The Pirate of Prague

A charming young Czech promises staggering returns. An entire country’s oil industry is up for grabs. America’s top investors want in. Sounds too good to be true? Damn right it is.

This is a story of private jets, $20,000 dinners and suitcases stuffed with cash. It’s also a tale about the collapse of communism, the free-for-all that followed and the birth of the oligarchs. And it’s a story of plain-old human greed ... of just how far the rich are prepared to go to get even richer. Viktor Kožený smooth-talked his super-wealthy Aspen neighbours and a Wall Street titan into parting with huge sums of cash to snap up Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil company. Host Joe Nocera and investigative journalist Peter Elkind follow the trail, beginning in the Bahamas, where the charismatic financial genius is lying low.