A paralyzed dropout became a billionaire - then the government destroyed everything he built

Healthcare Scandal Investigations · Jul 22, 2026 · 17m

A paralyzed dropout became a billionaire - then the government destroyed everything he built

Fear and astonishment: a man doctors declared permanently paralyzed at 17 walked out of that prognosis, later chartered twenty-seven Boeing 747s to fly his entire company to Disney, and then watched a federal indictment obliterate a business that had helped 4.5 million people; how did a staircase and a jury verdict lead to those jets? What happened between the conviction that never came and the jobs that never returned?

In this episode, we tell the life and rise of Bill Bartmann and the corporate saga…