Here are a few of his most scathing comments: 
 
 On Credit Reports (April): 5.1 million YouTube views 
 
 “Just one error on your credit report, and suddenly the world treats you like a mean girl treats the high school debate team: ‘You’re nothing, Amberly, you don’t even exist.’" 
 
 On Debt Buyers (June): 7.8 million YouTube views 
 
 “It is pretty clear by now that buying debt is a grimy business and badly needs more oversight. Katsuyama’s IEX battles back by slowing down trading by 350-millionths of a second—a “speed bump” so small that humans don’t notice, but that eliminates high-frequency traders’ edge. Central to Ellis’s case is the huge impact of investment costs. “He’s really building a case for more control over predatory financial institutions,” says Public Citizen’s Weissman. The wage gap, predatory lending, and paid family leave each got the Last Week Tonight treatment during the show’s first two seasons. In most cases the evidence is circumstantial—New York City reformed its bail policy less than a month after Oliver covered the topic, for example. He elaborated on that theme Saturday: 
 
 “The danger of ‘Just live your lives, and the sun will come out tomorrow’ is, that’s true for some people, so it’s very easy to forget that it’s very much not for others. The fee cuts won’t save investors a ton of money; and of course, fund companies love the free publicity they’re getting for it.
– "Financial crusader" John Oliver is riding a horse made of money on the latest cover of Money as its champion of the year. While Oliver recently joked that he's "wasting HBO’s resources," per Vanity Fair, Money notes he dedicated whole episodes of his third season of Last Week Tonight to "complicated subjects critical to Americans' financial health," including credit reports and retirement savings, offering "detailed explanations, investigative reporting, exhortations for viewers to take action, and even practical advice." The millions of viewers who tuned in suggest his approach—similar to "the kind of populist TV journalism made famous by 60 Minutes"—"resonates in a way that personal finance never has before," the magazine says. "The heightened public awareness creates an environment in which it's possible to win reform," says the head of Public Citizen. Indeed, Money credits Oliver with pushing the Big Apple to revamp its bail policy, while noting the FCC issued its net neutrality ruling a few months after Oliver's fans caused its website to crash. "John Oliver shines a light on some really big problems," says Elizabeth Warren. "He makes us laugh and teaches us something, but he also calls on the audience to take action to influence public policy. He helps make change." Money also named 12 other champions of 2016, including the parents who rallied against a spike in EpiPen prices, leading to $500 million in penalties for maker Mylan. (In one episode of his show, Oliver gave away $15 million.)