Billionaire Biographies

Trailer - Billionaire Biographies

They are the most powerful people in history. They have more wealth than entire nations. But how did they really get it?
This fall, get ready to pull back the curtain on the names that built our world. From the producers of Billionaire Biographies comes the new investigative podcast that exposes the true stories behind the titans of the last one hundred years. In this trailer, hear the whispers of backroom deals, the clash of corporate takeovers, and the sound of empires being forged in greed and genius. We take you from the ruthless oil fields of John D. Rockefeller to the media battlefields of Rupert Murdoch; from the cult-like secrecy of Steve Jobs’ Apple to the galactic ambitions of Elon Musk.
This is not another story about success. This is a story about power—who has it, how they use it, and the secrets they'll do anything to protect. The empires they built are the world you live in. It's time you learned how it was made.
Listen to the official trailer now and subscribe to Billionaire Biographies wherever you get your podcasts.

Episode 1 - Introduction: What is a Billionaire?

What does it mean to be a billionaire? Is it simply a number in a bank account, or is it a level of power that transcends government and borders? This introductory episode sets the stage for our entire series, defining the billionaire not just as a person of wealth, but as an architect of the modern world. We explore how the concept of the billion-dollar fortune is barely a century old, yet it has come to dominate our economy, politics, and culture.
We journey from the Gilded Age tycoons who first amassed these fortunes to the tech titans who command them today. We ask the critical questions: Is it possible to accumulate this much wealth ethically? What is the true source of their power, and how does it affect the lives of ordinary people around the globe? This episode lays the groundwork for the stories to come, establishing the themes of ambition, controversy, and the hidden costs of unimaginable riches.
Join us as we begin our investigation into the most exclusive club on Earth. We will set aside the myths and the glamour to understand what a billion dollars truly represents. This is the prologue to a century of power, money, and control.

Episode 2 - John D. Rockefeller: The Man Who Owned All the Oil

The story of modern wealth begins with one name: Rockefeller. This episode journeys back to the oil fields of Pennsylvania to uncover the origins of John D. Rockefeller, a meticulous and pious bookkeeper who would become the richest man in modern history. We trace his early life, his fanatical attention to detail, and the strategic vision that allowed him to see an empire where others only saw chaos. From his first refinery in Cleveland, a plan began to form that would change the world.
We expose the ruthless efficiency and brilliant tactics Rockefeller employed to begin his ascent. He squeezed rivals through secret deals with railroads, manipulated prices, and pioneered the corporate trust structure to absorb his competition. This wasn't just business; it was a systematic conquest of an entire industry, piece by piece. His quiet demeanor masked a competitive fire that would tolerate no rivals and accept no defeat.
Before he was a symbol of philanthropy or a dynastic patriarch, he was a predator in a world of wildcatters. We reveal the foundational steps he took to build his monopoly, long before the world knew what a monopoly truly was. This is the story of how a man cornered the market on light itself.

Episode 3 - Rockefeller's Monopoly: The Standard Oil Machine

How did one company, Standard Oil, come to control 90% of the American oil industry? This episode dissects the terrifying and brilliant machine that John D. Rockefeller built to achieve total domination. We move beyond the man and into the intricate corporate structure that became his weapon. It was a behemoth of pipelines, refineries, and secret agreements that functioned as a private state.
We reveal the inner workings of the infamous "South Improvement Company" scheme, a secret cartel designed to crush competitors through preferential railroad rebates. We investigate Rockefeller’s use of corporate espionage, predatory pricing, and the powerful legal trust to consolidate hundreds of companies under his absolute control. To oppose Standard Oil was not just to face a competitor, but to challenge an unmovable force that could starve your business of transport, customers, and capital. Many were given a simple choice: sell to Rockefeller for pennies on the dollar or be driven into bankruptcy.
Ultimately, we expose how the Standard Oil machine became the blueprint for every monopoly that followed. It redefined the scale of corporate power and set the stage for a dramatic showdown with the U.S. government. This is the story of a company that became more powerful than the country it called home.

Episode 4 - Rockefeller's Legacy: The Philanthropist and the Devil

John D. Rockefeller spent the first half of his life becoming the most hated man in America, and the second half trying to become its most beloved. This episode explores the great paradox of his life: the ruthless monopolist versus the pioneering philanthropist. After Ida Tarbell’s scathing exposé and the government's breakup of Standard Oil, Rockefeller initiated the greatest act of reputation laundering in history. He set out to give away his fortune with the same strategic precision he used to acquire it.
We delve into his massive contributions to medicine, science, and education, which eradicated diseases and founded world-class institutions like the University of Chicago. Yet, we question the motives behind this generosity. Was it genuine altruism, a calculated PR campaign to save his legacy, or a way to exert a new kind of social control? We expose how his philanthropic endeavors often served his own business interests and promoted a vision of society shaped by the wealthy elite.
His story forces us to ask a difficult question that echoes through our series: can a fortune made through destructive means be redeemed by benevolent ends? We analyze the two faces of John D. Rockefeller, the devil and the saint, to understand the complex and often contradictory legacy of modern wealth. His shadow looms over every billionaire who has followed.

