100 Best Business Biography Books of All Time

We've ranked the best business biography books using expert recommendations, sales data, and millions of reader ratings. At Shortform, we know books. Our book guides are the best in the world. Learn why.

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE book cover1

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE

Phil Knight

5.0
In this candid and riveting memoir, for the first time ever, Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company’s early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands.

In 1962, fresh out of business school, Phil Knight borrowed $50 from his father and created a company with a simple mission: import high-q
Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future book cover2

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

Ashlee Vance

4.8
Elon Musk, the entrepreneur and innovator behind SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity, sold one of his internet companies, PayPal, for $1.5 billion. Ashlee Vance captures the full spectacle and arc of the genius's life and work, from his tumultuous upbringing in South Africa and flight to the United States to his dramatic technical innovations and entrepreneurial pursuits. Vance uses Musk's story to explo
Steve Jobs book cover3

Steve Jobs

Walter Isaacson

4.7
From the author of the bestselling biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein, this is the exclusive, New York Times bestselling biography of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveti
The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon book cover4

The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon

Brad Stone

4.7
The definitive story of Amazon.com, one of the most successful companies in the world, and of its driven, brilliant founder, Jeff Bezos.

Amazon.com started off delivering books through the mail. But its visionary founder, Jeff Bezos, wasn't content with being a bookseller. He wanted Amazon to become the everything store, offering limitless selection and seductive convenience at disruptively low pri
Sam Walton: Made in America book cover5

Sam Walton: Made in America

Sam Walton

4.6
As Sam Walton himself said, this is "...a story about entrepreneurship, and risk, and hard work, and knowing where you want to go and being willing to do what it takes to get there. And it's a story about believing in your idea even when maybe some other folks don't, and about sticking to your guns." It's the story of how Walton parlayed a single dime store in a hardscrabble cotton town into Wal-M
Principles: Life and Work book cover6

Principles: Life and Work

Ray Dalio

4.6
Ray Dalio, one of the world’s most successful investors and entrepreneurs, shares the unconventional principles that he’s developed, refined, and used over the past forty years to create unique results in both life and business—and which any person or organization can adopt to help achieve their goals.

In 1975, Ray Dalio founded an investment firm, Bridgewater Associates, out of his two-bedroom apa
The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company book cover7

The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company

Robert Iger

4.6
A grand vision defined: The CEO of Disney, one of Time's most influential people of 2019, shares the ideas and values he embraced to reinvent one of the most beloved companies in the world and inspire the people who bring the magic to life.

Robert Iger became CEO of The Walt Disney Company in 2005, during a difficult time. Competition was more intense than ever and technology was changing faster th
Trump: The Art of the Deal book cover8

Trump: The Art of the Deal

Donald Trump

4.5
From the Impresario of NBC’s hit show The Apprentice

TRUMP ON TRUMP: “I like thinking big. I always have. To me it’s very simple: if you’re going to be thinking anyway, you might as well think big.”

And here’s how he does it: the art of the deal.

Beginning with a week in Trump’s high-stakes life, Trump: The Art of the Deal gives us Trump in action. We see just how he operates day to day—how he runs h
The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success book cover9

The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success

William Thorndike

4.5
”It is impossible to produce superior performance unless you do something different.” — John Templeton

What makes a successful CEO? Most people call to mind a familiar definition: a seasoned manager with deep industry expertise. Others might point to the qualities of today’s so-called celebrity CEOs—charisma, virtuoso communication skills, and a confident management style. But what really matters w
The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers book cover10

The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers

Ben Horowitz

4.5
A lot of people talk about how great it is to start a business, but only Ben Horowitz is brutally honest about how hard it is to run one.

In The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Ben Horowitz, cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz and one of Silicon Valley's most respected and experienced entrepreneurs, draws on his own story of founding, running, selling, buying, managing, and investing in technology compa
Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. book cover11

Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.

Ron Chernow

4.4
John D. Rockefeller, Sr.--history's first billionaire and the patriarch of America's most famous dynasty--is an icon whose true nature has eluded three generations of historians. Now Ron Chernow, the National Book Award-winning biographer of the Morgan and Warburg banking families, gives us a history of the mogul "etched with uncommon objectivity and literary grace . . . as detailed, balanced, and
The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy book cover12

The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy

William D. Danko

4.4
-Why aren't I as wealthy as I should be?- Many people ask this question of themselves all the time. Often they are hard-working, well educated middle- to high-income people. Why, then, are so few affluent. For nearly two decades the answer has been found in the bestselling The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy, reissued with a new foreword for the twenty-first cent
The Intelligent Investor: The Classic Text on Value Investing book cover13

The Intelligent Investor: The Classic Text on Value Investing

Benjamin Graham

4.4
The greatest investment advisor of the twentieth century, Benjamin Graham taught and inspired people worldwide. Graham's philosophy of "value investing" -- which shields investors from substantial error and teaches them to develop long-term strategies -- has made The Intelligent Investor the stock market bible ever since its original publication in 1949.
The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life book cover14

The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life

Alice Schroeder

4.4
Here is THE book recounting the life and times of one of the most respected men in the world, Warren Buffett. The legendary Omaha investor has never written a memoir, but now he has allowed one writer, Alice Schroeder, unprecedented access to explore directly with him and with those closest to him his work, opinions, struggles, triumphs, follies, and wisdom. The result is the personally revealing
Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration book cover15

