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The Documentary Podcast

Super-rich Swedes

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.32.6K Ratings

🗓️ 25 April 2024

⏱️ 33 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Sweden has a global reputation for championing high taxes and social equality, but it has more dollar billionaires, relative to its population size, than almost anywhere else on the planet. Stockholm-based journalist Maddy Savage untangles the rise of the super rich, from the country’s booming tech sector to wealth and taxation policy shifts. She also delves into the deep-rooted cultural norms which can discourage Swedes from celebrating money, and investigates the rise in impact investing, as some of Sweden’s richest business leaders plough their cash into new startups prioritizing social and environmental sustainability. A Podlit AB production.

Transcript

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0:00.0

O'ernight they had almost 10 million dollars on my bank account.

0:04.0

Without shopping like crazy,

0:06.0

exchanged my fake Rolex into real Rolex,

0:09.0

drinking wine I couldn't pronounce,

0:11.0

and I was definitely sure I would reach Nirvana.

0:14.0

For years Sweden's had a reputation as one of the world's most

0:18.0

egalitarian societies thanks to a strong welfare state and a series of center-left governments that

0:25.0

promised to limit the gap between the richest and the poorest. But it's now home to

0:30.5

more dollar billionaires in relation to its population size than almost anywhere else on the planet.

0:37.0

I'm Maddie Savage. I'm originally from the UK, but I've been working as a journalist in the Swedish capital for almost a decade.

0:45.0

And I've spent a lot of time reporting from here in the business district where

0:49.4

Blue Trams trundle past shiny office blocks and minimalist fashion stores.

0:56.0

In this program I'll be sharing the story of a country with a population of just 10 million

1:01.0

that spawned a disproportionate number of big tech, gaming and

1:05.3

investment companies and meeting some of the people who've profited.

1:09.7

20 years ago, to build a fortune you had to do it over generations but now you know you can

1:17.6

make a fortune in like five to ten years.

1:20.8

But this is also a story about the impact of Sweden's new super-rich on the rest of society.

1:27.0

Many of Sweden's billionaires have created jobs and help boost the economy,

1:32.0

yet some argue they're reshaping Swedish values.

1:36.0

We have become more a mentality of winner takes it all,

1:40.0

that if you just play your cards right,

...

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