Great Business Stories

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 stud...

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 - we’re talking Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman, David Sacks and many more. And it’s fascinating to recall how these guys started out and nearly didn’t make it There is so much drama in the s...

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...

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  It’s 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 a...

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...

This is the fascinating story of Ivar Kreuger, the most famous Swedish person and probably the most successful business person you’ve never heard of. In his prime during the roaring twenties Ivar built up a fortune worth $100 billion in today’s 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...

New Coke- probably the worst product launch in the history of business.  This is the story of how, in 1985, Coke’s superstar CEO, the man who could do no wrong, decided to replace the 100 year old coke formula with a new sweeter tasting coke. Who was this CEO and what were the reasons that led to this decision? Why was there such an intense backlash? And how did Coke not anticipate the backlash? W...

This was one of the biggest business scandals of the 1980’s 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 respe...

The book "Barbarians at the Gate" is probably the best business story ever told. It’s 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 man...

A great business story thoroughly researched and brought to life by Caemin. New episode released every Wednesday