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration

Ed Catmull

4.3
“What does it mean to manage well?”
From Ed Catmull, co-founder (with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter) of Pixar Animation Studios, comes an incisive book about creativity in business—sure to appeal to readers of Daniel Pink, Tom Peters, and Chip and Dan Heath. Creativity, Inc. is a book for managers who want to lead their employees to new heights, a manual for anyone who strives for originality, and t
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead book cover16

Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

Sheryl Sandberg

4.3
Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In is a massive cultural phenomenon and its title has become an instant catchphrase for empowering women. The book soared to the top of bestseller lists internationally, igniting global conversations about women and ambition. Sandberg packed theatres, dominated opinion pages, appeared on every major television show and on the cover of Time magazine, and sparked ferocious deb
High Output Management book cover17

High Output Management

Andrew S. Grove

4.3
The essential skill of creating and maintaining new businesses—the art of the entrepreneur—can be summed up in a single word: managing. In High Output Management, Andrew S. Grove, former chairman and CEO (and employee number three) of Intel, shares his perspective on how to build and run a company. Born of Grove’s experiences at one of America’s leading technology companies, this legendary managem
Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger book cover18

Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger

Charles T. Munger

4.3
EXPANDED THIRD EDITION includes Charlie's 2007 USC Law School Commencement address. Edited by Peter D. Kaufman. Brand New.
Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice book cover19

Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice

Bill Browder

4.3
A real-life political thriller about an American financier in the Wild East of Russia, the murder of his principled young tax attorney, and his dangerous mission to expose the Kremlin's corruption.

Bill Browder's journey started on the South Side of Chicago and moved through Stanford Business School to the dog-eat-dog world of hedge fund investing in the 1990s. It continued in Moscow, where Browder
Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose book cover20

Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose

Tony Hsieh

4.3
You want to learn about the path that we took at Zappos to get to over $1 billion in gross merchandise sales in less than ten years. You want to learn about the path I took that eventually led me to Zappos, and the lessons I learned along the way. You want to learn from all the mistakes we made at Zappos over the years so that your business can avoid making some of the same ones. You want to figur
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York book cover21

The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York

Robert A. Caro

4.3
Everywhere acknowledged as a modern American classic, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and chosen by the Modern Library as one of the hundred greatest books of the twentieth century, The Power Broker is a huge and galvanizing biography revealing not only the saga of one man's incredible accumulation of power, but the story of the shaping (and mis-shaping) of New York in the twentieth century.

Robert C
This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor book cover22

This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor

Adam Kay

4.2
Adam Kay was a junior doctor from 2004 until 2010, before a devastating experience on a ward caused him to reconsider his future. He kept a diary throughout his training, and This Is Going to Hurt intersperses tales from the front line of the NHS with reflections on the current crisis. The result is a first-hand account of life as a junior doctor in all its joy, pain, sacrifice and maddening burea
The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power book cover23

The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power

Daniel Yergin

4.2
The Prize recounts the panoramic history of oil -- and the struggle for wealth and power that has always surrounded oil. This struggle has shaken the world economy, dictated the outcome of wars, and transformed the destiny of men and nations.

The Prize is as much a history of the twentieth century as of the oil industry itself. The canvas of history is enormous -- from the drilling of the first wel
Losing My Virginity: The Autobiography book cover24

Losing My Virginity: The Autobiography

Richard Branson

4.2
"Oh, screw it, let's do it."

That's the philosophy that has allowed Richard Branson, in slightly more than twenty-five years, to spawn so many successful ventures. From the airline business (Virgin Atlantic Airways), to music (Virgin Records and V2), to cola (Virgin Cola), to retail (Virgin Megastores), and nearly a hundred others, ranging from financial services to bridal wear, Branson has a track
25

My Lucky Life in and Out of Show Business

Dick Van Dyke

4.2
Dick Van Dyke, indisputably one of the greats of the golden age of television, is admired and beloved by audiences the world over for his beaming smile, his physical dexterity, his impeccable comic timing, his ridiculous stunts, and his unforgettable screen roles.

His trailblazing television program, The Dick Van DykeShow (produced by Carl Reiner, who has written the foreword to this memoir), was
The Wealth of Nations book cover26

The Wealth of Nations

Adam Smith

4.2
In his book, Smith fervently extolled the simple yet enlightened notion that individuals are fully capable of setting and regulating prices for their own goods and services. He argued passionately in favor of free trade, yet stood up for the little guy. The Wealth of Nations provided the first--and still the most eloquent--integrated description of the workings of a market economy.
Hit Refresh book cover27

Hit Refresh

Satya Nadella

4.2
As told by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Hit Refresh is the story of corporate change and reinvention as well as the story of Nadella’s personal journey, one that is taking place today inside a storied technology company, and one that is coming in all of our lives as intelligent machines become more ambient and more ubiquitous. It’s about how people, organizations and societies can and must hit ref
The 1-Page Marketing Plan: Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand out From The Crowd book cover28

The 1-Page Marketing Plan: Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand out From The Crowd

Allan Dib

4.2
WARNING: Do Not Read This Book If You Hate Money

To build a successful business, you need to stop doing random acts of marketing and start following a reliable plan for rapid business growth. Traditionally, creating a marketing plan has been a difficult and time-consuming process, which is why it often doesn't get done.

