Updated March 2026 — The ultimate guide to DOAC's most powerful money and wealth episodes
If you've ever searched for the Diary of a CEO best episodes about money, you already know that Steven Bartlett's podcast is one of the richest sources of financial wisdom on the internet. Over hundreds of episodes — each averaging around 1.5 hours of deep conversation — Steven has sat across from billionaires, hedge fund managers, behavioural economists, and self-made entrepreneurs who've shared the raw, unfiltered truth about building wealth.
Unlike the shallow "get rich quick" content flooding social media, these episodes go deep. They explore the psychology of money, the habits of the ultra-wealthy, the mistakes that destroy financial futures, and the mindset shifts that separate those who build generational wealth from those who stay stuck. Whether you're just starting your financial journey or you're already investing and building, these conversations will fundamentally change how you think about money.
We've reviewed every money-related episode on The Diary of a CEO and narrowed it down to the five absolute best. Each one delivers actionable insights you can apply immediately. Here they are.
Morgan Housel — Partner at The Collaborative Fund & Bestselling Author
This episode is arguably the single best conversation about money ever recorded on a podcast. Morgan Housel, whose book The Psychology of Money has sold over 4 million copies worldwide, breaks down why financial success has almost nothing to do with intelligence and almost everything to do with behaviour.
Over the course of 1.5 hours, Housel explains concepts that most finance books never touch: why the highest-earning people often go broke, why "enough" is the most important financial concept you'll ever learn, and why the stories we tell ourselves about money are more powerful than any spreadsheet. He shares the tale of a janitor who quietly amassed an $8 million fortune and contrasts it with a Harvard-educated executive who went bankrupt — all to illustrate that wealth is what you don't spend.
"Getting money and keeping money are two completely different skills. One requires risk-taking, optimism, and putting yourself out there. The other requires humility, fear, and frugality."
If you watch only one episode from this list, make it this one. It will rewire how you think about saving, spending, and investing for the rest of your life.
Steven Bartlett — Entrepreneur, Investor & Host of The Diary of a CEO
In this raw, deeply personal solo episode, Steven opens up about his own financial journey — from growing up in a council house in Plymouth with a family that had no financial literacy, to building and selling Social Chain for hundreds of millions of pounds, to becoming the youngest-ever Dragon on BBC's Dragons' Den.
What makes this episode exceptional is Steven's honesty about the money mistakes he made along the way. He talks about the first time he saw a million pounds in his bank account and felt absolutely nothing — and what that taught him about the relationship between money and happiness. He breaks down the exact mental frameworks he uses for investment decisions, why he invests in people over products, and the "four buckets" system he uses to manage his personal finances.
Steven also addresses the guilt that comes with wealth, the loneliness of financial success, and why he believes financial education should be mandatory in every school. At 1.5 hours, this is one of the most transparent conversations about money you'll find anywhere.
Ramit Sethi — CEO of IWT & New York Times Bestselling Author
Ramit Sethi is the antidote to the "cut out your lattes" school of personal finance. In this fiery, entertaining episode, Ramit argues passionately that most financial advice is fundamentally broken — designed to make you feel guilty about small pleasures while ignoring the massive financial wins that actually move the needle.
Steven and Ramit go deep on the concept of a "rich life" and why it looks different for every single person. Ramit shares his framework for automating finances so that money flows to savings, investments, and guilt-free spending without you having to think about it. He talks about the invisible scripts we inherit from our parents about money — beliefs like "rich people are greedy" or "money doesn't grow on trees" — and how these scripts silently sabotage our financial decisions for decades.
The most powerful segment comes when Ramit discusses couples and money. He reveals that financial disagreements are the number one predictor of divorce and shares the exact conversation framework he teaches couples to use. This episode isn't just about getting richer — it's about building a life where money serves your values rather than the other way around.
Daniel Priestley — CEO of Dent Global & Author of "Oversubscribed"
Daniel Priestley has built and scaled multiple seven- and eight-figure businesses, and in this episode he delivers a masterclass on the difference between earning money and building real wealth. His core thesis is powerful: most people trade time for money their entire lives, but true financial freedom comes from building assets that generate income whether you're working or not.
Daniel breaks down his "Ascending Transaction Model" — a step-by-step framework for turning any skill or expertise into a scalable business that doesn't depend on you showing up every day. He and Steven discuss why most entrepreneurs stay trapped as self-employed freelancers rather than building genuine businesses, and the mindset shifts required to make the leap.
The conversation also covers the concept of "key person of influence" — how positioning yourself as a thought leader in your niche dramatically increases your earning power. Daniel argues that in the modern economy, your personal brand is the most valuable financial asset you can build. Over 1.5 hours, this episode serves as a complete blueprint for anyone who wants to escape the time-for-money trap and build something that compounds.
Codie Sanchez — CEO of Contrarian Thinking & Former Wall Street Executive
Codie Sanchez brought one of the freshest perspectives on wealth-building that the Diary of a CEO has ever featured. A former institutional investor at Goldman Sachs and First Trust, Codie left Wall Street to pursue what she calls "boring businesses" — laundromats, car washes, HVAC companies, and other unsexy cash-flow machines that quietly mint millionaires while everyone else chases tech startups.
In this episode, Codie lays out her entire thesis on why small, boring businesses are the greatest wealth-building vehicles available to ordinary people. She explains how to find businesses for sale, how to evaluate whether they're good deals, and how to acquire them with little or no money down using creative financing structures like seller financing and SBA loans.
Steven pushes back on several points, creating a genuinely compelling debate about whether entrepreneurship or acquisition is the better path to wealth. Codie's answer is nuanced and data-driven: she argues that buying an existing profitable business eliminates the riskiest phase of entrepreneurship entirely. The episode runs a full 1.5 hours and leaves you with a completely new lens on how ordinary people can build extraordinary wealth.
What makes the Diary of a CEO best episodes about money different from other financial content is depth. Steven Bartlett doesn't ask surface-level questions. He pushes his guests to go beyond the talking points and into the raw, uncomfortable truths about wealth. Every episode on this list runs approximately 1.5 hours — long enough to get past the rehearsed answers and into genuine insight.
These aren't episodes about stock picks or crypto tips. They're about the foundational principles of wealth: behaviour, psychology, systems, and the courage to think differently about what money actually means in your life. That's why they remain relevant years after they first aired — because principles don't expire the way market advice does.
We recommend listening to these episodes in order, as they build on each other. Start with Morgan Housel's episode to rewire your relationship with money at a psychological level. Then move through Steven's personal story, Ramit's practical systems, Daniel's business-building framework, and finish with Codie's acquisition strategies. Together, they form a complete financial education that most MBA programmes don't offer.
Take notes. Pause and reflect. And most importantly — take action on at least one insight from each episode within 24 hours of listening. Knowledge without action is just entertainment.
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