Henry Ford: Putting the world on wheels
Henry Ford may not have invented the car, or even the assembly line, but he perfected them. His Model T – nicknamed “Tin Lizzie” – made cars affordable for the average worker, not just the rich. He was a master tinkerer, inventor and even introduced the five-day 40-hour work week – better than the six-day grind that was the norm at the time.
But his legacy is a complicated one. He increased wages but crushed unions. Plus he used his popularity to spread antisemitic conspiracy theories. In 1938, Germany’s Nazi regime even gave him a medal for it. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng tell the story of the man whose influence helped push America from farm to factory, shaping roads, suburbs, motels, and malls.
In this special series, Good Bad Dead Billionaire, find out how five of the world's most famous dead billionaires made their money. These iconic pioneers who helped shape America may be long gone, but their fingerprints are all over modern industry - in business trusts, IPOs, and mass production. They did it all first, but how did they make their billions?
Good Bad Billionaire is the podcast exploring the lives of the super-rich and famous, tracking their wealth, philanthropy, business ethics and success. There are leaders who made their money in Silicon Valley, on Wall Street and in high street fashion. From iconic celebrities and CEOs to titans of technology, the podcast unravels tales of fortune, power, economics, ambition and moral responsibility, before inviting you to make up your own mind: are they good, bad or just another billionaire?
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The dead billionaires: What do you think?
What did you think of John D Rockefeller, Henry Ford, Howard Hughes, Sam Walton and Hetty Green? These five titans of American industry include an oil tycoon, a motor magnate, an eccentric aviator, the founder of Walmart, and an unsung... -
Hetty Green: The 'witch' of Wall Street
Hetty Green was America’s richest woman, but was renowned as the nation’s biggest miser. But she built her investment fortune in an era before women could even vote. Journalist Zing Tsjeng and BBC business editor Simon Jack tell the... -
Sam Walton: Walmart’s founder
Sam Walton put discount megastores on the map and built the largest retailer on Earth. He founded Walmart, which now has around 10,500 stores across 19 countries, and 255 million customers a week, thanks to their low prices. They also...