In The 1-Page Marketing Plan, serial entrepreneur and rebellious marketer Alla
The Elon Musk Blog Series: Wait But Why book cover29

The Elon Musk Blog Series: Wait But Why

Tim Urban

4.2
In 2015, Elon Musk reached out to blogger Tim Urban and asked him if he'd take a crack at explaining Elon's endeavors, and the industries surrounding them, to the world.

Tim accepted, and after extensive meetings with Elon and his staff, he wrote four blog posts that Vox’s David Roberts called “the meatiest, most fascinating, most satisfying posts I've read in ages.”

Here is the whole series, in o
Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business book cover30

Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business

Danny Meyer

4.2
The bestselling business book from award-winning restauranteur Danny Meyer, of Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, and Shake Shack

Seventy-five percent of all new restaurant ventures fail, and of those that do stick around, only a few become icons. Danny Meyer started Union Square Cafe when he was 27, with a good idea and hopeful investors. He is now the co-owner of a restaurant empire. How did he
One Up On Wall Street: How to Use What You Already Know to Make Money in the Market book cover31

One Up On Wall Street: How to Use What You Already Know to Make Money in the Market

Peter Lynch

4.2
THE NATIONAL BESTSELLING BOOK THAT EVERY INVESTOR SHOULD OWN

Peter Lynch is America's number-one money manager. His mantra: Average investors can become experts in their own field and can pick winning stocks as effectively as Wall Street professionals by doing just a little research.

Now, in a new introduction written specifically for this edition of One Up on Wall Street, Lynch gives his take on th
Cable Cowboy: John Malone and the Rise of the Modern Cable Business book cover32

Cable Cowboy: John Malone and the Rise of the Modern Cable Business

Mark Robichaux

4.2
An inside look at a cable titan and his industry
John Malone, hailed as one of the great unsung heroes of our age by some and reviled by others as a ruthless robber baron, is revealed as a bit of both in Cable Cowboy. For more than twenty-five years, Malone has dominated the cable television industry, shaping the world of entertainment and communications, first with his cable company TCI and later
33

The Reckoning

David Halberstam

4.1
"In just 25 years we have gone from the American century to the American crisis," Felix Rohatyn, financier & social critic, sets the theme: the fateful challenge to American industrial supremacy. Five years in the making, THE RECKONING reveals a society that got too rich for its own good, racing thru its postwar prosperity, developing wasteful habits. Finally in the mid-70s it fell prey to an unli
34

How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It

Mark Cuban

4.1
Mark Cuban shares his wealth of experience and business savvy in his first published book, " How to Win at the Sport of Business."
One of the world's wealthiest entrepreneurs, Mark Cuban has collected and updated the greatest material from his popular blog, "blog maverick," to provide a handbook of insider knowledge on what it takes to become a thriving entrepreneur. Cuban's story is a stunning tal
Iacocca: An Autobiography book cover35

Iacocca: An Autobiography

Lee Iacocca

4.1
He's an American legend, a straight-shooting businessman who brought Chrysler back from the brink and in the process became a media celebrity, newsmaker, and a man many had urged to run for president.

The son of Italian immigrants, Lee Iacocca rose spectacularly through the ranks of Ford Motor Company to become its president, only to be toppled eight years later in a power play that should have sha
Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's book cover36

Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's

Ray Kroc

4.1
Grinding It Out is the personal ragtime-to-riches story of Ray Kroc, who at age 52 founded the McDonald's hamburger chain and built it from a single restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois, to an international operation with more than $3 billion in annual sales.
Kroc weaves a fast and fascinating tale of the American dream come true. Of days as a piano player and paper cup salesman—of success and failu
The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt book cover37

The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt

T.J. Stiles

4.1
A gripping, groundbreaking biography of the combative man whose genius and force of will created modern capitalism.

Founder of a dynasty, builder of the original Grand Central, creator of an impossibly vast fortune, Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt is an American icon. Humbly born on Staten Island during George Washington’s presidency, he rose from boatman to builder of the nation’s largest fleet o
Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed book cover38

Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed

Ben R. Rich

4.1
From the development of the U-2 to the Stealth fighter, the never-before-told story behind the high-stakes quest to dominate the skies Skunk Works is the true story of America's most secret & successful aerospace operation. As recounted by Ben Rich, the operation's brilliant boss for nearly two decades, the chronicle of Lockheed's legendary Skunk Works is a drama of cold war confrontations and Gul
Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire book cover39

Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire

James Wallace and Jim Erickson

4.1
This biography chronicles William Gates' rise as the most powerful player in the computer industry--a man who has revolutionized the software industry with the incredible growth of his Microsoft company, that now threatens gigantic IBM. Reveals Gates' personal quirks and idiosyncrasies which helped fuel his fierce competitive spirit. Interviews Gates' closest friends, associates and former employe
40

Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley's Bill Campbell

Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, Alan Eagle

4.1
The team behind How Google Works returns with management lessons from legendary coach and business executive, Bill Campbell, whose mentoring of some of our most successful modern entrepreneurs has helped create well over a trillion dollars in market value.