Episode 5 - Andrew Carnegie: The Gospel of Wealth

Andrew Carnegie, the Scottish immigrant who became a steel baron, is remembered as the father of modern philanthropy. He famously declared that "the man who dies thus rich dies disgraced," and he penned "The Gospel of Wealth," an essay arguing that the super-rich had a moral obligation to use their fortunes for the public good. This episode examines the powerful philosophy that shaped his public image and inspired generations of philanthropists.
We explore Carnegie’s vision of a society where the "fittest" businessmen acquire wealth and then administer it for the benefit of all, funding libraries, concert halls, and universities. On the surface, it was a noble idea that positioned capitalists not as hoarders of wealth, but as its most effective distributors. We analyze the profound impact of his giving, which truly did transform the cultural and educational landscape of America and the world. His name is etched onto thousands of buildings, a testament to his generosity.
But was this gospel a genuine moral code or a convenient justification for the brutal methods he used to accumulate his fortune? This episode sets the stage for a dramatic conflict between Carnegie's public philosophy and his private actions. We reveal the man behind the myth, before his gospel was put to its most violent test.

Episode 6 - Carnegie's Inferno: The Homestead Strike

Behind the grand libraries and concert halls lies the blood and fire of Homestead, Pennsylvania. In 1892, the celebrated philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and his ruthless chairman, Henry Clay Frick, decided to break the steelworkers' union at their flagship mill. This episode is an unflinching look at the Homestead Strike, a violent and pivotal conflict that exposed the brutal hypocrisy at the heart of Carnegie's empire. It was a war waged against the very people whose labor had built his fortune.
While Carnegie vacationed in a remote Scottish castle, Frick fortified the mill with barbed wire, sniper towers, and hired the private Pinkerton army to protect the strikebreakers. We recount the bloody 12-hour battle that erupted when the townspeople fought the Pinkertons on the banks of the Monongahela River, resulting in multiple deaths and a declaration of martial law. The incident revealed that Carnegie's "Gospel of Wealth" did not extend to fair wages or the right to organize for his own workers. The man who preached social harmony presided over one of the ugliest labor disputes in American history.
The strike was ultimately crushed, the union was broken, and wages were slashed. Carnegie’s reputation was forever stained, proving that his immense fortune was built not just on steel, but on the subjugation of his labor force. This is the story of the fire that forged a billion-dollar legacy.

Episode 7 - J.P. Morgan: The Man Who Bailed Out America

Before the Federal Reserve, there was one man who held the fate of the American economy in his hands: J.P. Morgan. This episode explores the unprecedented power of the world’s most dominant banker, a figure so influential he could halt financial panics and personally bail out the U.S. government. We examine the Panic of 1907, a severe financial crisis that saw the stock market collapse and banks fail across the country. With no central bank to stop the contagion, Wall Street and Washington turned to Morgan.
We take you inside the legendary late-night meeting at Morgan’s private library, where he locked the nation’s top financiers in a room and refused to let them leave until they agreed to pool their resources and save the economy. It was a display of private power superseding public authority, with one man dictating the terms of America’s survival. We analyze how Morgan’s actions, while saving the country from collapse, also highlighted the immense danger of placing the nation’s financial stability in the hands of a single, unelected individual.
His intervention directly led to the creation of the Federal Reserve System, as politicians realized the country could no longer afford to rely on the whims of one powerful banker. J.P. Morgan was both the savior and the catalyst, a man whose personal gravity was strong enough to bend the entire financial system. This is the story of his ultimate power play.

Episode 8 - Morgan's Empire: The Art of Consolidation

J.P. Morgan didn't just finance industries; he forged them. His true genius was not in invention but in consolidation, a process he called "Morganization." This episode delves into his strategy of eliminating what he despised most—chaotic competition—by merging countless small companies into massive, efficient, and profitable trusts that he controlled.
We investigate his two greatest creations: General Electric, formed from the warring companies of Thomas Edison and his rivals, and U.S. Steel, America’s first billion-dollar corporation, born from merging Andrew Carnegie’s steel empire with its largest competitors. These were not simple mergers; they were masterful displays of financial engineering that created monopolies, stabilized industries, and generated immense fortunes for Morgan and his partners. He believed that competition was wasteful and that centralized control by elite financiers was the only way to ensure industrial progress. His critics, however, argued he was simply a trust-builder, strangling the free market for his own gain.
This episode exposes how Morgan’s philosophy reshaped American capitalism from a landscape of scrappy entrepreneurs into a world dominated by colossal corporations. He was the architect of big business, a man who sat at the center of a web of directorships and financial holdings that controlled the country's industrial core. He didn't just build an empire; he organized the entire economy around his boardroom table.

Episode 9 - Henry Ford: Assembly Line Genius

Henry Ford did not invent the automobile, but he put the world on wheels. This episode explores the revolutionary genius of a man who transformed the car from a luxury toy for the rich into an essential tool for the masses with the creation of the Model T. We dissect the innovation that made it all possible: the moving assembly line. This wasn't just a manufacturing breakthrough; it was a fundamental reorganization of labor, time, and production.
We chart the rise of the Ford Motor Company and the staggering efficiency of its Highland Park plant, where the time to build a car plummeted from 12 hours to just 93 minutes. This efficiency allowed Ford to slash the price of the Model T, making it affordable for his own workers. We also examine his radical decision to pay a "$5 day" wage, double the industry standard, a move that was both a brilliant business strategy to reduce worker turnover and a powerful social statement.
For a time, Henry Ford was hailed as a populist hero, the farm boy who democratized the automobile and created a new middle class. His vision promised a future of prosperity and mobility for all. This is the story of Ford the innovator, the man who perfected the machine that would define the 20th century.