How Did Isabel dos Santos Amass A Fortune? | The Luanda Leaks (full documentary) | FRONTLINE + ICIJ
January 20, 2026
348,908
4,313
834
1.48%
Search the Record
IndexedEvery word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
Frontline Episodes Around January 20, 2026
See what was published immediately before and after this episode.
32:25Now PlayingHow Did Isabel dos Santos Amass A Fortune? | The Luanda Leaks (full documentary) | FRONTLINE + ICIJ
YouTube Description
as posted by the channelA 2020 investigation into how Isabel dos Santos, then Africa’s richest woman, built a business empire with access to state funds from Angola, a country with widespread poverty — and the role of U.S. companies. (Aired 2020)
This journalism is made possible by viewers like you. Donate to FRONTLINE now
And support your local PBS station here
The Emmy Award-winning documentary “The Luanda Leaks” — part of a worldwide investigation with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists that drew on a trove of more than 700,000 leaked documents — revealed how Isabel dos Santos made hundreds of millions of dollars thanks in part to her father’s longtime control of Angola’s government.
Despite a history of favorable deals with the Angolan government, dos Santos said she made her fortune on her own merit — and that corruption charges that were levied against her were part of a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
As part of the ICIJ’s reporting, 120 journalists from 36 media organizations in 20 countries spent months examining and verifying dos Santos’ leaked financial and business records, and revealed a paper trail of how she benefited from her position — and how big-name American accounting and consulting firms helped make it possible.
Read more about developments in the U.S. after the film aired
“The Luanda Leaks” is a BBC Current Affairs production for WGBH/FRONTLINE and BBC. The producer and reporter is Evan Williams. The producer and director is James Oliver. The senior producer is Dan Edge.
Explore additional reporting on “The Luanda Leaks” on our website:
#Documentary #Africa #Angola
Subscribe on YouTube
Sign up for our newsletter
FRONTLINE is produced at GBH in Boston and airs nationwide on PBS.
The editor-in-chief and executive producer of FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath.
Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, with major support from Ford Foundation. Additional support for FRONTLINE is provided by the Abrams Foundation, Park Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation, and the FRONTLINE Trust, with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen.
Guests & Subjects Covered
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.