Business Biography

Henry Ford, an American folk hero to many, was a man with several faces. He was a genius who revolutionized the automobile industry, irrevocably altered American culture and commerce, developed mass production, and helped the middle class emerge in America. He was also an anti-Semitic autocrat who hated Wall Street, bankers and financiers with unmitigated passion.

When Bo Seo was 8 years old, he and his family migrated from Korea to Australia. At the time, he did not speak English, and, unsurprisingly, struggled at school. But, then, in fifth grade, something happened to change his life: he discovered competitive debate. Immediately, he was hooked. It turned out, perhaps counterintuitively, that debating was the perfect activity for someone shy and unsure of himself. It became a way for Bo not only to find his voice, but to excel socially and academically. And he’s not the only one.

WeWork would be worth $10 trillion, more than any other company in the world. It wasn’t just an office space provider. It was a tech company - an AI startup, even. Its WeGrow schools and WeLive residences would revolutionize education and housing. One day, mused founder Adam Neumann, a Middle East peace accord would be signed in a WeWork. The company might help colonize Mars. And Neumann would become the world’s first trillionaire.

Hugh van Cuylenburg was a primary school teacher volunteering in northern India when he had a life-changing realisation: despite the underprivileged community the children were from, they were remarkably positive. By contrast, back in Australia Hugh knew that all too many children struggled with depression, social anxieties and mental illness. His own little sister had been ravaged by anorexia nervosa. How was it that young people he knew at home, who had food, shelter, friends and a loving family, struggled with their mental health, while these kids seemed so contented and resilient?

Jacob Tomsky has worked in hotels for more than a decade, doing everything from valet parking to manning the front desk. He's checked you in, checked you out, separated your white panties from the white bed sheets, parked your car, tasted your room service, cleaned your toilet, denied you a late check out, given you a wake-up call, eaten M&Ms out of your mini-bar, laughed at your jokes, and taken your money. And in Heads in Beds, he pulls back the curtain on the hospitality business.

Learn about investment traps with an insight into fraudulent Ponzi Schemes with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. A Ponzi scheme is an illegal business practice. Investors are recruited into a Ponzi scheme and offered excellent returns over time for little or no risk. The operator of a Ponzi scheme relies on further recruitment of investors to accumulate funds. Earlier investors are repaid with later investor's money. They have also been described as Pyramid Schemes.

The Space Barons is the story of a group of billionaire entrepreneurs who are pouring their fortunes into the epic resurrection of the American space program. Nearly a half-century after Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, these Space Barons–Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Paul Allen–have founded some of the biggest brands in the world–Amazon, Microsoft, Virgin, Tesla, PayPal–and upended industry after industry. Now they are pursuing the biggest disruption of all: space.

Tech entrepreneur Steve Larsen explores the threads he’s woven together to create an extraordinary life: family bonds lost and found, a pioneering career in Silicon Valley, a lifelong search for meaning, a passion for speed and adventure and a remarkable resilience through health battles that would have stopped most people cold. From wrestling bears to co-founding companies that helped birth modern e-commerce, from racing motorcycles across continents to surviving three open-heart surgeries, Larsen reveals how to embrace life’s full spectrum of experiences.

A few years ago, lifestyle celebrity and TV pioneer Debbie Travis realized that she was no longer challenged by her wildly successful TV career, and she was so busy she was missing out on the people and things that made her happy. She dared to dream about a whole new direction in life - a plan to turn a 13th-century farmhouse in Tuscany into a unique hotel and retreat for people who need a change as much as she did. And now, after a crazy amount of work, she is not only living that dream but sharing it with others....

Join self-made billionaire David Green, founder of America's craft store giant Hobby Lobby, as he shares the key to building a powerful legacy: Generosity. In Giving It All Away...and Getting It All Back Again, Green unpacks time-tested principles that will help you reap the benefits of generosity for multiple generations to come. In 1970, David Green began making picture frames in his garage. With hard work, he and his wife, Barbara, turned that humble beginning into the world's largest privately owned arts-and-crafts retailer.

This printing of Men and Rubber: The Story of Business by Harvey S. Firestone is part of the Farnam Street Timeless Classics Series, where we continue with our goal of "mastering the best of what other people have figured out".

The success of Starbucks is one of the most remarkable business stories in decades. Since 1987, the coffee merchant 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 Main Street."

Steve Coll investigates the largest and most powerful private corporation in the United States, revealing the true extent of its power. ExxonMobil’s annual revenues are larger than the economic activity in the great majority of countries. In many of the countries where it conducts business, ExxonMobil’s sway over politics and security is greater than that of the United States embassy. In Washington, ExxonMobil spends more money lobbying Congress and the White House than almost any other corporation. Yet despite its outsized influence, it is a black box.

A whistleblower. A 100-GB-leak of confidential internal documents. A corporation in crisis. A riveting tale of journalistic enterprise, ethics, and the courage to follow the evidence where it leads. The 1st major work about Elon Musk and Tesla since Musk inserted himself directly into presidential politics and, through DOGE, into the lives of millions of Americans.

In this engaging, witty, and inspirational memoir, Chrishell Stause shares her story of living an unconventional childhood in small-town Kentucky marked by periods of homelessness, family addiction struggles, and dreams of one day being on a daytime soap, all while managing the local Dairy Queen. Through resilience and grit, she overcame obstacles and pushed past every barrier in her path to become one of the most envied luxury realtors in Los Angeles and buzzworthy cast members in reality TV.

An inspiring personal story of redemption, second chances, and the transformative power within us all, from the founder and CEO of the nonprofit charity: water. In the tradition of such best-selling books as Shoe Dog and Mountains Beyond Mountains, Thirst is a riveting account of how to build a better charity, a better business, a better life - and a gritty tale that proves it’s never too late to make a change.

It’s not every day you come across an autobiography which starts out with learning how to overcome sexual abuse as a child, how to become an international playboy who built the most famous boutique hotel in the world, where people like Freddie Mercury, George Michael, Julio Iglesias to name a few, called a home away from home, add in the odd shipwreck or two and more than a few thousand sexual partners and misdemeanors along the way, and when your finished, you'll agree that this book is not just another great listen but its perhaps the greatest story every told.

A unique memoir that weaves together stories of personal triumph, love, loss, and lessons learned, Notes for the Children follows Patrick Priestner throughout his life as a son, a brother, a car salesman, an award-winning automotive entrepreneur—and his most rewarding roles, as a husband and a father.

How did the trailblazers of Indian business turn their dreams into reality? The Pilani Pioneers profiles twenty-five accomplished BITS Pilani graduates, including startup founders, entrepreneurs and CEOs, who have made an indelible mark on the Indian and global business landscape while deftly navigating the twists and turns of their professional and personal lives.

In just a decade and a half, Jack Ma, a man from modest beginnings who started out as an English teacher, founded Alibaba and built it into one of the world's largest companies, an e-commerce empire on which hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers depend. Alibaba's $25 billion IPO in 2014 was the largest global IPO ever. A Rockefeller of his age who is courted by CEOs and presidents around the world, Jack is an icon for China's booming private sector.