Bill Campbell played an instrumental role in the growth of several prominent companies, such as Google, Apple, and Intuit, fostering deep relati
Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul book cover41

Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

Howard Schultz, Joanne Gordon

4.1

In 2008, Howard Schultz, the president and chairman of Starbucks, made the unprecedented decision to return as the CEO eight years after he stepped down from daily oversight of the company and became chairman. Concerned that Starbucks had lost its way, Schultz was determined to help it return to its core values and restore not only its financial health, but also its soul. In Onward, he shares the

In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives book cover42

In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives

Steven Levy

4.1
Written with full cooperation from top management, including cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, this is the inside story behind Google, the most successful and most admired technology company of our time, told by one of our best technology writers.

Few companies in history have ever been as successful and as admired as Google, the company that has transformed the Internet and become an indispen
Jack: Straight from the Gut book cover43

Jack: Straight from the Gut

Jack Welch

4.1
Nearly 20 years ago, former General Electric CEO Reg Jones walked into Jack Welch's office and wrapped him in a bear hug. "Congratulations, Mr. Chairman", said Reg. It was a defining moment for American business. So begins the story of a self-made man and a self-described rebel who thrived in one of the most volatile and economically robust eras in U.S. history, while managing to maintain a unique
What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence book cover44

What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence

Stephen A. Schwarzman

4.1
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

From Blackstone chairman, CEO, and co-founder Stephen A. Schwarzman, a long-awaited book that uses impactful episodes from Schwarzman's life to show readers how to build, transform, and lead thriving organizations. Whether you are a student, entrepreneur, philanthropist, executive, or simply someone looking for ways to maximize your potential, the same lessons apply.

People
Trailblazer: The Power of Business as the Greatest Platform for Change book cover45

Trailblazer: The Power of Business as the Greatest Platform for Change

Marc Benioff

4.1
The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance book cover46

The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance

Ron Chernow

4.1
The winner of the National Book Award and now considered a classic, The House of Morgan is the most ambitious history ever written about an American banking dynasty. Acclaimed by The Wall Street Journal as "brilliantly researched and written," the book tells the rich, panoramic story of four generations of Morgans and the powerful, secretive firms they spawned. It is the definitive account of the
47

Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock And Out

Bill Graham, Robert Greenfield

4.1
Gritty, moving, funny, and always fascinating, Bill Graham Presents is the inside story of the explosive and unforgettable man who created the business of rock.

As a child, Bill Graham fled Europe to escape Hitler's armies. He grew up on the streets of New York and in the dining rooms of the hotels in the Catskills. After failing as an actor, he headed for San Francisco right before the Summer of L
Made in Japan: Akio Morita and Sony book cover48

Made in Japan: Akio Morita and Sony

Akio Morita, Edwin M. Reingold, Mitsuko Shimomura

4.1
The outspoken Chariman of the Sony Corporation candidly discusses the rise of Sony, his own extraordinary career as one of the most successful businessmen of our time, and his views on the U.S., Japan, and the world economy.
Built from Scratch: How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew The Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion book cover49

Built from Scratch: How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew The Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion

Bernie Marcus, Arthur Blank, Bob Andelman

4.1

When a friend told Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank that, "You've just been hit in the ass by a golden horseshoe," they thought he was crazy. After all, both had just been fired. What the friend, Ken Langone, meant was that they now had the opportunity to create the kind of wide-open warehouse store that would help spark a consumer revolution through low prices, excellent customer service, and wide

Rich Dad Poor Dad: What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money - That The Poor And Middle Class Do Not! book cover50

Rich Dad Poor Dad: What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money - That The Poor And Middle Class Do Not!

Robert T. Kiyosaki

4.1
In Rich Dad Poor Dad, the #1 Personal Finance book of all time, Robert Kiyosaki shares the story of his two dad: his real father, whom he calls his ‘poor dad,’ and the father of his best friend, the man who became his mentor and his ‘rich dad.’ One man was well educated and an employee all his life, the other’s education was “street smarts” over traditional classroom education and he took the path
The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution book cover51

The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution

Gregory Zuckerman

4.1
Gregory Zuckerman, the bestselling author of The Greatest Trade Ever and The Frackers, answers the question investors have been asking for decades: How did Jim Simons do it?

Shortlisted for the Financial Times/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award


Jim Simons is the greatest money maker in modern financial history. No other investor--Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, Ray Dalio, Steve Cohen, or George S
Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman--Including 10 More Years of Business Unusual book cover52

Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman--Including 10 More Years of Business Unusual

Yvon Chouinard

4.1
In his long-awaited memoir, Yvon Chouinard-legendary climber, businessman, environmentalist, and founder of Patagonia, Inc.-shares the persistence and courage that have gone into being head of one of the most respected and environmentally responsible companies on earth. From his youth as the son of a French Canadian blacksmith to the thrilling, ambitious climbing expeditions that inspired his inno
Shark Tales: How I Turned $1,000 into a Billion Dollar Business book cover53

Shark Tales: How I Turned $1,000 into a Billion Dollar Business

Barbara Corcoran, Bruce Littlefield

4.1
The inspiring true story of "Shark Tank" star Barbara Corcoran--and her best advice for anyone starting a business. After failing at twenty-two jobs, Barbara Corcoran borrowed $1,000 from a boyfriend, quit her job as a diner waitress, and started a tiny real estate office in New York City. Using the unconventional lessons she learned from her homemaker mom, she gradually built it into a $6 billion
Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator book cover54

Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator

Ryan Holiday

4.1
You've seen it all before. A malicious online rumor costs a company millions. A political sideshow derails the national news cycle and destroys a candidate. Some product or celebrity zooms from total obscurity to viral sensation. What you don't know is that someone is responsible for all this. Usually, someone like me.

