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 may go to get even richer. Viktor Kožený smooth-talked his super-wealthy Aspen neighbors and a Wall Street titan into investing 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 has been lying low. 

The Pirate of Prague is an Apple Original podcast, produced by Blanchard House. Follow and listen on Apple Podcasts.

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Christmas 1997. Viktor Kožený, a charismatic financial whiz kid from the former Czechoslovakia, throws a lavish party at his $20-million mountaintop mansion in Aspen. It’s so excessive that even his super-rich neighbors are blown away. But what they don’t realize is that their charming host is about to take them for the ride of their lives. 

The Pirate of Prague is an Apple Original podcast, produced by Blanchard House. Follow and listen on Apple Podcasts.

apple.co/pirate

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How it all started: After escaping communist Czechoslovakia, the wily young Viktor orchestrates a trip to America by posing as a physics prodigy. Taken in by a generous college professor, Viktor then runs off with the man’s wife and talks his way into Harvard. Returning to Prague just as communism is imploding, Viktor spots an opportunity that will change his fortunes forever. 

The Pirate of Prague is an Apple Original podcast, produced by Blanchard House. Follow and listen on Apple Podcasts.

apple.co/pirate

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.