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  • Am I Being Too Subtle?

  • The Adventures of a Business Maverick
  • Written by: Sam Zell
  • Narrated by: Sam Zell
  • Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (63 ratings)

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Am I Being Too Subtle? cover art

Am I Being Too Subtle?

Written by: Sam Zell
Narrated by: Sam Zell
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Publisher's Summary

The traits that make Sam Zell one of the world's most successful entrepreneurs also make him one of the most surprising, enigmatic, and entertaining mavericks in American business.

Self-made billionaire Sam Zell consistently sees what others don't. From finding a market for overpriced Playboy magazines among his junior high classmates, to buying real estate on the cheap after a market crash, to investing in often unglamorous industries with long-term value, Zell acts boldly on supply and demand trends to grab the first-mover advantage. And he can find opportunity virtually anywhere - from an arcane piece of legislation to a desert meeting in Abu Dhabi.

"If everyone is going left, look right," Zell often says. To him, conventional wisdom is nothing but a reference point. Year after year, deal after deal, he shuts out the noise of the crowd, gathers as much information as possible, then trusts his own instincts. He credits much of his independent thinking to his parents, who were Jewish refugees from World War II.

Talk to any two people and you might get wild swings in their descriptions of Zell. A media firestorm ensued when the Tribune Company went into bankruptcy a year after he agreed to steward the enterprise. At the same time, his razor-sharp instincts are legendary on Wall Street, and he has sponsored over a dozen IPOs. He's known as the Grave Dancer for his strategy of targeting troubled assets, yet he's created thousands of jobs. Within his own organization, he has an inordinate number of employees at every level who are fiercely loyal and have worked for him for decades.

Zell's got a big personality; he is often contrarian, blunt, and irreverent, and always curious and hardworking. This is the guy who started wearing jeans to work in the 1960s, when offices were a sea of gray suits. He's the guy who told The Wall Street Journal in 1985, "If it ain't fun, we don't do it." He rides motorcycles with his friends, the Zell's Angels, around the world and he keeps ducks on the deck outside his office.

As he writes: "I simply don't buy into many of the made-up rules of social convention. The bottom line is: If you're really good at what you do, you have the freedom to be who you really are."

Am I Being Too Subtle? - a reference to Zell's favorite way to underscore a point - takes listeners on a ride across his business terrain, sharing with honesty and humor stories of the times he got it right, when he didn't, and most important, what he learned in the process.

This is an indispensable guide for the next generation of disrupters, entrepreneurs, and investors.

©2017 Sam Zell (P)2017 Penguin Audio

What the critics say

"The notoriously blunt businessman shares the ups and downs of his career and the lessons he’s learned in business - with just a little profanity - in a new book, Am I Being Too Subtle?" (The Wall Street Journal)

"Here we have the real Sam Zell: one of our nation’s most interesting, provocative, and successful practitioners of business and life. He’s a wise man who hates fuzzy thinking. He is a biker, wearer of leathers and jeans and boots and his signature quirky beard. He points his skis straight downhill. You know, all the usual things that the few really smart (but not too smart for their own good) business people do." (Steve Roth, chairman and CEO of Vornado Realty Trust)

"A highly readable and revealingly personal book filled with unique insights and unvarnished straight talk about business, people - their quirks and potentials - and about life itself." (The Huffington Post)

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What listeners say about Am I Being Too Subtle?

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

what a man

Sam Zell narrated by himself is icing on the cake. Great honest recollection of his life and buisness andeavors.

Integrity

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing story and great guy

Sam tells an amazing story with lots of inspiration and ideas that you can apply to your own life. Highly recommended

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

thoroughly enjoyed this title

Sam's voice caught me off guard at the start but the way he told his story continued to draw me back in. great story, meaningful advice, glad I took the time to listen to his book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Super Awesome

Sam reads the book which makes it even more special.
You will not be disappointed !

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Just OK. Narration is challenging

it's hard to imagine a worst narrator than Sam. He would have had a great career as a villain in a children's cartoon. Why rich people insist on reading their own book is a mystery I one day hope to solve.

Other than his jarring reading, business readers will be disappointed in hearing how he got his start (the main thing I listen to in this type of book) and name dropping and lessons are few and far between. Sam comes off as a good guy and a smart business person but promises of a maverick fails to deliver

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