I'm a media manipulator. In a world where blogs control and distort the news, my
Winning book cover55

Winning

Jack Welch, Suzy Welch

4.1
Jack Welch knows how to win. During his forty-year career at General Electric, he led the company to year-after-year success around the globe, in multiple markets, against brutal competition. His honest, be-the-best style of management became the gold standard in business, with his relentless focus on people, teamwork, and profits.

Since Welch retired in 2001 as chairman and chief executive officer
Living Proof: Onyx Moonshine's Journey to Revive the American Spirit book cover56

Living Proof: Onyx Moonshine's Journey to Revive the American Spirit

Adam von Gootkin

4.1
Living Proof tells the story of how, in just a few short years, Connecticut natives Adam and Pete took Onyx Spirits Company from a start-up concept born in a restored Civil War-era factory to a multimillion-dollar, award-winning spirit distillery by breaking rules, learning from failures, and challenging the status quo.

Business lessons distilled from the mind of a moonshiner include:

Finding your p
57

Capital Gaines: Smart Things I Learned Doing Stupid Stuff

Chip Gaines

4.1
The funny and talented Chip Gaines is well known to millions of people as a TV star, renovation expert, bestselling author, husband to Joanna, and father of 4 in Waco, Texas. But long before the world took notice, Chip was a serial entrepreneur who was always ready for the next challenge, even if it didn’t quite work out as planned. Whether it was buying a neighborhood laundromat or talking a bank
The Unbeatable Legend in Business World: All About Microsoft and How it Became The Most successful enterprise on The Earth! book cover58

The Unbeatable Legend in Business World: All About Microsoft and How it Became The Most successful enterprise on The Earth!

Rahul Doshi

4.1
Liar's Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street book cover59

Liar's Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street

Michael Lewis

4.1
In this shrewd and wickedly funny book, Michael Lewis describes an astonishing era and his own rake's progress through a powerful investment bank. From an unlikely beginning (art history at Princeton?) he rose in two short years from Salomon Brothers trainee to Geek (the lowest form of life on the trading floor) to Big Swinging Dick, the most dangerous beast in the jungle, a bond salesman who coul
How the Internet Happened: From Netscape to the iPhone book cover60

How the Internet Happened: From Netscape to the iPhone

Brian McCullough

4.1
The internet was never intended for you, opines Brian McCullough in this lively narrative of an era that utterly transformed everything we thought we knew about technology. In How the Internet Happened, he chronicles the whole fascinating story for the first time, beginning in a dusty Illinois basement in 1993, when a group of college kids set off a once-in-an-epoch revolution with what would beco
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator: The Classic Novel Based on the Life of Legendary Stock Market Speculator Jesse Livermore book cover61

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator: The Classic Novel Based on the Life of Legendary Stock Market Speculator Jesse Livermore

Edwin Lefevre

4.1
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator is the unforgettable story of the life of Jesse Livermore, one of Wall Street's greatest ever stock speculators.

Loosely fictionalised in 1923 in collaboration with journalist Edwin Lefevre, this is the story of the highs and the lows, the strategies and the street smarts, the epic wins (and sometimes epic losses) that has inspired generations of investors and trad
62

The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop

Dan Charnas

4.1
The Big Payback takes readers from the first $15 made by a "rapping DJ" in 1970s New York to the multi-million-dollar sales of the Phat Farm and Roc-a-Wear clothing companies in 2004 and 2007. On this four-decade-long journey from the studios where the first rap records were made to the boardrooms where the big deals were inked, The Big Payback tallies the list of who lost and who won. Read the se
Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World book cover63

Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World

Liaquat Ahamed

4.1
Winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize

"A magisterial work...You can't help thinking about the economic crisis we're living through now." --The New York Times Book Review


It is commonly believed that the Great Depression that began in 1929 resulted from a confluence of events beyond any one person's or government's control. In fact, as Liaquat Ahamed reveals, it was the decisions made by a small number
Pour Your Heart Into It book cover64

Pour Your Heart Into It

Highbridge

4.1
The success of Starbucks Coffee Company is one of the most remarkable business stories in decades. Since 1987, it has grown from a single retail store on Seattle's waterfront to a company with more than 1,000 stores nationwide and a new one opening somewhere every business day. According to Fortune magazine, Starbucks "has changed everything . . . from our tastes to our language to the face of Mai
Steve Jobs: The Unauthorized Autobiography book cover65

Steve Jobs: The Unauthorized Autobiography

J.T. Owens

4.1
Get a unique insight into the mind of visionary and creative genius Steve Jobs, the iconic entrepreneur and founder of Apple.
One of the most significant innovators and inventors in history, responsible for ringing in the digital age.
Hear his story from his early childhood to revolutionizing the personal computer and handheld industry with the Mac, iPhone, iPad and more..


