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

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

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Reviews of Nazi Billionaires

"A provocative group portrait of five industrialists who expanded their fortunes by colluding with Hitler and then, after World War II, walked away with minimal punishment and barely a dent in their bottom lines... In this meticulously researched book, Mr. de Jong, an investigative journalist and former reporter at Bloomberg News, compels us to confront the current-day legacy of these Nazi ties."—The Wall Street Journal

"Lucid, and damning, David de Jong’s 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, cover-up, and denial, and to unearth the sordid war crimes behind some of today’s most vaunted consumer brands."—PATRICK RADDEN KEEFE, New York Times bestselling author of Empire of Pain and Say Nothing, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award

"De Jong’s book, as much as anything, is an intervention in the discourses that surround modern German wealth and its history.... The challenge as de Jong reminds us is to reactualize this history. To continually find new ways to bring it into the present. The result is a fresh and highly readable account. But for me it is less the novel framing of de Jong’s story that I admire than the fact that he has taken up this Sisyphean labour of rolling the heavy boulder of history up the hill again."—ADAM TOOZE, Professor of history at Columbia University and director of the European Institute

"David de Jong’s explosive debut of narrative nonfiction is 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. The fact that some of Germany’s greatest fortunes are deeply intertwined with the ignominies of the Third Reich should be much better known—and thanks to Nazi Billionaires, it will be."—BRADLEY HOPE, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World

"David de Jong’s sleuthing has uncovered a remarkable and upsetting web of connections between the signature evil of the twentieth century and fabulous riches today. With its finely wrought stories of German individuals and families—including Jews who were expropriated—Nazi Billionaires suggests that even today amends have not yet been made for the profits that some reaped in an era of horror."—SAMUEL MOYN, Henry R. Luce Professor of Jurisprudence at Yale Law School and professor of history at Yale University

“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, New York Times bestselling author of Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich

"After reading this book, you will never again slide behind the wheel of a Volkswagen, insure your home with Allianz or reach for a Dr. Oetker pizza in the supermarket without a twinge of unease.... He tells it with the brisk clarity of the good financial journalist he is and lets the facts speak for themselves. It leaves you awestruck at the power of greed."—The Daily Telegraph

"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."—The Spectator

"De Jong is thorough in his tracing of business and personal relationships and sensitive to the complexities of opportunism and collaboration. But the picture he paints is a damning one, pointing to the complicity of those who allowed war crimes to go unpunished." —Booklist

"Scathing … De Jong’s colorful narrative features cutthroat corporate intrigue, sordid kowtowing to Nazi potentates … and a melodramatic feud.... The result is an intimate and vivid history." —Publishers Weekly

"A sturdy account of the financial side of Nazi evil that resonates today ... It’s to de Jong’s credit that he brings many of these events back into the historical spotlight." —Kirkus Reviews

"A detailed, compelling and bone-chilling account." —The Jerusalem Post

"A fast-paced, eminently readable, and well-researched book."—HistoryNet