Think like a billionaire part one
6/19/202629 min
Glamorous, rich and well-connected, Julie Meyer was a darling of the dotcom boom. But people who worked with the entrepreneur complain about unpaid wages, debts to suppliers and missing money. Journalist Olivia Lee and the Guardian’s investigations team unravel the complicated story. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
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First 90 secondsJulie Meyer· Soundbite0:00
This is The Guardian.
Helen Pidd· Host0:01
[upbeat music] Today, Think Like a Billionaire, Part 1. The year is 2017 at The Westin Dragonara Hotel in Malta.
Olivia Lee0:24
[upbeat music] It's really grand, very luxurious. It's located on its own private peninsula, five swimming pools, a hair salon, private beach lined with palm trees, you know, idyllic.
Helen Pidd· Host0:37
This luxury hotel is the home of Julie Meyer MBE, dotcom darling, and Dragons' Den star. For the past few months, Julie has been living in the hotel while she grows her business. It's late. A couple of her assistants arrive at the front desk looking panicked.
Olivia Lee0:56
Julie has written this letter, and they hand this letter to the receptionist, and it says something like, "Oh, I've paid a little bit of extra money to let my employees in." The receptionist accepts the letter and hands them the keys to the room.
Helen Pidd· Host1:09
They enter the room and urgently start packing.
Olivia Lee1:13
Julie's also sent an email with detail of what to pack and what to leave behind. So in the email it says, "Take everything in the drawers, under the TV, all shoes in both closets. The second closet close to the window and further from the door has the more important clothes,