Nelson Peltz

It was Lou.

He was, like, this crusty old guy with a cigar and, uh, you know, he said, "You know, you gonna go into the bagel business, you gotta go out and get this rotary oven, and this thing and that thing," and we just didn't have the money, so we figured ice cream had to be cheaper.

When did you know you had something special? Like, when was it like, "Oh, we have, like, lightning in a bottle"? Like, was it right off the bat? Did it take several months? Did it take a couple years? Like, when did it start clicking for you two?

It definitely took several years.

Illegally?

Well, no, it's, it's legal 'cause Unilever...

Uh, it was illegal for Unilever to sell the rights, but it was not illegal for the guy to buy the rights.

[laughs]

But she was always doing these things.

And I remember When she was 90, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, farm workers in South Florida, said to her, well, we are having a protest in Palm Beach, the little community where you live, against Nelson Peltz, because Nelson Peltz owns Wendy's and is refusing to give the farm workers a penny more per pound.

They make 33 cents per pound.

They want one more cent per pound.

And he will not do it.

And will you protest with us? And she just could not wait.

And she went with 500 farm workers up Tony Worth Avenue, marching, demanding these rights and holding signs with Nelson Peltz's face on them.

You know, he was like a big deal in that society, but she wasn't going to let that stop

You wanna go?" [laughs] And we'd get in the stroller with the kids in the, you know, car and go over and march around, and we marched around for, uh, to end child labor in front of the US Capitol, and the little kids are, you know, crawling under the podium and poking it with their, their, their feet and, um, and we're giving speeches and stuff, and it, it w- she just, like, had this way of integrating everything into the whole.

And I remember when she was i- 90, she was in a wheelchair, and she hated to be seen in a wheelchair, but, um, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, this group of farm workers, were protesting against Wendy's, and the head of Wendy's is called Nelson Peltz, and Nelson Peltz is a big sort of society leader in Palm Beach, Florida.

So they called my mother, and they said, "We're doing a protest against Nelson Peltz along Worth Avenue," which is the big flashy main street with all the fancy, uh, stores on, on Palm Beach.

"Will you come?" And she said, "Absolutely." And then she led hundreds and hundreds of farm workers with signposts against Wendy's and showing Nelson Peltz photograph up Worth Avenue, and, you know, she, like, you can't imagine her being happier.

Mm.

But I also went with her to negotiate freedom for, for far, for, um, political prisoners in Kenya, and I witnessed her talking to the dictator there, um, Daniel Arap Moi.

Even in 2021, it was like $170.

In 2024, this is around the time of the Nelson Peltz situation, it was like $120 something.

And now it just keeps declining.

It used to be like a stock you could guarantee to gain money on.

It's the start of the day, and everyone knows it because of a noise as regular as church bells or a cockerel crowing, the 80 decibel blast of helicopter blades whirring up into the sky at the start of a journey 40-odd miles south to Manhattan.

In the back of his own personal blue and white six-seater Sikorsky helicopter sits Nelson Peltz, a man who is very rich indeed, but who is not popular, at least not in this neighborhood.

For the past decade, he's been flying in and out of town to commute to work, ignoring local regulations and the many, many complaints from his neighbors.

He spots one of them as he glances down from his window.

And I'm Simon Jack, and I'm the BBC's business editor.

And on this episode, we have an American investor with a current estimated net worth of one point six billion dollars, according to Forbes Magazine.

His name is Nelson Peltz.

He's 84 now.