The 8 Best Business & Finance Series You Have to Watch
January 3, 2026
7 min read
The world of business, finance and startups is fast-moving, competitive and full of decisions with enormous consequences. Ambition meets pressure, strategy meets ego, and small ideas meet global opportunity — or spectacular failure.
That's exactly why the best business and finance series are so fascinating: they offer a behind-the-scenes look at a world shaped by power, innovation, money and human weakness. For each show, I've included the investing lesson every investor should take away.
If you're interested in negotiations, entrepreneurship, leadership or corporate politics, this selection is perfect for you.
Let's dive in.
All 8 Series at a Glance
- Succession (2018–2023) — A Family Empire on the Edge
- Billions (2016–2023) — Power, Money & High-Stakes Finance
- Silicon Valley (2014–2019) — Tech, Startups & Harsh Reality
- Industry (2020– ) — The New Generation on Wall Street
- The Dropout (2022) — The Rise & Fall of Theranos
- Suits (2011–2019) — Law, Power Plays & Sharp Wit
- Super Pumped (2022) — The Uber Story
- Mad Men (2007–2015) — Advertising, Power & the American Dream
01
Succession (2018–2023) — A Family Empire on the Edge
The Roy family controls Waystar Royco, one of the world's largest media and entertainment conglomerates. When patriarch Logan Roy (Brian Cox) begins to show signs of weakness, the most brutal succession war in TV history begins. Each of his four children believes they're the right one — and none of them truly is.
Succession won 19 Emmy Awards and is widely regarded as the best series of the past decade. What makes it particularly valuable for investors: it shows in real time how corporate governance fails when a founder needs to let go but can't. Every episode is a masterclass in power dynamics, boardroom politics and what happens when a company is run by a family instead of professionals.
The Investing Lesson
Governance matters. Family-run companies can be brilliant (LVMH, Hermès) or toxic (Waystar Royco). The difference: clear succession plans, independent boards and a culture that works beyond the founding family. When investing in individual stocks, always ask: Who runs the company — and what happens when that person leaves? (→ Ride of a Lifetime: What great leadership looks like)
02
Billions (2016–2023) — Power, Money & High-Stakes Finance
A psychological chess match between hedge fund titan Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis) and ambitious prosecutor Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti). Billions offers deep insight into the world of hedge funds: how information advantages are created, how insider trading works, how political power and financial capital depend on each other.
What sets the show apart: it explains complex financial concepts casually and naturally. Short selling, activist investing, merger arbitrage — everything is woven into dialogue without ever feeling preachy. Andrew Ross Sorkin (author of "Too Big to Fail") is a co-creator, and the financial authenticity shows.
The Investing Lesson
The hedge fund world plays a different game than retail investors — with information advantages, leverage and resources we'll never have. Trying to trade like Axelrod ends badly for 99% of individual investors. The better strategy: invest long-term in quality companies and let the hedge fund types play their zero-sum game. (→ Quality Investing: The Turtle Problem)
03
Silicon Valley (2014–2019) — Tech, Startups & Harsh Reality
A painfully realistic look into the chaos of the tech world. Richard Hendricks develops a revolutionary compression algorithm and tries to build a company around it. What follows is a brilliant satire about VC madness, overvalued startups, corporate intrigue and the pressure to scale at all costs.
The show was advised by real Silicon Valley insiders, and it shows. The running jokes about pivots, burn rates, Series A rounds and "changing the world" platitudes are so accurate that tech founders simultaneously love and fear the show. Mike Judge (Office Space, Beavis and Butt-Head) strikes the perfect tone between respect and demolition.
The Investing Lesson
Not every tech company is a good investment — no matter how innovative it sounds. Most startups fail. What matters are sustainable business models with real cash flows, not vision decks with hockey-stick projections. The arvy portfolio contains tech companies that passed this filter: profitable, with moats, compounding for years. (→ The arvy portfolio)
04
Industry (2020– ) — The New Generation on Wall Street
A group of young graduates starts at Pierpoint & Co., a fictional investment bank in London. What begins as a career dream quickly becomes a fight for survival: toxic work culture, 100-hour weeks, moral compromises and the constant pressure to prove yourself — at any cost.
Industry is the most realistic portrayal of modern investment banking culture since Liar's Poker. The third season (2024) was hailed by critics as the best yet, increasingly exploring private equity, ethical investing and whether the financial world has truly changed — or just become better at marketing itself.
