BBC World News (TopTV 400 / DStv 400) has commissioned a new 6 part documentary series, Changing Fortunes, which will start in February 2013 and will look at the world's new wealthy at a time when being jet-set rich and conspicuous wealth has become somewhat controversial.
The fall of the Soviet Union, the liberalisation of india and the opening of China have brought vast new markets into the global economy and has created an explosion of wealth from Brazil to Africa as the internet and technology boom continue to generate new fortunes around the world. As a result the rich are not only getting richer but also younger, more female and less Western.
Changing Fortunes on BBC World News will set out to meet some of the innovators, entrepreneurs and business success stories whose fortunes offer a window into our rapidly changing world.
From the Nigerian entrepreneur heading one of Africa's largest energy companies to the world-renowned beauty expert and CEO of a leading US cosmetics company, each episode in the series profiles individuals who will reveal their extraordinary journeys to success.
''Changing Fortunes offers a fascinating insight into the economic history of the last 20 years and the accumulation of wealth," says Mary Wilkinson, the head of commissioning for BBC World News. "All of the individual stories we feature are remarkable and demonstrate that the newly rich are diverse and very global."