How did a Swedish teenager turn $1 million into a $26 billion music empire while simultaneously pissing off every musician on Earth?
In the Season 5 Finale of History's Greatest Idiots, we explore the spectacular rise of Daniel Ek and Spotify, from teenage web design hustler to billionaire streaming mogul (and all the questionable decisions along the way).
This is the story of how to revolutionize an industry while underpaying the people who make it possible, one fraction of a penny at a time.
DISCLAIMER: We're hosted on Spotify's podcasting platform, so this might be career suicide. But hey, at least we'll go down with receipts!
The Teenage Hustler:
How 13-year-old Daniel Ek was already running a business building websites while you were still figuring out MSN Messenger
Why an 18-year-old millionaire enrolled in university just to dodge a massive tax bill (galaxy brain move)
The moment Daniel realized being a Ferrari-driving millionaire at 23 was... boring
Building the Piracy Killer:
How Spotify was built using illegally downloaded music to convince record labels to license their catalogues
The two-year negotiation marathon that convinced Universal, Warner, and Sony to trust a Swedish start-up
Why the name "Spotify" is actually a complete accident that they pretended was intentional
The Payment Problem:
How Spotify pays artists $0.003-0.005 per stream (that's three-to-five-tenths of ONE CENT)
Why you need 800,000 monthly streams just to earn minimum wage
The 2024 policy that stripped $47 million from small artists and gave it to Taylor Swift, Drake, and major labels
Daniel Ek's tone-deaf advice to struggling musicians: "Just put in the work and create more content" (REM's Mike Mills' response: "Go f*ck yourself")
The Joe Rogan Problem:
Spotify's $200-250 million deal with Joe Rogan (that's more than thousands of musicians earn combined)
The medical misinformation, N-word compilations, and conspiracy theories that came with it
Neil Young's ultimatum: "They can have Rogan or Young. Not both" (Spoiler: They chose Rogan)
The shocking truth about where the money came from: Tencent and Chinese government connections funding America's most controversial podcaster
Spotify genuinely changed music forever. For $10/month, you can access 100+ million songs. That's incredible! They helped kill piracy and made discovering new music easier than ever.
But somewhere along the way, they decided to:
Pay musicians fractions of pennies while spending hundreds of millions on one podcaster
Flood their platform with AI-generated garbage to avoid paying real artists
Take a cut from every stream while claiming they can't afford to pay more
To make minimum wage: Artists need 800,000 monthly streams
Joe Rogan's deal: $250 million (equivalent to 50 TRILLION artist streams)
Spotify's 2024 policy: Songs under 1,000 annual streams get ZERO royalties
Daniel Ek's net worth: $2.5 billion
Average artist per-stream payment: $0.004
Coming in Part Two:
The story gets even wilder. Military drone investments, ICE recruitment ads, Swedish tax battles, and the question everyone's asking: Is this the end of Spotify as we know it?
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How did America's richest family, once worth the equivalent of $200 billion, lose everything in just three generations? In this episode of History's Greatest Idiots, we explore the spectacular rise and catastrophic fall of the Vanderbilt dynasty, from the ruthless Commodore who built a fortune through steamships and railroads, to his descendants who spent it all on mansions, parties, and drinking themselves to death.
This is the story of how to lose $200 billion in 95 years, one absurdly expensive mansion at a time.
What You'll Discover:
How Cornelius "The Commodore" Vanderbilt built America's largest fortune through ruthlessness and refusing to spend money on anything (including his dying mother's medical care)
How his son Billy multiplied the fortune to $200 million (over $200 billion today) in just eight years
The $11 million mansion wars that turned Fifth Avenue into a Vanderbilt showcase
Alva Vanderbilt's $8 million costume ball (equivalent to $300 million today) that bankrupted New York's other wealthy families, trying to compete
How Cornelius II built a 70-room "summer cottage" in Newport that cost $12 million ($450 million in today's money)
Why Reginald Vanderbilt drank and gambled away $10.5 million in just 23 years and died at age 45
How Consuelo Vanderbilt was literally sold to a British Duke for $95 million to buy the family a title
Alfred Vanderbilt's terrible luck with transportation (dodged the Titanic, died on the Lusitania)
The 1973 family reunion where 120 Vanderbilt descendants gathered and not one was a millionaire
How Anderson Cooper and Timothy Olyphant became the last wealthy Vanderbilts by doing something radical: getting a job
From Empire to Museum Tours: The Vanderbilts once controlled 10% of all money in America. They built the largest private homes in American history, threw parties that cost hundreds of millions, and lived like European royalty.
