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The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life
By Alice Schroeder. 2009
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 and complete biography of the man known everywhere as "The Oracle of Omaha."Although the media track him constantly, Buffett himself has never told his full life story. His reality is private, especially by celebrity standards. Indeed, while the homespun persona that the public sees is true as far as it goes, it goes only so far. Warren Buffett is an array of paradoxes. He set out to prove that nice guys can finish first. Over the years he treated his investors as partners, acted as their steward, and championed honesty as an investor, CEO, board member, essayist, and speaker. At the same time he became the world's richest man, all from the modest Omaha headquarters of his company Berkshire Hathaway. None of this fits the term "simple."When Alice Schroeder met Warren Buffett she was an insurance industry analyst and a gifted writer known for her keen perception and business acumen. Her writings on finance impressed him, and as she came to know him she realized that while much had been written on the subject of his investing style, no one had moved beyond that to explore his larger philosophy, which is bound up in a complex personality and the details of his life. Out of this came his decision to cooperate with her on the book about himself that he would never write.Never before has Buffett spent countless hours responding to a writer's questions, talking, giving complete access to his wife, children, friends, and business associates--opening his files, recalling his childhood. It was an act of courage, as The Snowball makes immensely clear. Being human, his own life, like most lives, has been a mix of strengths and frailties. Yet notable though his wealth may be, Buffett's legacy will not be his ranking on the scorecard of wealth; it will be his principles and ideas that have enriched people's lives. This book tells you why Warren Buffett is the most fascinating American success story of our time.From the Hardcover edition.Self-help Messiah
By Steven Watts. 2013
An illuminating biography of the man who taught Americans "how to win friends and influence people" Before Stephen Covey, Oprah…
Winfrey, and Malcolm Gladwell there was Dale Carnegie. His book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, became a best seller worldwide, and Life magazine named him one of "the most important Americans of the twentieth century." This is the first full-scale biography of this influential figure. Dale Carnegie was born in rural Missouri, his father a poor farmer, his mother a successful preacher. To make ends meet he tried his hand at various sales jobs, and his failure to convince his customers to buy what he had to offer eventually became the fuel behind his future glory. Carnegie quickly figured out that something was amiss in American education and in the ways businesspeople related to each other. What he discovered was as simple as it was profound: Understanding people's needs and desires is paramount in any successful enterprise. Carnegie conceived his book to help people learn to relate to one another and enrich their lives through effective communication. His success was extraordinary, so hungry was 1920s America for a little psychological insight that was easy to apply to everyday affairs. Self-help Messiah tells the story of Carnegie's personal journey and how it gave rise to the movement of self-help and personal reinvention.Ugly Beauty
By Ruth Brandon. 2011
Thanks to a combination of business savvy, breathtaking chutzpah, and lucky timing, Helena Rubinstein managed to transform herself from a…
poor Polish emigrant to the world's first self-made female tycoon. She went from selling homemade "Crème Valaze" out of her house in Australia to becoming an international cosmetics magnate. Tiny and plump, wearing extravagant jewels and spiked heels, she was a fixture of upper-crust New York for many years. She was larger than life, and never took no for an answer: when she was refused from a New York City apartment on the grounds that she was Jewish, she went ahead and bought the whole building and promptly moved in.The story of Eugène Schueller and L'Oréal begins in 1907, in a dingy working-class part of Paris, where a young Schueller sat at his family's kitchen table trying to develop the first harmless artificial hair dye. The tale of how L'Oréal went from that point to the world's largest cosmetics company is fascinating and full of intrigue, with a little of everything: fascist assassins, bitter unmaskings, political scandals. In 1988, although Schueller and Rubinstein had long since passed away, their worlds collided when L'Oréal bought Rubinstein's company -- leading to a series of scandals that threw a new and sinister light on L'Oréal. For starters, Rubinstein was Jewish, but Schueller and many other top L'Oréal executives had been active Nazi collaborators. What came to light threatened the reputations of some of France's most powerful men - up to and including its president.This is a powerful, dramatic, and largely untold story about the ugly truth behind a beauty empire.From the Hardcover edition.Street Freak: Money and Madness at Lehman Brothers
