Business Books
- Staff Curator
- Finance
- 19 Jul, 2020
- 19 Jul, 2020
- 10 min read
Biographies of famous tycoons always inspires people and gives hope to excel and learn from the insights shared in books. This post contains the list of books of such tycoons selected by twitterati.
Complied in no specific order on 25 Sept 2020 at 12:10 PM from https://twitter.com/awilkinson/status/1307730730940678144
| Title | Published | Mentions | Votes | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight | NA | 26 Apr 2016 | 87 | 437 | It’s about how Blue Ribbon became the biggest sports brand in the world and renamed itself as Nike. |
| Ride of a Lifetime by Robert Iger | @RobertIger | 23-Sep-2019 | 16 | 21 | |
| Creativity Inc by Ed Catmull | @edcatmull | 8 Apr 2014 | 8 | 27 | isn’t a true business biography but it’s fantastic. Balanced storytelling with practical insight really elegantly. / Not categorically a biography, but goes into great detail about the early days of Pixar. So many actionable lessons about entrepreneurship and operating a creative organization. |
| Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson | @WalterIsaacson | 24 Oct 2011 | 10 | 41 | |
| Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance | @ashleevance | 19 May 2015 | 9 | 17 | |
| The Everything Store by Brad Stone | @BradStone | 15 Oct 2013 | 7 | 77 | Brad makes you feel like you know Jeff B after just a few chapters. He’s a talented author. Some much of what seemed impossible (ridiculous really) in Bezos’ mid 90s vision(s) has for better or worse come to fruition. |
| The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz | @bhorowitz | 4 Mar 2014 | 4 | 1 | |
| The Fish That Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America’s Banana King by Rich Cohen | @richcohen2003 | 5 Jun 2012 | 3 | 122 | About Sam Zemurray and United Fruit |
| Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow | NA | 5 May 1998 | 10 | 89 | |
| Made in America : My story by Sam Walton with John Huey | NA | 1 May 1992 | 8 | 72 | Quick and amazing story with a ton of insights. |
| What It Takes : Lesson in Pursuit of Excellence by Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone | NA | 17 Sep 2019 | 4 | 65 | |
| Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli | @brentschlender @tetzeli | 24 Mar 2015 | 1 | 4 | |
| Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh | @q_tonyhsieh | 1 Jan 2010 | 2 | 59 | |
| That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea by Marc Randolph (Netflix story) | @mbrandolph | 17 Sep 2019 | 5 | 12 | |
| The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Shroeder | NA | 1 Jan 2008 | 4 | 10 | |
| Cable Cowboy: John Malone and the Rise of the Modern Cable Business by Mark Robichaux | @cablecowboy1 | 30 Sep 2002 | 2 | 3 | |
| Am I Being Too Subtle?: Straight Talk From a Business Rebel by Sam Zell | @ShmuelZell | 1 Jan 2017 | 2 | 25 | |
| In-N-Out Burger: A Behind-the-Counter Look at the Fast-Food Chain That Breaks All the Rules by Stacy Perman | @StacyPerman | 12 May 2019 | 1 | 64 | |
| Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard | NA | 1 Jan 2005 | 5 | 69 | |
| Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, Alan Eagle | @ericschmidt, @jjrosenberg, @aeaglejr | 16 Apr 2019 | 2 | 24 | |
| Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time by Howard Schultz | @howardschultz | 1 Jan 1997 | 3 | 64 | About Starbucks |
| I Love Capitalism!: An American Story by Ken Langone (Home Depot) | @realkenlangone | 15 May 208 | 1 | 59 | |
| Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business by Danny Meyer | @dhmeyer | 1 Oct 2006 | 1 | 12 | |
| The Reichmanns: Family, Faith, Fortune, and the Empire of Olympia & York by Anthony Bianco | NA | 28 Dec 1996 | 1 | 9 | |
| When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead: Useful Stories from a Persuasive Man by Jerry Weintraub | @jerryweintraub | 1 Apr 2010 | 3 | 43 | |
| The King of Vodka: The Story of Pyotr Smirnov and the Upheaval of an Empire by Linda Himelstein | NA | 1 Jan 2009 | 1 | 2 | |
| Principles by Ray Dalio | @RayDalio | 19 Sep 2017 | 4 | 18 | |
| Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders by L. David Marquet | @ldavidmarquet | 16-May-2013 | 1 | 1 | |
| The Rebel Billionaire by Ivy Layne | NA | 22 Mar 2017 | 1 | 3 | |
| Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street by John Brooks | NA | 14-Aug-1969 | 1 | 4 | |
| Founders at Work: Stories of Startups Early Days by Jessica Livingston | @jesslivingston | 1 Jan 2001 | 1 | 2 | |