Then they divided the fortune among multiple heirs, built mansions they couldn't afford to maintain, never worked, and spent wildly on gambling, alcohol, and social climbing.
The Mathematics of Destruction: The Commodore left everything to one son (smart). That son split it among eight children (less smart). Those eight split it among dozens of grandchildren (financially suicidal).
By the third generation, the money was so divided that maintaining the lavish lifestyle became impossible. The Great Depression accelerated the collapse, but the real problem was simple: they spent faster than the fortune could sustain.
The Mansions That Bankrupted a Dynasty: One by one, the legendary Vanderbilt palaces were demolished or given away because nobody could afford the property taxes, heating costs, and servants.
The Triple Palace on Fifth Avenue became a shopping plaza. Cornelius II's mansion was torn down after just 40 years. Today, tourists pay $30 to tour The Breakers, the ultimate irony: come see where we used to be rich.
Anderson Cooper's Revolutionary Concept: When Gloria Vanderbilt died in 2019, Anderson inherited $1.5 million (not $150 million, not $15 million). But Anderson is worth $50 million because he earned it as a journalist.
He built his fortune the old-fashioned way: by working. And he plans to give it all to charity, officially ending the Vanderbilt fortune after 150 years.
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Were the Vanderbilts visionary aristocrats building a lasting legacy, or history's most spectacular example of how to lose an unfathomable fortune in three generations?
In this episode of History's Greatest Idiots, we explore the family that controlled 10% of all money in circulation in America and turned it into absolutely nothing through the revolutionary strategy of building 250-room houses nobody needed and throwing $8 million parties to impress people who already hated them.
This is the story of the Vanderbilt dynasty: from ruthless railroad tycoon to 120 descendants without a single millionaire among them in less than a century. Featuring marble palaces, forced marriages to British dukes, and enough champagne-fuelled bad decisions to sink the Lusitania. Oh wait, that happened too.
What You'll Discover:
How Cornelius "The Commodore" Vanderbilt built a $200 billion fortune (in relative economic terms) by being brilliant, ruthless, and too cheap to buy a new coat
Why his son William Henry was the last competent Vanderbilt, doubling the fortune before his descendants set it on fire
The $265 million "summer cottage" with 70 rooms that required 40 full-time servants (The Breakers in Newport)
Alva Vanderbilt's $8 million costume ball that forced New York society to accept them (one guest came dressed as a working lightbulb)
George Vanderbilt's 250-room Biltmore Estate that accidentally became a successful tourist attraction by losing so much money
How Consuelo Vanderbilt was literally sold to the Duke of Marlborough for $95 million and a fancy title
Reginald Vanderbilt's masterclass in drinking and gambling away $400 million in just 23 years
Why Alfred Vanderbilt survived cancelling his Titanic ticket only to die on the Lusitania three years later
The 1973 family reunion where 120 Vanderbilt descendants gathered and not one was a millionaire
How Anderson Cooper became the last wealthy Vanderbilt by doing something radical: getting a job
The Mathematics of Disaster: The Commodore leaves $95 million to one son. That son splits it among eight children. Those eight split it among dozens of grandchildren. Each generation builds million-dollar mansions requiring hundreds of thousands in annual maintenance. None of them work. All of them spend like the money is infinite. Spoiler: it wasn't.
The Gilded Age Arms Race: We explore how the Vanderbilts competed with the Astor's and other old money families by building increasingly absurd monuments to their wealth: Fifth Avenue châteaux that were demolished 40 years later because nobody could afford the property taxes, Newport "cottages" with indoor swimming pools and two-story libraries, and enough marble to build a small Italian village.
Three Generations of Wealth Destruction:
First Generation (The Commodore): Builds empire through ruthless business practices and penny-pinching
Second Generation (William Henry's children): Maintains wealth while building increasingly expensive houses and establishing lavish lifestyles
Third Generation: Drinks it, gambles it, and watches their houses get torn down because they can't afford the heating bills.