By Jared Dillian. 2011
When Jared Dillian joined Lehman Brothers in 2001, he fulfilled a life-long dream to make it on Wall Street--but he…
had no idea how close to the edge the job would take him. Like Michael Lewis's classic Liar's Poker, Jared Dillian's Street Freak takes readers behind the scenes of the legendary Lehman Brothers, exposing its outrageous and often hilarious corporate culture. In this ultracompetitive Ivy League world where men would flip over each other's ties to check out the labels (also known as the "Lehman Handshake"), Dillian was an outsider as an ex-military, working-class guy in a Men's Wearhouse suit. But he was scrappy and determined; in interviews he told potential managers that, "Nobody can work harder than me. Nobody is willing to put in the hours I will put in. I am insane." As it turned out, on Wall Street insanity is not an undesirable quality. Dillian rose from green associate, checking IDs at the entrance to the trading floor in the paranoid days following 9/11, to become an integral part of Lehman's culture in its final years as the firm's head Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) trader. More than $1 trillion in wealth passed through his hands, but at the cost of an untold number of smashed telephones and tape dispensers. Over time, the exhilarating and explosively stressful job took its toll on him. The extreme highs and lows of the trading floor masked and exacerbated the symptoms of Dillian's undiagnosed bipolar and obsessive compulsive disorders, leading to a downward spiral that eventually landed him in a psychiatric ward. Dillian put his life back together, returning to work healthier than ever before, but Lehman itself had seemingly gone mad, having made outrageous bets on commercial real estate, and was quickly headed for self-destruction. A raucous account of the final years of Lehman Brothers, from 9/11 at its World Financial Center offices through the firm's bankruptcy, including vivid portraits of trading-floor culture, the financial meltdown, and the company's ultimate collapse, Street Freak is a raw, visceral, and wholly original memoir of life inside the belly of the beast during the most tumultuous time in financial history. In his electrifying and fresh voice, Dillian takes readers on a wild ride through madness and back, both inside Lehman Brothers and himself.How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life
By Lilly Singh. 2017
From the 2017 People's Choice Award winner for Favorite YouTube Star comes the definitive guide to being a bawse: a…
person who exudes confidence, hustles relentlessly and smiles genuinely because he or she has fought through it all and made it out the other side.Lilly Singh isn't just a superstar. She's Superwoman—which is also the name of her wildly popular YouTube channel. Funny, smart and insightful, the actress and comedian covers topics ranging from relationships to career choices to everyday annoyances. It's no wonder she's garnered more than a billion views. But Lilly didn't get to the top by being lucky—she had to work for it. Hard.Now Lilly wants to share the lessons she learned while taking the world by storm, and the tools she used to do it. How to Be a Bawse is the definitive guide to conquering life. Make no mistake, there are no shortcuts to success, personal or professional. World domination requires real effort, dedication and determination. Just consider Lilly a personal trainer for your life—with fifty rules to get you in the game, including:• Let Go of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out): Temptation will try to steer you away from your goals. FOMO is just a test of your priorities, a test that a bawse is ready to pass.• Be Nice to People: Treat niceness like an item on your daily to-do list. People will go out of their way to help and support you because you make them feel good.