Billionaires: The Lives of the Rich and Powerful (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781770464483)

An informative and funny deconstruction of how the giants of American capitalism shape our world

In Billionaires: The Lives of the Rich and Powerful, Darryl Cunningham offers an illuminating analysis of the origins and ideological evolutions of four key players in the American private sector--Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, and oil and gas tycoons Charles and David Koch. What emerges is a vital critique of American capitalism and the power these individuals have to assert a corrupting influence on policy-making, political campaigns, and society writ large.

Cunningham focuses on a central question: Can the world afford to have a tiny global elite squander resources and hold unprecedented political influence over the rest of us? The answer is detailed through hearty research, common sense reasoning, and astute comedic timing. Billionaires reveals how the fetishized free market operates in direct opposition with the health of our planet and needs of the most vulnerable -- how Murdoch's media mergers facilitated his war-mongering, how Amazon's litigiousness and predatory acquisitions made them "The Everything Store," and how the Kochs' father's refineries literally fueled Nazi Germany.

In criticizing the uncontrolled reach of power by Rupert Murdoch (in fueling the far right), the Koch Brothers (in advocating for climate change denial), and Jeff Bezos (in creating unsafe working conditions), Cunningham speaks truth to power. Billionaires ends by suggesting alternatives for a safer and more just society.

Author: Darryl Cunningham
ISBN-10: 1770464484
ISBN-13: 9781770464483
Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
Language: English
Published: 05/04/2021
Pages: 272
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.60lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.30w x 1.20d

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 03/01/2021
Publishers Weekly 03/08/2021
Booklist 05/21/2021