It was the autumn of 1996. Jeff Bezos had just raised eight million dollars, putting Amazon’s valuation at around sixty million. Revenue that year was $15.7 million, small yes, but growing at a huge rate and it had caught the attention of two men who’d built an empire out of books the old-fashioned way — Leonard and Stephen Riggio, founders of Barnes & Noble.

Their chain was the heavyweight of American bookselling: hundreds of superstores, nearly two billion dollars in annual sales, and a reputation for crushing smaller rivals.

That autumn, the Riggio brothers invited Jeff Bezos to dinner in New York for what was described as a frank but cordial conversation. They told him they admired what he’d built, acknowledged that Amazon had the early lead online. But, they said plainly, if Barnes & Noble launched its own e-commerce site, their scale and publisher relationships would allow them to “surpass Amazon easily” in both selection and price.

They floated alternatives — a partnership, maybe a strategic alliance, maybe for Bezos to lead Barnes & Noble’s online strategy.

Bezos declined. Steve Riggio left the dinner unconvinced and said after the meeting. “That purely virtual model won’t cut it in the long term.”

Now… to understand how Bezos ended up across the table from the biggest booksellers in America just over a year after setting up Amazon, you have to go back to where it all began.

Throughout my 20’s Weill was a constant presence in the business magazines that I read because he was always doing deals, always adding a little bit more to his growing business and it all added up because by the turn of the century he had built the biggest bank in the world- a remarkable achievement- but he didn’t do it all on his own- he had his protege- Jamie Dimon, without doubt the most influential and powerful banker of the last 20 years. I dig into Weill's early years when he built his first business, sold it and then through acquisitions- some good, some bad, he built the biggest bank in the world with Dimon, we look at his relationship with Dimon, why he sacked Dimon, how that impacted his legacy- it’s a cracking story- enjoy.

I’m sure I’ll come across other people I admire for their business acumen but after researching Dell for this episode, he’s at the top- one of these people who is just brilliant at business

At 16, he made more money in one summer than his teachers made all year.

At 18, he was building computers in a dorm room with sales reaching up to $80,000 some months

By 27 he was the youngest CEO ever to lead a Fortune 500 company. He did it by always thinking about how to consistently eliminate unnecessary steps. 

But he’s tough as well- there were big battles with Carl Icahn where Dell comes out on top. And what I really, really love about Michale Dell is he does it all with no ego, no scandal, no politics- just great business. It’s a cracking episode, enjoy.

Most of us know who Reid Hoffman is- I thought I knew a good bit about him before we did that episode on PayPal, but it was while researching that episode that I found out just how smart and how strategic he is. He was one of the first people in silicon valley to understand the potential of the internet to build social networks- he was one of the very first investors in Friendster and in Facebook and of course he built LinkedIn, selling it to Microsoft for $26 billion. He was a founding investor in Open AI, one of the first investors in AirBnb- this guy has had so  much success but it hasn’t been all plain sailing- he got caught up in his own Jeffrey Epstein story- it’s a cracking episode- enjoy.

He was once the second richest man on Earth — richer than Bezos, Arnault, Buffet. He left school at 15 and over the last 50 years he has built a huge empire spanning ports, power plants, airports, his success fuelled by risk, relentlessness, and a powerful friendship with India’s prime minister.

I knew about Adani for a while but it only when I mentioned him briefly when I was talking about the Hindenburg Group in the episode on Short Sellers that i thought I’d love to cover this guy- and his story is so well worth it- there’s billions, there’s a kidnapping, there’s a terror attack, there’s a lot of alleged corruption- it’s a cracking episode — enjoy.

Black made billions with junk bonds, complex financial engineering, buying bankrupt companies and turning them around- he was aggressive, ruthless and very good at what he did.

He was Michael Milken’s right hand man. After Milken went to jail, Black built Apollo - an asset manager overseeing $850 billion. He bought the painting The Scream for $120 million. And now he’s forced to explain why he paid Jeffrey Epstein $158 million —after Epstein had served jail time.

It’s a cracking episode—enjoy.

I love business stories from any time- as long as it’s full of drama, success or failure, interesting characters, I don’t care if it a year old or 1000 years old, and the Tulip Bubble from the 1700’s has drama in spades- I’ve always wanted to dig into it because tulipmania is remembered as the first market bubble. I mean picture the scene, january of 1637, in taverns across Holland, fortunes were made and lost on flowers that bloomed for just one week a year. Men traded houses, farms, for a single bulb. The story has been told for centuries as the world’s first great financial bubble—the madness of crowds overtaken by financial speculation. It’s a tale of greed, folly, and overnight collapse.

But there’s a twist in this tale and who doesn’t love a good old twist?

It’s a cracking story—enjoy.

Khashoggi has been on my radar since I was a teenager-because he was always in the photos at the best parties- this 5 foot 4, bald Saudi businessman surrounded by the rich, the famous and of course beautiful women. Back then he was described as being one the richest men in the world —  he was certainly the biggest spender. He threw the biggest parties, owned 3 jets and built the world’s most expensive yacht.

But behind the glamour was something darker. He brokered billion-dollar arms deals, sent escorts to charm world leaders, and helped dictators stash their stolen fortunes and as a result, he got caught up in some of the biggest scandals of the 80’s.

Khashoggi was a networker, a fixer, a man who lived on the thin line between business and crime. Presidents, kings, and CEOs all needed him, and that was his ultimate protection. 

It’s a fascinating story- enjoy

I wanted to cover this story because I’m a huge Formula 1 fan—and if you follow F1, you can’t ignore Red Bull.

And I knew the bones of the story, about how Mateschitz took a weird Thai tonic for truck drivers and turned it into a multi billion dollar global empire.

But he did more than just launch a product- he created a whole new category—and then to promote it, he didn’t just attach red bull to extreme sports- Red Bull became a part of extreme sports to such an extent that they created their own extreme sports.

And the most extraordinary thing about it all, and I’m saying this as someone who drinks Red Bull, is that the product itself doesn’t really taste nice- how did he do it?

It’s a cracking episode—enjoy.

it's the story of how two childhood friends bolted a motor to a bicycle — and more or less ignited a cultural revolution because over the next century, Harley-Davidson became a symbol of rebellion, of freedom and of America

But behind  the myth, the company has had a turbulent time. There were strikes, near-bankruptcy, Japanese rivals, political trade wars, and even Warren Buffett riding to the rescue.

Today, Harley is still the most famous name in motorcycles... and yet it’s in dire straits, it’s big bike sales have been dwindling and it’s move to modernise has been disastrous- it just sold 33 of it’s electric bikes in the last quarter

So what happened?

This is the story of Harley Davidson. And it’s a cracking episode — enjoy.