The Investing Lesson
The finance industry works for itself — not for you. Investment banks, brokers and traders optimise for fees, bonuses and transactions. As an individual investor, you don't need a broker selling you things. You need a clear plan and low costs. (→ Fees at arvy: Transparent and fair)
Enjoying this list? Every Friday we analyse a quality company in arvy's Weekly — as gripping as these series, but with real numbers and charts. No spam, no sales pressure. → Subscribe to Weekly by arvy
05
The Dropout (2022) — The Rise & Fall of Theranos
The true story of one of the biggest startup frauds of all time. Elizabeth Holmes (brilliantly played by Amanda Seyfried, Golden Globe winner) founded Theranos with the promise of revolutionising blood testing with a single drop. The company was valued at $9 billion. The problem: the technology never actually worked.
What The Dropout shows exceptionally well: how a charismatic founder deceived investors, media and an entire board (including Henry Kissinger and George Shultz) — for years. The series is a masterclass in why due diligence matters more than charisma and why "fake it till you make it" can be lethal in medicine.
The Investing Lesson
Question the hype. Theranos's investors were blinded by a story and never checked the substance. The lesson for every investor: trust the numbers, not the presentation. Real earnings, real cash flows, real products. Everything else is hope. (→ 100-Baggers: What separates real compounders from hype)
06
Suits (2011–2019) — Law, Power Plays & Sharp Wit
A brilliant fraud, a powerful law firm and endless strategic duels. Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) has a photographic memory but no degree — and still gets hired by top lawyer Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) as an associate. What follows: rapid-fire dialogue, major deals and psychological pressure in corporate law.
Suits became the most-streamed show of all time on Netflix in 2023 — years after its original finale. It's not strictly a finance series, but it shows better than almost any other how negotiations, M&A deals and corporate governance work in practice. Harvey Specter's negotiation tactics are legendary — and surprisingly applicable.
The Investing Lesson
In finance as in law: preparation beats improvisation. The best investors make their decisions before the market opens — not in the panic of the moment. A savings plan is the ultimate "prepared" decision: you invest automatically, regardless of what the markets are doing. (→ Set up a savings plan)
07
Super Pumped (2022) — The Uber Story
The story of Travis Kalanick and the meteoric rise of Uber — from disruptor to Silicon Valley's most toxic workplace. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Kalanick as a driven visionary who breaks rules, circumvents regulators and creates a "win at all costs" culture that nearly destroys the company.
What makes the series particularly relevant: it shows the thin line between visionary entrepreneurship and toxic leadership. Kalanick made Uber the world's most valuable startup — and was then fired by his own board. The parallels to WeWork, FTX and other "founder cults" are unmistakable.
The Investing Lesson
Growth at all costs isn't a strategy — it's a risk. Uber burned billions to capture market share and took years to become profitable. The best long-term investments are companies that grow profitably — not those that burn cash and hope it eventually works out. (→ Mastery: Why patience makes the difference)
08
Mad Men (2007–2015) — Advertising, Power & the American Dream
A stylish dive into the advertising world of the 1960s. Don Draper (Jon Hamm) is the creative director at Sterling Cooper, a New York advertising agency. The series explores identity, power, manipulation and the birth of modern marketing — all set against an era of social upheaval.
Mad Men won 16 Emmy Awards and is widely regarded as one of the best-written series of all time. For investors, it's particularly relevant because it shows how brands are built — and why brand power is one of the strongest economic moats there is. Coca-Cola, Kodak, Lucky Strike: the series demonstrates how advertising can make companies immortal.
The Investing Lesson
Brands are one of the strongest moats. Coca-Cola, Apple, Hermès — companies with iconic brands can charge higher prices, retain customers long-term and keep competition at bay. In the quality investing framework, brand strength is one of the five moats that enable long-term compounding. (→ The 5 Moats: Why quality wins)
Conclusion: What These 8 Series Teach Every Investor
These series bring together everything that makes business so compelling: sharp insights into finance, tech, marketing and entrepreneurship, strong personalities and psychological power plays, stories about ambition, innovation and moral questions — and entertainment at the highest level.
The common thread through all 8 shows: The financial world rewards patience, transparency and informed decisions — not hype, shortcuts or toxic cultures. Whether Succession or Silicon Valley, Billions or The Dropout: the characters who win in the long run are those with discipline and clear thinking.
If you want to go deeper after the series: we've also put together the 12 best investment movies and the 38 best investment books — the perfect companions to this list.
"In business as in investing: the tortoise beats the hare." — arvy's Weekly
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This article was written by Seraphin, Investment Analyst at arvy, and reviewed by Florian Jauch, CFA. Last updated March 2026.
Disclaimer: This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute personal investment advice. The series and streaming platforms mentioned are independent recommendations with no commercial partnership. arvy is a wealth manager supervised by FINMA. Imprint & Legal Notice