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Was Julie Wainwright a visionary CEO caught in impossible circumstances, or did she preside over one of the most spectacularly stupid business models in internet history?
In this episode of History's Greatest Idiots, we explore the woman who sold dog food for one-third of what it cost, shipped it for free, spent $1.2 million on a Super Bowl ad, and somehow convinced Jeff Bezos this was a good idea.
This is the story of Pets.com: the company that proved you could lose $300 million in under two years if you really applied yourself, and the sock puppet mascot that became more famous than the company it represented.
What You'll Discover:
How a Purdue graduate went from early career struggles to running multiple successful tech companies
Why selling heavy pet supplies at massive discounts with free shipping is financial suicide
The massive marketing campaign that created an iconic sock puppet
How 14 dot-com companies spent an average of $2.2 million each for Super Bowl ads in January 2000
Why customer acquisition costs became unsustainable when selling low-margin pet products
The 268-day journey from $11 IPO to $0.19 liquidation (one of the shortest-lived public companies ever)
How Julie's husband filed for divorce the day before she announced the shutdown
The brutal aftermath: being called "the biggest failure in Silicon Valley"
Her incredible comeback with The RealReal (from pariah to billion-dollar IPO)
Why we're repeating the exact same mistakes with AI companies right now
From Super Bowl Glory to Liquidation: Pets.com raised $82.5 million, had Amazon as a 54% investor, appeared in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and became a cultural phenomenon.
But behind the famous sock puppet was a company losing money on every single sale, spending $11.8 million on advertising while earning $619,000 in revenue, and operating on the bold strategy of "lose money on every transaction and make it up in volume."
The Dot-Com Bubble Context: We explore how an entire generation of investors lost their minds, why "get large or get lost" became the mantra, and how $5-7 trillion in market value vanished when everyone realized that businesses actually need to make money. Plus: why Webvan, Boo.com, eToys, and Kozmo.com all failed for the exact same reasons.
The AI Parallel That Should Terrify You: We're living through this again right now. AI companies raising billions on potential rather than profitability, the same "this time it's different" thinking, identical infrastructure challenges, and investors throwing money at anything with "AI" in the pitch deck. History doesn't repeat, but it rhymes like a sock puppet singing Chicago.
Julie Wainwright's story proves that failure isn't fatal, being ahead of your time is often indistinguishable from being completely wrong, and sometimes the universe just needs you to burn $300 million to teach everyone a lesson they'll immediately forget.
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Was Melissa Caddick a financial genius who cracked the code to guaranteed returns, or Australia's most expensive morning jogger who turned fraud into an art form?
In this episode of History's Greatest Idiots, we explore the spectacular rise and mysterious fall of the Sydney socialite who stole $30 million from friends and family, lived like royalty for eight years, and then vanished into thin air.
What You'll Discover:
How a petty check-forger became Australia's most notorious Ponzi schemer
The fake university degrees that launched her fraudulent financial empire
Why she made herself "too exclusive" to attract desperate investors
The $40,000 Aspen hotel stays funded by stolen retirement money
How a chance meeting in a dentist's office brought down her scheme
The federal police raid that triggered her mysterious disappearance
Why her hairdresser husband waited 30 hours to report her missing
The gruesome beach discovery that ended wild conspiracy theories
How victims received only 32 cents for every dollar they lost
From Dover Heights Mansion to Ocean Floor: Melissa Caddick operated without licenses, used 37 fake bank accounts, and fabricated investment statements while living in a $6 million Sydney mansion. Her company Maliver was pure fiction, but her designer handbag collection was devastatingly real.
Through fake credentials and social manipulation, she convinced intelligent people (including her own parents) to hand over their life savings for investments that never existed. Her victims weren't gullible; they were simply unlucky enough to trust a charming sociopath who was willing to steal from family to fund her Louis Vuitton addiction.
The ultimate cautionary tale about financial fraud, family betrayal, and the high cost of living beyond your means.
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Was Norman Bel Geddes a brilliant visionary who shaped modern America, or just a master showman who sold us a dystopian future wrapped in chrome and streamlined curves?