“I think Steve Jobs is way
Barrel-Aged Stout and Selling Out: Goose Island, Anheuser-Busch, and How Craft Beer Became Big Business book cover66

Barrel-Aged Stout and Selling Out: Goose Island, Anheuser-Busch, and How Craft Beer Became Big Business

Josh Noel

4.1
North American Guild of Beer Writer Award Recipient

Goose Island opened as a family-owned Chicago brewpub in the late 1980s, and it soon became one of the most inventive breweries in the world. In the golden age of light, bland and cheap beers, John Hall and his son Greg brought European flavors to America. With distribution in two dozen states, two brewpubs and status as one of the 20 biggest br
Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution book cover67

Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution

Steven Levy

4.1
A mere fifteen years ago, computer nerds were seen as marginal weirdos, outsiders whose world would never resonate with the mainstream. That was before one pioneering work documented the underground computer revolution that was about to change our world forever. With groundbreaking profiles of Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak, MIT's Tech Model Railroad Club, and more, Steven Levy's Hackers brilliantly ca
American Gun: A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms book cover68

American Gun: A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms

Chris Kyle, William Doyle

4.1
At the time of his tragic death in February 2013, former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, the most accomplished sniper in U.S. military history, was finishing a remarkable book that retoldAmerican history through the lens of a hand-selected list of firearms. Kyle masterfully argues that guns have played a fascinating, indispensable, and often under-appreciated role in our national story.

Kyle carefully chose
How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life book cover69

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life

Scott Adams

4.1
Scott Adams has likely failed at more things than anyone you’ve ever met or anyone you’ve even heard of. So how did he go from hapless office worker and serial failure to the creator of Dilbert, one of the world’s most famous syndicated comic strips, in just a few years? In How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Adams shares the strategy he has used since he was a teen to invite failu
The Birth of Loud: Leo Fender, Les Paul, and the Guitar-Pioneering Rivalry That Shaped Rock 'n' Roll book cover70

The Birth of Loud: Leo Fender, Les Paul, and the Guitar-Pioneering Rivalry That Shaped Rock 'n' Roll

Ian S. Port

4.1
“A hot-rod joy ride through mid-20th-century American history” (The New York Times Book Review), this one-of-a-kind narrative masterfully recreates the rivalry between the two men who innovated the electric guitar’s amplified sound—Leo Fender and Les Paul—and their intense competition to convince rock stars like the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Eric Clapton to play the instruments they built.

In the
Andrew Carnegie book cover71

Andrew Carnegie

David Nasaw

4.1
Majestically told and based on materials not available to any previous biographer, the definitive life of Andrew Carnegie-one of American business's most iconic and elusive titans-by the bestselling author of The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst.

Celebrated historian David Nasaw, whom The New York Times Book Review has called "a meticulous researcher and a cool analyst," brings new life
Confessions of an Advertising Man book cover72

Confessions of an Advertising Man

David Ogilvy

4.1
A new edition of the timeless business classic featured on Mad Men—as fresh and relevant now as the day it was written

"We admire people who work hard, who are objective and thorough. We detest office politicians, toadies, bullies, and pompous asses. We abhor ruthlessness. The way up our ladder is open to everybody. In promoting people to top jobs, we are influenced as much by their character as
Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet book cover73

Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet

Katie Hafner

4.0
Considering that the history of the Internet is perhaps better documented internally than any other technological construct, it is remarkable how shadowy its origins have been to most people, including die-hard Net-denizens!

At last, Hafner and Lyon have written a well-researched story of the origins of the Internet substantiated by extensive interviews with its creators who delve into many inter

Every Tool's a Hammer: Life is What You Make It book cover74

Every Tool's a Hammer: Life is What You Make It

Adam Savage

4.0
MythBusters ’ Adam Savage—Discovery Channel star and one of the most beloved figures in science and tech—shares his golden rules of creativity, from finding inspiration to following through and successfully turning your idea into reality.

Adam Savage is a maker. From Chewbacca’s bandolier to a thousand-shot Nerf gun, he has built thousands of spectacular projects as a special effects artist and t
Learning to Breathe Fire: The Rise of CrossFit and the Primal Future of Fitness book cover75

Learning to Breathe Fire: The Rise of CrossFit and the Primal Future of Fitness

J.C. Herz

4.0
The absorbing, definitive account of CrossFit's origins, its explosive grassroots growth, and its emergence as a global phenomenon.

One of the most illuminating books ever on a sports subculture, Learning to Breathe Fire combines vivid sports writing with a thoughtful meditation on what it means to be human. In the book, veteran journalist J.C. Herz explains the science of maximum effort, why the m
Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change book cover76

Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change

Stacey Abrams

4.0
A previously published edition of this ISBN can be found here.

Leadership is hard. Convincing others—and yourself—that you are capable of taking charge and achieving more requires insight and courage. Lead from the Outside is the handbook for outsiders, written with an eye toward the challenges that hinder women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, and millennials ready to make change.
Wild Company: The Untold Story of Banana Republic book cover77

Wild Company: The Untold Story of Banana Republic

Mel Ziegler, Patricia Ziegler

4.0
In the tradition of Pour Your Heart Into It and How Starbucks Saved My Life, a surprising and inspiring memoir from the founders of Banana Republic.