• Schedule Inspiration: Lack of motivation isn't permanent or a sign of weakness. Expect it and proactively schedule time to be creative. • Be the Dumbest: Challenge yourself by surrounding yourself with people who know more than you do. It's a vital way to learn and improve. Told in Lilly's hilarious, bold voice and packed with photos and candid stories from her journey to the top, How to Be a Bawse will make you love your life and yourself—even more than you love Beyoncé. (Yes, we said it!) WARNING: This book does not include hopeful thoughts, lucky charms or cute quotes. That's because success, happiness and everything else you want in life need to be worked for, not wished for. In Lilly's world, there are no escalators, only stairs. Get ready to climb.Advance praise for How to Be a Bawse: "Lilly is a bona fide #girlboss, boss and bawse. Her meteoric rise has come with so many incredible lessons that we are all lucky to have access to. This book is a must-have for the hustler in all of us." —Sophia Amoruso, founder and CEO, GirlbossUnmasking Financial Psychopaths
By Deborah W. Gregory. 2014
As financial markets expand globally in response to economic and technological developments of the twenty-first century, our understanding and expectations…
of the people involved in these markets also change. Unmasking Financial Psychopaths suggests that an increasing number of financiers labeled "financial psychopaths" are not truly psychopathic, but instead are by-products of a rapidly changing personal and professional environment. Advances have been made in identifying psychopaths outside of situations accompanied by physical violence, yet it is still difficult to differentiate psychopaths in cultural settings that have adopted psychopathic behavioral tendencies as the norm. Within the investment sector, a fundamental transformation has occurred: the type of person employed by financial firms and the environment within which finance is conducted have both changed. Society's expectation of financiers adapted to these subtle, behind-the-scenes shifts, resulting the public at large perceiving more individuals in the financial sector as acting in a psychopathic manner. Being able to distinguish the truly psychopathic financier from individuals who conform to behavioral expectations is the first step towards a cultural shift away from accepted psychopathic behaviors in the financial sector.The Nitrate King
By William Edmundson. 2011
William Edmundson examines the spectacular life story of 'Colonel' John Thomas North, also known as 'The Nitrate King,' a mechanic in Leeds who became one…
of the best-known and richest men of his time. Forgotten in Britain and vilified in Chile and Peru, this is the first biography of a controversial but compelling figure.Return to the Little Kingdom
By Michael Moritz. 2009
In 1984, The Little Kingdom told the story of Apple's first decade alongside the histories of Steve Jobs and Steve…
Wozniak. Now Moritz revisits his classic biography in light of what Apple has become, offering for the first time in paperback the only from the ground up account of Apple's early years. .Make It Reality: Create Your Opportunity, Own Your Success
By Cris Abrego, Pitbull. 2016
The creator and producer of several mega-hit television series, including The Surreal Life, Flavor of Love, Rock of Love, and…
Charm School, shares his incredible journey of making it to the top--and how you can too. "No one paves the road for you. You have to create your own path. If you believe in your dreams, embrace what makes you different, and bet on yourself, the destination will be greater than you ever imagined."--Cris Abrego From carrying camera gear on the sets of MTV's Road Rules, to pioneering the celebreality genre by creating such breakout hits as The Surreal Life and The Flavor of Love, and now as one of today's most prominent figures in the television industry--Cris Abrego's career has been nothing short of extraordinary. As a young boy growing up in L.A., Abrego spent his formative years glued to his family's TV set, forging his dream of one day working in television. With unrelenting drive, he overcame countless obstacles to build his own reality TV production company in his garage, which, by his mid-thirties, he sold to one of the world's largest television production companies, before being tapped as their co-CEO. In Make It Reality, Abrego provides practical and motivating lessons collected from almost twenty years on the frontlines of television, including: how to visualize and your goals and work tirelessly to attain them; when to take risks and push boundaries; and how to continually raise the bar for yourself and realize there are no limits on what can be achieved. Success isn't about your pedigree or your connections: it's about vision, leadership, and courage. Abrego's story is unforgettable, full of heart, and inspiring to anyone seeking to transcend all obstacles and achieve true success.Foreword by PitbullFrom the Hardcover edition.Dayton's Department Store