In this episode of History's Greatest Idiots, we delve into the fascinating and troubling life of the man who promised us flying cars, designed the Interstate Highway System, and convinced an entire generation that the future would resemble a 1950s toaster.
What You'll Discover:
How a high school dropout became "the 20th century's Leonardo da Vinci"
The tragic family suicide that shaped Bel Geddes' obsession with perfect futures
Why he changed his name from Norman Geddes to the exotic "Norman Bel Geddes"
The revolutionary theater lighting techniques he invented that we still use today.
How his GM Futurama exhibit at the 1939 World's Fair attracted 27,500 visitors daily
The dark connection between his streamlined designs and eugenics beliefs
Why his beautiful concept cars were never built (but Mussolini offered $200k for them)
How he helped create America's car-dependent urban nightmare
The sophisticated peep shows he designed alongside cities of tomorrow.
From Broadway to Highways: Norman Bel Geddes revolutionized everything from Metropolitan Opera lighting to Chrysler Airflow automobiles. His 1932 book "Horizons" popularized streamlining as a design philosophy, while his "Magic Motorways" inspired the Interstate Highway System that transformed America.
But behind the gleaming vision of progress lurked troubling ideas about human "improvement" and a corporate-sponsored future that prioritized cars over communities.
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When most teenagers are worried about getting their driver's license, David Hahn was busy building a nuclear reactor in his mom's backyard shed using smoke detectors, camping lanterns, and an alarming amount of duct tape.
Meet the "Radioactive Boy Scout" who turned earning a merit badge into a federal nuclear incident.
In this episode of History's Greatest Idiots, we explore the jaw-dropping true story of a 17-year-old Michigan teenager who catfished the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, stockpiled radioactive materials from household items, and successfully built a functioning neutron source that contaminated an entire neighbourhood in what became one of America's most bizarre nuclear accidents.
From dismantling hundreds of smoke detectors for americium to posing as "Professor Hahn" to trick government scientists into sending him nuclear reactor blueprints, David's quest for atomic energy turned suburban Michigan into a Superfund cleanup site and sparked a major nuclear security investigation costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Join us as we dive into how one ambitious Boy Scout's backyard science experiment nearly irradiated five city blocks, fooled federal agencies, and became one of the most terrifying examples of DIY nuclear physics and teenage overachievement in American history.
Spoiler alert: it doesn't end well for the Nuclear Boy Scout.
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Lights, camera, CHAOS! This special greatest hits episode dives into Hollywood's most spectacular celebrity meltdowns and scandals, featuring three legendary movie stars who proved that fame, fortune, and fundamental stupidity make for blockbuster disasters.
RANDY QUAID - From Christmas Vacation to Conspiracy Theories: The talented character actor who went from beloved comedic roles in National Lampoon's movies to starring in his own real-life thriller involving alleged Hollywood assassins, Canadian border crossings, and a persecution complex that would make even the most paranoid conspiracy theorists say "maybe dial it back a notch".
ERROL FLYNN - Golden Age Hollywood's Ultimate Bad Boy: The swashbuckling Robin Hood superstar whose off-screen adventures made his action movies look tame, complete with high-profile trials, Nazi spy allegations, and enough debauchery to scandalize 1940s Hollywood (which took some serious effort).
JOHN BELUSHI - Saturday Night Live Legend's Tragic Downfall: The comedy genius and Blues Brothers star whose explosive energy extended to pharmaceutical experimentation, turning SNL success into a cautionary tale about how quickly brilliance can burn out when mixed with bottomless appetites.
From celebrity courtroom drama to wartime Hollywood intrigue to drug-fueled comedy chaos, these movie legends prove that sometimes the most entertaining performances happen when the cameras aren't rolling and nobody's directing the disaster.
Join Lev and Derek as they count down the greatest hits of Tinseltown's most gloriously idiotic moments in this true crime meets celebrity biography meets so insane it's practically fictional podcast episode.
Perfect for movie buffs, Hollywood history enthusiasts, celebrity scandal lovers, true crime fans, and anyone who's ever wondered how someone can simultaneously entertain millions and completely destroy their lives.
