American Greed

Subjects

American Greed is a CNBC documentary series that examines white-collar crimes like Ponzi schemes and embezzlement. It covers major scandals involving companies such as WorldCom, HealthSouth, and Tyco International, as well as smaller-scale offenses including identity theft, medical fraud, and political corruption. The show has produced three specials: one on Bernie Madoff, another on 9/11-related fraud, and a third focused on mob money. In 2022, CNBC partnered with AMC for a special episode about the fictional lawyer Jimmy McGill from Better Call Saul.

The series also spawned companion programs like American Greed: The Fugitives, which tracked wanted white-collar criminals, and American Greed: Deadly Rich, which covered murder cases among the wealthy. Another companion, American Greed: Biggest Cons, updated earlier stories on figures like Madoff and Martin Shkreli. A mockumentary short titled American Greed: James McGill was released ahead of Better Call Saul’s final season.

Companion series

American Greed has had at least three companion programs, all of which have also been narrated by Stacy Keach Jr. In August 2012, CNBC aired the series American Greed: The Fugitives, which focused on active cases of alleged white-collar crime. The show documented stories of suspects who were still at large and had continued to evade authorities. It lasted 2 seasons, covering 13 cases of financial crimes. After the November 14, 2013, airing of American Greed: The Fugitives #12, viewer tips led to the successful November 26, 2013, arrest of FBI Most Wanted fugitive David Kaup, who had been a fugitive since December 17, 2012, when he failed to appear for sentencing in Los Angeles.

In early 2019, CNBC aired another companion series, American Greed: Deadly Rich, which focused on high-profile murder cases involving the wealthy. On July 15, 2020, it was announced that another companion series titled American Greed: Biggest Cons would premiere on July 20, 2020. When American Greed: Biggest Cons did so premiere, it updated some of the stories the main program had previously featured, such as its profiles of Madoff and Martin Shkreli and its study of William "Rick" Singer's college-admission scheme.

A few weeks before the Better Call Saul season 6 premiere on April Fools' Day 2022, the CNBC Prime YouTube account uploaded American Greed: James McGill. The ten-minute short is a faux documentary done in the same style as the popular series with the same name, and recaps the events of both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. Narrated by Keach, the mockumentary features in-character interviews from several recurring cast members from Better Call Saul, including DA Suzanne Ericsen (Julie Pearl), Deputy DA Bill Oakley (Peter Diseth) and Kim Wexler's former boss Rich Schweikart (Dennis Boutsikaris), as they recount their memories of Jimmy McGill and Kim Wexler.

Also making their reappearances are Craig and Betsy Kettleman (Jeremy Shamos and Julie Ann Emery, respectively), who had not appeared on the series since the first season, but made their last canonical appearance in the short film No Picnic, which was released after the third season.