By Mary Firestone. 2007
Dayton's department store, grand in scope and company spirit, enjoyed a century in the limelight as one of the nation's…
leading retailers. Its disappearance has been a challenge to the community, but it is a sign of the times, as many other urban department stores have shared the same fate. Originally called Goodfellows, the store got its start in 1902 when real estate investor and banker George Draper Dayton became a silent partner in the business. He soon took over the company but had to learn the ropes of retail as he went along since he had never intended to become a merchant. The early years were not without struggles, but Dayton's department store was nevertheless an instant hit with its daylight-filled aisles, generous return policies, and quality merchandise. The Minneapolis store became a vibrant self-contained community with a post office, newspaper, infirmary, laundry, bakery, and even a college. "Daytonians" worked and played together around the clock, in baseball and bowling teams, glee clubs, and orchestras. Over time, the reach of Dayton's extended far into the upper Midwest, with stores in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, including the development of the nation's first indoor mall.Sanders Confectionery (Images of America)
By Greg Tasker. 2006
For more than 130 years, there has been no sweeter word in Detroit than Sanders. The venerable confectioner was once…
as much a part of Detroit's streetscape as the Big Three, Hudson's, and Coney Islands. Sanders was more than just an ice-cream and candy shop. A Detroit icon, it served a fountain of memories for generations. Detroiters stood two and three deep behind lunch counters for tuna or egg salad sandwiches, devil's food buttercream "bumpy"cake, hot fudge sundaes, and Sanders' signature dessert--hot fudge cream puffs. As Detroit boomed, so did Sanders. At its peak, the company boasted more than 50 stores, with its products available in as many as 200 supermarkets. The Sanders story began in Chicago, where Fred Sanders opened his first shop. A series of misfortunes prompted him to relocate to Detroit, where he began selling his confections on Woodward Avenue. Business grew steadily, and by the early 1900s, he had opened other shops along Woodward and elsewhere in Detroit. The Motor City nearly lost Sanders in the mid-1980s, but its desserts shops have begun resurfacing, thanks to another Detroit institution, Morley Brands LLC, which bought the Sanders brand.Emporium Department Store
By Anne Evers. 2014
The Emporium--"California's Largest, America's Grandest Store"--was a major shopping destination on San Francisco's Market Street for a century, from 1896…
to 1996. Shoppers flocked to the mid-price store with its beautiful dome and bandstand. Patrons could find anything at the Emporium, from jewelry to stoves, and it was a meeting place for friends to enjoy tea while listening to the Emporium Orchestra. Founded as the Emporium and Golden Rule Bazaar, the store flourished until the disastrous 1906 earthquake. Once it reopened in 1908, it dominated shopping downtown until mid-century. Many San Franciscans remember with great nostalgia the Christmas Carnival on the roof, complete with slides, a skating rink, and a train. Santa always arrived in grand style with a big parade down Market Street. After World War II, the Emporium, which had merged with H.C. Capwell & Co. in the late 1920s, began its push and opened branch stores throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. However, as competition increased, the company's financial situation worsened, and the Emporium name was no more in 1996.Thalhimers Department Stores (Images of America)
By Emily Golightly Rusk, Elizabeth Thalhimer Smartt. 2014
Thalhimers was founded in Richmond in 1842 by German Jewish immigrant William Thalhimer as a humble dry goods store. It…
expanded over the years to become a 26-store chain across the Southeast under the leadership of William's great-grandson, William B. Thalhimer Jr. It boasted the latest in clothing, shoes, and accessories for the entire family, the most modern of housewares, and gourmet foods and baked goods, including the iconic six-layer chocolate cake. Through decades of dramatic political and social change, Thalhimers stood strong, guided by the overarching philosophies of honesty, integrity, quality, and service. Loyal and devoted employees were the heart of Thalhimers, becoming part of the extended Thalhimer family. Sadly, in 1992, as a result of retail consolidation, the Thalhimer name was dropped and the flagship downtown Richmond store closed. A 150-year legacy ended, leaving behind cherished memories, stories, and images.Remembering Hudson's: The Grand Dame of Detroit Retailing (Images of America)