| Maverick: The Success Story Behind the World’s Most Unusual Workplace by Riccardo Semler | @ricardosemler | 1 Jan 1988 | 3 | 60 | @joewadcan- @mojombo gave out this book as part of my GitHub onboarding. Highly recommended! Brazilian business owner Ricardo Semler. The self-managing organization firestarter for many. Still future-forward, even for today (2020). |
| Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler | NA | 31 Oct 2006 | 1 | 3 | |
| Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson | @WalterIsaacson | 1 Jul 2003 | 1 | 7 | |
| The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood by James Gleick | @JamesGleick | 1 Mar 2011 | 1 | 18 | Covers the whole field around Claude Shannon’s work |
| Who Is Michael Ovitz? by Michael Ovitz | @MichaelOvitz | 1 Jan 2018 | 1 | 5 | |
| Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald’s by Ray Kroc, Robert Anderson | NA | 1 Jan 1977 | 2 | 31 | Autobiography |
| The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance by Ron Chernow | NA | 20 Mar 1990 | 1 | 24 | |
| The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty by Julia Flynn Siler | @jsilerauthor | 1 Jan 2007 | 1 | 2 | |
| Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire by ames Wallace, Jim Erickson | NA | 1 Jan 1992 | 1 | 4 | |
| Software: An Intimate Portrait of Larry Ellison and Oracle by Matthew Symonds | NA | 3-Sep-2003 | 1 | 4 | |
| The Wright Brothers by David McCullough | NA | 20 Mar 2015 | 1 | 2 | |
| Little Black Stretchy Pants: The Unauthorized Story of lululemon by Chip Wilson | @ChipYVR | 16 Oct 2016 | 1 | 2 | |
| Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You by John Warrillow | @JohnWarrillow | 1-Feb-2010 | 1 | 2 | |
| Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World by Rand Fishkin | @randfish | 26 Apr 2018 | 1 | 2 | |
| The CEO Factory: Management Lessons from Hindustan Unilever by Sudhir Sitapati | @SudhirSitapati | 17 Dec 2019 | 1 | 2 | |
| Hurricanes: A Memoir by Rick Ross, Neil Martinez-Belkin | https://twitter.com/RickRoss @neil_mb | 3 Sep 2019 | 1 | 1 | Rapper Rick Ross’s story |
| American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company by Bryce G Hoffman | @brycehoffman | 1 Jan 2012 | 1 | 1 | About Alan Mulally’s fight to save Ford Motor Company |
| Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal by Nick Bilton | @nickbilton | 5 Nov 2013 | 1 | 2 | This is a tale of betrayed friendships and high-stakes power struggles as the four founders — Biz Stone, Evan Williams, Jack Dorsey, and Noah Glass. How a “business” as culturally & technologically significant as Twitter could be stumbled upon almost by accident. |
| Miracles Happen: The Life and Timeless Principles of the Founder of Mary Kay Inc. by Mary Kay Ash | NA | 1 Jan 1981 | 1 | 0 | |
| Railroader: The Unfiltered Genius and Controversy of Four-Time CEO Hunter Harrison by Howard Green | @howardgreennews | 18 Sep 2018 | 1 | 7 | |
| No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention by Erin Meyer and Reed Hastings | @ReedHastings | 8 Sep 2020 | 3 | 5 | |
| The Innovation Stack: Building an Unbeatable Business One Crazy Idea at a Time by Jim McKelvey | @2000F | 10 Mar 2020 | 1 | 1 | |
| What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Business Culture by Ben Horowitz | @bhorowitz | 21 Oct 2019 | 1 | 2 | |
| Who Is Michael Ovitz? by Michael Ovitz | @MichaelOvitz | 25 Sep 2018 | 1 | 1 | |
| Irrational Persistence: Seven Secrets That Turned a Bankrupt Startup Into a $231,000,000 Business by Dave Zilko | @ZilkoDave | 6 Dec 2016 | 1 | 8 | |
| Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man’s Fight for Justice by Bill Browder | @billbrowder | 3 Feb 2015 | 1 | 1 | Focusing on Browder’s years spent in Russia and the Russian government’s attacks on Hermitage Capital Management |
| The Outsiders : Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success by William N. Thorndike Jr. | NA | 2 Oct 2012 | 1 | 3 | |
| To Pixar and Beyond: My Unlikely Journey with Steve Jobs to Make Entertainment History by Lawrence Levy | NA | 1 Nov 2016 | 1 | 2 | |
| How to Get Rich: One of the World’s Greatest Entrepreneurs Shares His Secrets by Felix Dennis | @felixdennis | 2 Aug 2007 | 1 | 36 | |
| Plain Talk: Lessons from a Business Maverick by Kenneth Iverson | NA | 1 Oct 1997 | 1 | 2 | |
| Built from Scratch: How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew The Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion by Bernie Marcus, Arthur Blank, Bob Andelman | NA | 27 Apr 1999 | 1 | 2 | [Berne Marcus, Arthur Blank, Bob Andelman] |
