Business History
Business History
Playlist by Business HistoryIt’s the history of business. How did Hitler’s favorite car become synonymous with hippies? What got Thomas Edison tangled up with the electric chair? Did someone murder the guy who invented the movie…32 clip(s) in playlist
The Boy Scout Who Brought us the Age of Disruption
Why have so many tiny start-ups come from nowhere to take down huge established corporations? Is it because the incumbents were dumb? Harvard Business School professor Clayton M Christensen decided to explore these David versus Goliath battles - and came up with a theory to explain why seemingly so…
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Ida Tarbell: The "Muckraker" Who Beat John D Rockefeller and Big Oil
At a time when women couldn't vote or freely enter the workplace, Ida Tarbell took on the richest man in America and triumphed. Ida grew up in the Pennsylvania oil fields of the 1870s, and saw how John D Rockefeller and his company Standard Oil bought or bullied independent firms. Ida's neighbors a…
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"Time is Money": How Ben Franklin's Sayings Created American Capitalism and Grind Culture
Benjamin Franklin had a full life - he was a scientist, statesman, and a Founding Father. But we're looking at the huge impact he had as a writer of best-selling business books. Franklin first picked up the pen as a poor, downtrodden teenager to write satire, but as he became richer and more succes…
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The Founding Father Who Got Rich in the Revolution
Two-hundred-and-fifty years ago George Washington was fighting the Revolutionary War against the British, but Robert Morris doing something just as vital. He was raising money for the fighting and buying the gunpowder, tents, food and uniforms Washington's army needed. Morris had been a merchant …
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The Dumbest Business Ever... Shipping Melting Ice to Calcutta.
Frederic Tudor could get ice any time he wanted. He lived in chilly Boston and his family had a lake that froze over in the winter. Harvesting ice and storing it was a normal thing in New England in the 1800s, but Frederic decided he'd make a fortune if he could ship ice to the warmest places on ea…
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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 borrowed from Krueger. He was crowned "The Match King" and ruled Wall Street in the 1920s. But Kreu…
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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 Jack", he closed down big chunks of old GE and set up new ventures... including GE Capital - which ope…
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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 women - who were forbidden to run companies. None of this stopped Barbe-Nicole Clicquot. When he…
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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 to beat aging and death. Kara Swisher (host of CNN's new series Kara Swisher Wants to Live Forever…
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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 always operated on the principle of unlimited liability - so the people backing up the insurance pol…
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