By Marianne Weldon, Michael Hauser. 2010
The J. L. Hudson Company redefined the way Detroiters shopped and enjoyed leisure time. Many Detroiters share memories of times…
spent shopping and enjoying spectacular events sponsored by Hudson's. A solid and lofty icon built by businesspeople who believed in their passion, Hudson's defined Detroit's downtown, creating trends and traditions in consumer culture that still resonate with us today. Now and in the future, as Hudson's boxes, shopping bags, and artifacts are discovered in closets, attics, basements, and flea markets, many will remember that it was once as solid a civic fixture as the City-County Building or the Detroit Public Library.Air Castle of the South: WSM and the Making of Music City
By Craig Havighurst. 2007
Started by the National Life and Accident Insurance Company in 1925, WSM became one of the most influential and exceptional…
radio stations in the history of broadcasting and country music. WSM gave Nashville the moniker "Music City USA" as well as a rich tradition of music, news, and broad-based entertainment. With the rise of country music broadcasting and recording between the 1920s and '50s, WSM, Nashville, and country music became inseparable, stemming from WSM's launch of the Grand Ole Opry, popular daily shows like Noontime Neighbors, and early morning artist-driven shows such as Hank Williams on Mother's Best Flour. Sparked by public outcry following a proposal to pull country music and the Opry from WSM-AM in 2002, Craig Havighurst scoured new and existing sources to document the station's profound effect on the character and self-image of Nashville. Introducing the reader to colorful artists and businessmen from the station's history, including Owen Bradley, Minnie Pearl, Jim Denny, Edwin Craig, and Dinah Shore, the volume invites the reader to reflect on the status of Nashville, radio, and country music in American culture.Losing My Virginity: How I've Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way
By Richard Branson. 2004
"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 record second to none. Losing My Virginity is the unusual, frequently outrageous autobiography of one of the great business geniuses of our time. When Richard Branson started his first business, he and his friends decided that "since we're complete virgins at business, let's call it just that: Virgin." Since then, Branson has written his own "rules" for success, creating a group of companies with a global presence, but no central headquarters, no management hierarchy, and minimal bureaucracy. Many of Richard Branson's companies--airlines, retailing, and cola are good examples--were started in the face of entrenched competition. The experts said, "Don't do it." But Branson found golden opportunities in markets in which customers have been ripped off or underserved, where confusion reigns, and the competition is complacent. And in this stressed-out, overworked age, Richard Branson gives us a new model: a dynamic, hardworking, successful entrepreneur who lives life to the fullest. Family, friends, fun, and adventure are equally important as business in Branson's life. Losing My Virginity is a portrait of a productive, sane, balanced life, filled with rich and colorful stories: Crash-landing his hot-air balloon in the Algerian desert, yet remaining determined to have another go at being the first to circle the globe Signing the Sex Pistols, Janet Jackson, the Rolling Stones, Boy George, and Phil Collins Fighting back when British Airways took on Virgin Atlantic and successfully suing this pillar of the British business establishment Swimming two miles to safety during a violent storm off the coast of Mexico Selling Virgin Records to save Virgin Atlantic Staging a rescue flight into Baghdad before the start of the Gulf War ... And much more. Losing My Virginity is the ultimate tale of personal and business survival from a man who combines the business prowess of Bill Gates and the promotional instincts of P. T. Barnum.TIME Donald Trump: The Rise of a Rule Breaker
By The Editors of TIME. 1930
Whether you love him or hate him, dismiss him or maintain a grudging respect, there's no denying that Donald Trump…
