The Match Maker Who Nearly Burned Down Wall Street
Swedish entrepreneur Ivar Kreuger built a fortune selling matches. He used this money to build a world famous financial empire that bankrolled whole countries. France borrowed from Kreuger. Germany bo...
13 Maj 48min
Did "Neutron" Jack Welch Nuke GE?
In 1999, Jack Welch was named "Manager of the Century". As CEO of General Electric for 20 years, Welch transformed the conglomerate and made it the biggest company in the world. Nicknamed "Neutron Jac...
6 Maj 53min
The Widow Who Ruled the Champagne World
Running a wine business in Napoleonic France wasn't easy. Constant wars meant naval blockades stopped you exporting your wares and invading armies might loot your cellars. But it was even harder for w...
29 Apr 40min
The Business of Staying Young and Living Forever (with Kara Swisher)
Kings and emperors spent fortunes pursuing the secret of eternal youth - but now it's tech billionaires who want to live forever and are funding research into scientific (and not-so-scientific) ways t...
22 Apr 42min
Sinking the Global Economy: The Lloyds of London Story Part II
In the 1980s, Lloyds of London insured satellites, rock singers' voices and the legs of sports stars. Everyone was having fun and making money - but disaster was just around the corner. Lloyds had al...
15 Apr 39min
The Insurers Who ALWAYS Paid Out: The Lloyds of London Story Part I
Edward Lloyd opened a coffee shop near the River Thames in the 1680s - it became a place where ship owners and money men rubbed shoulders and a trade in marine insurance sprang up. The coffee-drinkin...
8 Apr 32min
Betting on Taylor Swift or Who'll Be Made Pope: The Past and Present of Prediction Markets
A live mash-up between Business History and Bloomberg's Everybody's Business. On platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket you can bet on just about anything - from Taylor Swift's album sales to whether Pr...
25 Mars 36min
Bowie, McCartney & Michael Jackson: How Songwriters Learned to Play Hardball
Once if you wrote a hit song there was no guarantee it would make you rich. So songwriters formed a cartel - the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. ASCAP started suing concert hall...
18 Mars 45min
