While some billionaires build empires, others profit from their destruction. This episode enters the shadowy world of international arms dealing, focusing on two of its most notorious figures: Adnan Khashoggi and Viktor Bout. We first profile Khashoggi, the lavish Saudi arms dealer of the 1970s and 80s who brokered massive weapons deals between the United States and the Saudi monarchy, living a life of unimaginable opulence and becoming a central figure in the Iran-Contra affair.

We then descend into the post-Cold War chaos to tell the story of Viktor Bout, the Russian ex-military officer known as the "Merchant of Death." We reveal how Bout used a fleet of aging Soviet cargo planes to transport weapons to war zones across Africa, Asia, and South America, fueling brutal civil wars and arming some of the world's most violent regimes and terrorist groups. His story culminates in a dramatic DEA sting operation in Thailand that led to his capture and eventual imprisonment in the United States.

These are the merchants of death, the men who turned conflict into a multi-billion-dollar business. Their stories expose the dark, unregulated underbelly of global politics, a world where fortunes are made by fueling humanity's most violent impulses. They are the ultimate profiteers of war.