has up- ended this year's election season.Now, in this new Special Edition from the editors at TIME, you'll be able to go inside Donald Trump's world, from his early days in real estate development to his potentially historic race for the presidency.Donald Trump: The Rise of a Rule Breaker takes a balanced approach to the subject of all things Trump: from his outsider status in this year's presidential race to his complicated family life. You'll visit the Trumps at home, learn about the scandal surrounding Trump University and delve more deeply into "Things Called Trump," including apartment buildings, clothing, and casinos. Additionally, you'll look at Donald Trump's faith and his lighter side--which he does have. Additionally, readers will learn about the disaffected voters who are fueling his bid for the presidency.Donald Trump: The Rise of a Rule Breaker gives context to a compelling, complex and fascinating man.The Monk and the Riddle: The Art of Creating a Life While Making a Living
By Randy Komisar, Kent L. Lineback. 2001
What would you be willing to do for the rest of your life? It's a question considered only hypothetically-opting instead…
to "do what we have to do" to earn a living. But in The Monk and the Riddle, Randy Komisar asks us to answer it for real.In Car Wars, G. Wayne Miller, author of Toy Wars: The Epic Struggle Between G. I. Joe, Barbie, and the…
Companies That Make Them and Men and Speed: A Wild Ride through NASCAR’s Breakout Season, takes readers back to the wild and wooly years of the early automobile era--from 1893, when the first U. S. -built auto was introduced, through 1908, when General Motors was founded and Ford’s Model T went on the market. The motorcar was new, paved roads few, and devotees of this exciting and unregulated technology battled with citizens who thought the car a dangerous scourge of the wealthy which was shattering a more peaceful way of life. As the machine transformed American culture for better and worse, early corporate battles for survival and market share transform the economic landscape. Among the pioneering competitors are: Ransom E. Olds, founder of Olds Motor Works, inventor of the assembly line (Henry Ford copied him), and creator of a new company called REO; Frederic L Smith, cutthroat businessman who became CEO of Olds Motor Works after Olds was ousted in a corporate power play; William C. "Billy” Durant of Buick Motor Company (who would soon create General Motors), and genius inventor Henry Ford. The fiercest fight pits Henry Ford against Frederic Smith of Olds. Olds was the early winner in the race for dominance, but now the Olds empire is in trouble, its once-industry leading market share shrinking, its cash dwindling. Ford is just revving up. But this is Ford’s third attempt at a successful auto company--and if this one fails, quite possibly his last. So Smith fights Ford with the weapons he knows best: lawyers, blackmail, intimidation, and a vicious advertising smear campaign that ultimately backfires. Increasingly desperate, in need of dazzling PR that will help lure customers to his showrooms, Smith stages the most outrageous stunt of the era: the first car race across the continental United States, with two of his Olds cars. The race pits the dashing writer Percy Megargel, a wealthy New Yorker, against Everyman mechanic Dwight B. Huss, a sturdy Midwesterner--men who share a passion for adventure and the new machine. Covered breathlessly by the press and witnessed by thousands in the communities they pass through, Megargel and Huss encounter marvel, mishap, conflict, and danger on their wild 3,500-mile race from Manhattan to Portland, Oregon, most of it through regions lacking paved roads--or any roads at all. . . Meanwhile, the Ford/Smith battle develops in the newspapers and courtroom dramas. Its outcome will shape the American car industry for a century to come. Car Wars is a page-turning story of popular culture, business, and sport at the dawn of the twentieth century, filled with compelling, larger-than-life characters, each an American originalThe Billionaire Who Wasn't
By Conor O'Clery. 2007
Chuck Feeney was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to a blue-collar Irish-American family during the Depression. After service in the…
Korean War, he made a fortune as founder of Duty Free Shoppers, the world's largest duty-free retail chain. By 1988, he was hailed by Forbes Magazine as the twenty-fourth richest American alive. But secretly Feeney had already transferred all his wealth to his foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies. Only in 1997 when he sold his duty free interests, was he "outed" as one of the greatest and most mysterious American philanthropists in modern times. After going "underground" again, he emerged in 2005 to cooperate on a biography promoting giving while living. Now in his mid-seventies, Feeney is determined his foundation should spend down the remaining $4 billion in his lifetime.