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Sex, drugs, and spectacularly stupid decisions! This special greatest hits episode of History's Greatest Idiots rocks through the most legendary bad choices in music history, featuring four icons who proved that talent and terrible judgment make the perfect rock and roll cocktail.
First up: Rick James, the funk superstar who turned "Super Freak" into a lifestyle philosophy, complete with kidnapping charges, cocaine binges, and the kind of career self-sabotage that makes train wrecks look organized.
Then we dive into Keith Moon, The Who's drummer, whose explosive personality matched his playing style, literally blowing up hotel toilets, driving cars into swimming pools, and somehow making other rock stars say "that guy's too wild for us."
We'll explore Malcolm McLaren, the punk impresario who created the Sex Pistols purely to destroy the music industry, then watched his masterpiece implode when Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious actually meant all that anarchist stuff.
Finally, Morrissey rounds out our line-up: the melancholy maestro whose genius for alienating fans, cities, and entire countries turned him from an indie darling into a professional controversy generator.
From drug-fuelled hotel destruction to punk rock manipulation schemes, these music legends prove that sometimes the biggest disasters happen when brilliant artists meet absolutely zero impulse control.
Join Lev and Derek as they count down the greatest hits of rock and roll's most gloriously idiotic moments.
Perfect for music fans, rock history buffs, and anyone who's ever wondered how someone can be simultaneously a genius and completely insane.
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When you're born into wealth, attend the best schools, and still manage to get kicked out of half of Europe, you might be Karl Marx, the bearded chaos merchant who thought capitalism sucked and spent most of his life borrowing rent money from his contemporary/co-writer/patron Friedrich Engels.
In this episode of History’s Greatest Idiots, we take a cold, sobering plunge into the life of the man who gave us The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital, inspired countless revolutions, and yet somehow couldn’t hold down a job or manage a budget to save his life (or his children’s lives, sadly).
From his toxic academic ego to the world's slowest writing habits and a bizarre refusal to bathe, Marx was less a revolutionary hero and more “guy who ruins the pub chat by quoting Hegel.”
Join us as we explore how a man with brilliant ideas and disastrous follow-through became one of the most influential (and, in many ways, idiotic) figures in modern history.
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When the world is your oyster, sometimes you think, "f*ck that oyster, I want canned tuna instead!" That's the point of view of today's subject, Tim Lambesis: from world conquering album launches with and tours with As I Lay Dying, to critical praise and millions of dollars, everything seemed to be going well for this rock star...then he threw it all away...multiple times.Join us as we look back through the life and career of one of the most infamous modern rock musicians. A man so despised, he's gone through 14 bandmates and 3 wives in 25 years!
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In this Pride Month special, the History’s Greatest Idiots team dives into the nuanced, lesser-told story of Harvey Milk. Yes, he was a pioneering political figure during a time of widespread discrimination and upheaval in 1970s America — but he was also a deeply complex character with a flair for publicity, a relentless political drive, and a ruthless streak that left real collateral damage.From his rise in San Francisco politics to the controversial tactics he used to stay in the spotlight, we explore the myth, the man, and the messy legacy Harvey Milk left behind.👉 Was Harvey Milk a selfless hero or a savvy manipulator who knew how to work the system?👉 How did his assassination shape LGBTQ+ activism forever?👉 And why is it important to look at queer icons with clear eyes, not just through rose-colored glasses?Join us for a thought-provoking episode that challenges the sanitized biopic versions and digs into the contradictions of one of America’s most iconic — and imperfect — political figures.
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What happens when you give someone with ADHD, violent tendencies, and poor impulse control as much fame and money as humanly possible? Predictably, absolute chaos!
Keith Moon is widely regarded as one of the greatest drummers and most iconic rock stars of all time. As part of The Who, he toured the world, lit up every arena he performed in, and created some of the most iconic music of the 20th century.
Even contemporaries like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin admired Keith's presence and skill, while simultaneously being charmed by one of the sweetest and most fun-loving people in music.
But his wild nature, propensity for violent destruction, and crippling addictions led to a lifetime of trouble, sadness, and an untimely death.
Relive the highs and lows of one of the most memorable musicians of all time.
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There's a lot of focus and attention on billionaires nowadays (both good and bad), but one name from The Gilded Age often gets overlooked: Hetty Green.
