâll definitely know.
And itâs a story of Malaysia and the endemic corruption that emanates from the very top- a prime minister who not only brazenly lootes the national coffers but who is also the main suspect in the grisly murder of a young woman.
This episode was recorded in April 2023, and even now in April 2024 there are still some court cases going on related to 1MDB because this is a business scandal thatâs going to be with us for many more years- Itâs a really fascinating story and we hope you enjoy it.
Sources
As we usually have way too many sources to link in here, please click on link below that brings you to an article that I wrote to accompany this episode- all of the sources used in this episode are at the end of the article :
https://gbspod.com/blog/the-1mdb-heist-how-jho-low-the-prime-minister-stole-45-billion
-
We dig deep into Ray Kroc and how he and the Mcdonald brothers created the fast food revolution
What was Ray Kroc really like? Was he a shyster, a lucky salesman or true visionary?
Is he really a villain as the movie made him out to be-And crucially, did Ray Kroc renege on an agreement to pay the McdOnalds brothers commission on all sales going forward?
I hope you enjoy this one and remember, a new episode is released on the first of every month
-
This is the fascinating story of Ivar Kreuger, the most famous Swedish person and probably the most successful business person youâve never heard of.
In his prime during the roaring twenties Ivar built up a fortune worth $100 billion in todayâs money
He invented many of the financial instruments that are still being used to this day- the stocks and bonds of his companies were the most widely held securities in the world
He lent billions to cash strapped governments and became a personal advisor to the US president. And yet, if you google him now, heâs mentioned in the same breath as Charles Ponzi and Bernie Madoff
Was Ivar a scam artist or one of the most brilliant business minds of the 20th century? Or was he both?
-
The book "Barbarians at the Gate" is probably the best business story ever told. Itâs a riveting account of the leveraged buyout of the tobacco and food giant RJR Nabisco in the late 1980s,
The story gives a great insight into what exactly leveraged buyouts are.
We learn how Henry Kravis and his cousin George Roberts formed the legendary LBO firm KKR.
We see how banks and LBO firms manage to profit handsomely even when deals go bad.
And we see how industry titans end up playing second fiddle when they open their doors to the sharks on wall street.
Itâs full of drama, rivalries, big egoâs and lots and lots of money and we hope you enjoy it.
-
This was one of the biggest business scandals of the 1980âs when British Airways financed a dirty tricks campaign in an attempt to publicly blacken Richard Bransons name and put his fledgling airline out of business
We find out why Richard Branson got into the airline business?
How he managed to get under the skin of British Airways
We discuss why British Airways, one of the biggest and most respected companies at the time, decided to wage a dirty tricks campaign against Bransonâs tiny new airline.
And who were the people within BA behind it all?It's a cracking story and we hope you enjoy it as well
- Laat meer zien