With $1,500 and no business experience, Mel and Patricia Ziegler turned a wild idea into a company that would become the international retail colossus Banana Republic. Re-imagining military surplus as safari and expedition wear, the former journalist a
Against the Odds: An Autobiography book cover78

Against the Odds: An Autobiography

James Dyson

4.0
The maverick inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner recounts how he succeeded against the odds to become the UK's leading entrepreneur. This inspirational autobiography tells the remarkable story behind James Dyson and his most successful invention to date: the Dual Cyclone bagless vacuum cleaner. With little or no support, Dyson endured years of personal struggle and financial crisis before his u
Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation book cover79

Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation

Blake J. Harris

4.0
"A mesmerizing, behind-the-scenes business thriller that chronicles how Sega, a small, scrappy gaming company led by an unlikely visionary and a team of rebels, took on the juggernaut Nintendo and revolutionized the videogame industry--in development as a feature film from Sony PicturesIn 1990, Nintendo had a virtual monopoly on the videogame industry. Sega, on the other hand, was just a faltering
The King of Oil: The Secret Lives of Marc Rich book cover80

The King of Oil: The Secret Lives of Marc Rich

Daniel Ammann

4.0
Billionaire oil trader Marc Rich for the first time talks at length about his private life (including his expensive divorce from wife Denise); his invention of the spot oil market which made his fortune and changed the world economy; his lucrative and unpublicized dealings with Ayatollah Khomeini's Iran, Fidel Castro's Cuba, war-ravaged Angola, and apartheid South Africa; his quiet cooperation wit
This Is Not a T-Shirt: A Brand, a Culture, a Community--A Life in Streetwear book cover81

This Is Not a T-Shirt: A Brand, a Culture, a Community--A Life in Streetwear

Bobby Hundreds

4.0
The story of The Hundreds and the precepts that made it an iconic streetwear brand by Bobby Hundreds himself

Streetwear exists in that rarefied space where genuine “cool” coexists with big business; where a star designer might work simultaneously with Nike, a tattoo artist, Louis Vuitton, and a skateboard company. It’s the ubiquitous style of dress comprising hoodies, sneakers, and T-shirts that is
Sell It Like Serhant: How to Sell More, Earn More, and Become the Ultimate Sales Machine book cover82

Sell It Like Serhant: How to Sell More, Earn More, and Become the Ultimate Sales Machine

Ryan Serhant

4.0
NATIONAL BESTSELLER USA Today Bestseller Los Angeles Times Bestseller ** Wall Street Journal Bestseller

A lively and practical guide on how to sell anything and achieve long-term success in business

Ryan Serhant was a shy, jobless hand model when he entered the real estate business in 2008 at a time the country was on the verge of economic collapse. Just nine years later, he has emerged as one of
Climate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet book cover83

Climate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet

Michael Bloomberg, Carl Pope

4.0
In 2006, the documentary An Inconvenient Truth set off a heated political debate when it threatened that inaction on climate change would lead to a dark and frightening future by 2016.

Well, that ten year window has closed—and we have neither resolved the threats to our climate, nor gone past the point of no return. To Mayor Bloomberg and Carl Pope, it's clear that to treat climate change as either
iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It book cover84

iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It

Steve Wozniak

4.0
"iWoz traces the life and times of a brilliant, gifted... individual whose contributions to the scientific, business and cultural realms are extensive."—Bookpage

Before slim laptops that fit into briefcases, computers looked like strange, alien vending machines. But in "the most staggering burst of technical invention by a single person in high-tech history" (BusinessWeek) Steve Wozniak invented th
Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products book cover85

Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products

Leander Kahney

4.0
“Different and new is relatively easy. Doing something that’s genuinely better is very hard.” —Jony Ive
In 1997, Steve Jobs returned to Apple as CEO with the unenviable task of turning around the company he had founded. One night, Jobs discovered a scruffy British designer toiling away at Apple’s corporate headquarters, surrounded by hundreds of sketches and prototypes. It was then that Jobs realiz
Bitcoin Billionaires: A True Story of Genius, Betrayal, and Redemption book cover86

Bitcoin Billionaires: A True Story of Genius, Betrayal, and Redemption

Ben Mezrich

4.0
The fascinating story of brothers Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss's big bet on crypto-currency and its dazzling pay-off.

Planning to start careers as venture capitalists, the brothers quickly discover that no one will take their money after their fight with Zuckerberg. While nursing their wounds in Ibiza, they accidentally run into an eccentric character who tells them about a brand-new idea: cryptocu
Negro with a Hat: The Rise and Fall of Marcus Garvey book cover87

Negro with a Hat: The Rise and Fall of Marcus Garvey

Colin Grant

4.0
New in paperback, this groundbreaking biography captures the full sweep and epic dimensions of Marcus Garvey's life, the dazzling triumphs and the dreary exile. As Grant shows, Garvey was a man of contradictions: a self-educated, poetry-writing aesthete and unabashed propagandist, an admirer of Lenin, and a dandy given to elaborate public displays. Above all, he was a shrewd promoter whose use of
The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That is Connecting the World book cover88

The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That is Connecting the World

David Kirkpatrick

4.0
The inside story of Facebook, told with the full, exclusive cooperation of founder Mark Zuckerberg and the company's other leaders.

In little more than half a decade, Facebook has gone from a dorm-room novelty to a company with 500 million users. It is one of the fastest growing companies in history, an essential part of the social life not only of teenagers but hundreds of millions of adults world
The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads book cover89

The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads

Tim Wu

4.0
Feeling attention challenged? Even assaulted? American business depends on it. In nearly every moment of our waking lives, we face a barrage of messaging, advertising enticements, branding, sponsored social media, and other efforts to harvest our attention. Few moments or spaces of our day remain uncultivated by the "attention merchants," contributing to the distracted, unfocused tenor of our time
Nuts! book cover90

Nuts!