Called "The Queen of Wall Street" to her face, and "The Witch of Wall Street" behind her back, Hetty built a fortune at a time when investing in stocks and shares was not something women were encouraged to do.
Her ability to generate and maintain wealth was so impressive, she even lent money to the city of New York to keep it afloat during difficult times.
Let's dive into her life and incredible career and fascinating life of America's Richest Woman!
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There is one company that is so synonymous with the 1990s that it has been used as a visual cue for the era in virtually every nostalgia-tinged movie and TV show since it went out of business: Blockbuster Video.
But, despite being a titan of industry and THE go-to store in its niche, the company's demise was as rapid and embarrassing as the brand was iconic.
Wasteful spending, a reluctance to innovate, and paying top executives tens of millions of dollars when the company was struggling to turn a profit, were just some of the many stupid decisions the company had already made by the time it made what many experts consider to be the most catastrophic decision in corporate history: Blockbuster turned down the opportunity to buy Netflix for just $50 million.
Stick around to learn more about one of the most ridiculous corporate downfalls ever.
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This week, we cover someone whose entire (short) career in politics was built on a seemingly never-ending stream of lies. Who could it possibly be?!
Join Lev and Derek for Season 5 Episode 10 of History's Greatest Idiots as they cover the life and career of one of the biggest and most infamous fibbers in the history of U.S. Politics: George Santos.
From his various financial dealings, to his time in politics, to his wild and often malicious lies, no one has left such a massive impact on the political landscape in such a short period of time as George has.
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What could possess one man to come up with the idea to break into an enormous building in one of the most secure and carefully monitored cities on the planet? Greed, ambition, arrogance, and utter stupidity, that's what!G Gordon Liddy spent a lot of his career in the Nixon Administration coming up with insane schemes to discredit Democrats, but breaking into their offices in the Watergate was definitely one of his worst ideas.
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In another, more recent story of human stupidity, we look into the fascinating story of "Dr" Dozy Mmobuosi, whose alleged lies, fraud, and manipulation are so staggeringly obvious that they don't hold up to even basic scrutiny.
From selling 30 million mobile phones to farmers in Nigeria to trying to buy Sheffield United football club, Dozy Mmobuosi claims to have been behind some of the most successful business ventures in Nigerian history. Some are so successful that they have a 600% market share.
How is that even possible you might ask? Well watch this episode and witness one of the weirdest tapestry of lies unravel before your very eyes.
Again this is all just alleged, for now!
https://www.patreon.com/HistorysGreatestIdiots
https://www.instagram.com/historysgreatestidiots
Artist: Sarah Chey
https://www.fiverr.com/sarahchey
Animation: Daniel Wilson
https://www.instagram.com/wilson_the_wilson/
Music: Andrew Wilson
https://www.instagram.com/andrews_electric_sheep
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Ever wanted more money? Why not just make some of your own? That's precisely what Wesley Weber did!
From his early adolescence, Wesley became obsessed with perfecting the art of counterfeiting one of the most complex and secure currencies in the world: the Canadian Dollar.
Follow Wesley's journey from low-level high school prankster, to someone so good at counterfeiting he would probably still be doing it now if he hadn't let his greed and sloppiness destroy his criminal empire.
https://www.patreon.com/HistorysGreatestIdiots
https://www.instagram.com/historysgreatestidiots
Artist: Sarah Chey
https://www.fiverr.com/sarahchey
Animation: Daniel Wilson
https://www.instagram.com/wilson_the_wilson/
Music: Andrew Wilson
https://www.instagram.com/andrews_electric_sheep
Want to create live streams like this? Check out StreamYard:
In this episode you'll hear Derek go rogue and re-tell the story of The Scottish Conman (Gregor MacGregor), and we revisit Lev and Derek asthey look into The Canoeing Fraudster (John Darwin).
Hosts: Lev & Derek
https://linktr.ee/Lev_Myskin
https://linktr.ee/ThatEffnGuy
Artist: Sarah Chey
https://www.fiverr.com/sarahchey
Circus Man by Jeris (c) copyright 2012 Licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/VJ_Memes/37243 Ft: A.M. mews by MommaLuv SKyTower