Rise of the Billionaires

A small handful of very rich people have come to dominate our society. They are wealthier and more influential than nation states. Their genius, their passions and their foibles move stock markets, transform cities, affect democracy and overturn the way we all think. From Jeff Bezos to Elon Musk, from the Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin to Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg – these are the people who have not only become mega rich, but have reshaped our world, changing our culture, our economic structures and our ways of living in the most profound ways. This series reveals the inside stories of their origins, charting their rise to great wealth, from garages and dorm rooms to private jets and super yachts. With extensive use of rarely seen, evocative archive, in depth interviews with key witnesses, best friends, employees, rivals and commentators, this is the story of naïve dreams gone global – a story of the bizarre twists of 21st century capitalism.