Kevin Freiberg

4.0
Twenty-five years ago, Herb Kelleher reinvented air travel when he founded Southwest Airlines, where the planes are painted like killer whales, a typical company maxim is "Hire people with a sense of humor," and in-flight meals are never served--just sixty million bags of peanuts a year. By sidestepping "reengineering," "total quality management," and other management philosophies and employing it
Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built book cover91

Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built

Duncan Clark

4.0
An engrossing, insider’s account of how a teacher built one of the world’s most valuable companies—rivaling Walmart & Amazon—and forever reshaped the global economy.

In just a decade and half Jack Ma, a man from modest beginnings who started out as an English teacher, founded and built Alibaba into one of the world’s largest companies, an e-commerce empire on which hundreds of millions of Chinese c
92

Idea Man

Paul Allen

4.0
By his early thirties, Paul Allen was a world-famous billionaire-and that was just the beginning.

In 2007 and 2008, Time named Paul Allen, the cofounder of Microsoft, one of the hundred most influential people in the world. Since he made his fortune, his impact has been felt in science, technology, business, medicine, sports, music, and philanthropy. His passion, curiosity, and intellectual rigor
An Invisible Thread: The True Story of an 11-Year-Old Panhandler, a Busy Sales Executive, and an Unlikely Meeting with Destiny book cover93

An Invisible Thread: The True Story of an 11-Year-Old Panhandler, a Busy Sales Executive, and an Unlikely Meeting with Destiny

Laura Schroff

4.0
This inspirational New York Times bestseller chronicles the lifelong friendship between a busy sales executive and a disadvantaged young boy, and how both of their lives were changed by what began as one small gesture of kindness. “A straightforward tale of kindness and paying it forward in 1980s New York….an uplifting reminder that small gestures matter” (Kirkus Reviews).

Stopping was never part o
LeBron, Inc.: The Making of a Billion-Dollar Athlete book cover94

LeBron, Inc.: The Making of a Billion-Dollar Athlete

Brian Windhorst

4.0
From the New York Times bestselling author of Return of the King comes the story of LeBron James's incredible transformation from basketball star to sports and business mogul.

With eight straight trips to the NBA Finals, LeBron James has proven himself one of the greatest basketball players of all time. And like Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan before him, LeBron has also become a global brand an
My Years with General Motors book cover95

My Years with General Motors

Alfred Sloan

4.0
My Years with General Motors became an instant bestseller when it was first published in 1963. It has since been used as a manual for managers, offering personal glimpses into the practice of the "discipline of management" by the man who perfected it. This is the story no other businessman could tell--a distillation of half a century of intimate leadership experience with a giant industry and an i
96

The Virgin Way: Everything I Know About Leadership

Richard Branson

4.0
While building the Virgin Group over forty years, Richard Branson has never shied away from seemingly outlandish challenges that others (including his own colleagues on several occasions) considered sheer lunacy. He has taken on giants like British Airways and won, and monsters like Coca-Cola and lost.
Now Branson gives an inside look at his strikingly different swashbuckling style of leadership. L
Fins: Harley Earl, the Rise of General Motors, and the Glory Days of Detroit book cover97

Fins: Harley Earl, the Rise of General Motors, and the Glory Days of Detroit

William Knoedelseder

4.0
The New York Times bestselling author of Bitter Brew chronicles the birth and rise to greatness of the American auto industry through the remarkable life of Harley Earl, an eccentric six-foot-five, stuttering visionary who dropped out of college and went on to invent the profession of automobile styling, thereby revolutionized the way cars were made, marketed, and even imagined.

Harleys Earl’s stor
The Maverick and His Machine: Thomas Watson, Sr. and the Making of IBM book cover98

The Maverick and His Machine: Thomas Watson, Sr. and the Making of IBM

Kevin Maney

4.0
The first complete look at one of America's legendary business leaders

This groundbreaking biography by Kevin Maney, acclaimed technology columnist for USA Today, offers fresh insight and new information on one of the twentieth century's greatest business figures. Over the course of forty-two years, Thomas J. Watson took a failing business called The Computer-Tabulating-Recording Company and transf
Death of the Territories: Expansion, Betrayal and the War that Changed Pro Wrestling Forever book cover99

Death of the Territories: Expansion, Betrayal and the War that Changed Pro Wrestling Forever

Tim Hornbaker

4.0
For decades, distinct professional wrestling territories thrived across North America. Each regionally-based promotion operated individually and offered a brand of localized wrestling that greatly appealed to area fans. Promoters routinely coordinated with associates in surrounding regions, and the cooperation displayed by members of the National Wrestling Alliance made it easy for wrestlers to tr
Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary book cover100

Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary

Linus Torvalds, David Diamond

4.0
Once upon a time Linus Torvalds was a skinny unknown, just another nerdy Helsinki techie who had been fooling around with computers since childhood. Then he wrote a groundbreaking operating system and distributed it via the Internet -- for free. Today Torvalds is an international folk hero. And his creation LINUX is used by over 12 million people as well as by companies such as IBM.

Now, in a narra