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Nazi Billionaires: The Dark History of Germany’s Wealthiest Dynasties

The Dark History of Germany’s Wealthiest Dynasties

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Nazi Billionaires: The Dark History of Germany’s Wealthiest Dynasties

By: David de Jong
Narrated by: Michael David Axtell
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About this listen

‘Lucid and damning … an absorbing – and infuriating – tale of complicity, coverup and denial’ PATRICK RADDEN KEEFE, author of EMPIRE OF PAIN

A groundbreaking investigation of how the Nazis helped German tycoons make billions from the horrors of the Third Reich and World War II – and how the world allowed them to get away with it.

In 1946, Günther Quandt – patriarch of Germany’s most iconic industrial empire, a dynasty that today controls BMW – was arrested for suspected Nazi collaboration. Quandt claimed that he had been forced to join the party by his arch-rival, propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, and the courts acquitted him. But Quandt lied. And his heirs, and those of other Nazi billionaires, have only grown wealthier in the generations since, while their reckoning with this dark past remains incomplete at best. Many of them continue to control swaths of the world economy, owning iconic brands whose products blanket the globe. The brutal legacy of the dynasties that dominated Daimler-Benz, cofounded Allianz and still control Porsche, Volkswagen and BMW has remained hidden in plain sight – until now.

In this landmark work, investigative journalist David de Jong reveals the true story of how Germany’s wealthiest business dynasties amassed untold money and power by abetting the atrocities of the Third Reich. Using a wealth of untapped sources, de Jong shows how these tycoons seized Jewish businesses, procured slave labourers and ramped up weapons production to equip Hitler’s army as Europe burnt around them. Most shocking of all, de Jong exposes how the wider world’s political expediency enabled these billionaires to get away with their crimes, covering up a bloodstain that defiles the German and global economy to this day.

©2022 David de Jong (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers
20th Century Business Corruption & Misconduct Europe Germany Military Modern Politics & Government Professionals & Academics War Money Holocaust Leadership Imperialism

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Critic reviews

‘It is impossible to fault de Jong’s fierce indignation in his book. He must be right to urge that the descendants of Hitler’s tycoons should admit their ancestors’ criminality’
Max Hastings, Sunday Times

‘Fascinating … de Jong tells the story with the brisk clarity of the good financial journalist he is and lets the fact speak for themselves. It leaves you awestruck at the power of greed’
Daily Telegraph

‘The author cleverly weaves his astonishing facts and figures into human stories … Its fascinating detail and engaging style make Nazi Billionaires a forceful book, revealing to a wide audience a vital aspect of Germany’s ongoing discussion with itself’
Spectator

‘Lucid, and damning, Nazi Billionaires unearths decades of family secrets and exposes the tainted origins of several of the world's most significant dynastic fortunes. As adept in the archive as he is on the page, de Jong draws on a vast wealth of historical evidence to tell an absorbing – and infuriating – tale of complicity, coverup, and denial, and to unearth the sordid war crimes behind some of today's most vaunted consumer brands’
Patrick Radden Keefe, bestselling author of Empire of Pain

‘Eloquent, thorough, and profound, David de Jong’s brilliant debut illuminates a dark chapter of the past while also shining a stark and uncanny light onto our present, and, perhaps, our near future – showing how an insidious mix of capitalism and fascism can destroy democracy and countless lives. An absolute must-read’
Norman Ohler, bestselling author of Blitzed

‘As riveting as it is disturbing. At times, it felt like reading the anti-Schindler's List: instead of secretly helping the Jews, Germany's most powerful tycoons brutally exploited their suffering for personal profit’
Bradley Hope, bestselling co-author of Billion Dollar Whale

All stars
Most relevant
Nazi Billionaires by David de Jong is an eye-opening, meticulously researched investigation into the hidden pasts of some of Germany’s most powerful and enduring business dynasties. De Jong peels back the layers of corporate legacy to reveal how several wealthy families amassed or protected their fortunes by collaborating with the Nazi regime—often through the exploitation of forced labor and close ties with Hitler’s inner circle.

What makes this book exceptional is its balance of journalistic rigor and narrative storytelling. De Jong doesn’t sensationalize; instead, he lets the facts speak for themselves, presenting archival research and survivor accounts that are both damning and compelling. It’s not just a historical account—it’s a reflection on corporate responsibility, memory, and how history is remembered or deliberately forgotten.

This book is essential reading for anyone interested in World War II history, economic ethics, or the legacies of power and wealth. It challenges us to look critically at familiar names and logos, and to ask hard questions about justice and accountability in the present day. A powerful, important work.

A Gripping and Essential Exposé of Dark Histories Behind Modern Wealth

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Huge thanks to the author for introducing reader to German industrialists who’s children still rule the world today

Important to know these names

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Superbly weaves the detailed connections of all the big family empires right up to this very day

Well researched history of big company empires

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Well researched and written. This book is a journey to the world behind the mirror.

Fascinating dark history

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Remarkable piece of research and writing delivered dispassionately to all the more chilling effect.

Story which deserves the widest audience

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