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Books written by billionaires

188 Books Written By Billionaires (A Constantly Updated, Complete List)

Posted on December 9, 2019February 6, 2021 by Will

If you read all of these, you will not come out the same person you came in (in a good way).

Here is a list of all the books written by billionaires.

I have looked all over the Internet for a list, and I’ve yet to find a list that comes close to what I’ve compiled here. That’s because no one seems to be as plugged into the billionaire universe and the books out there as me. Nor have many people set out to read most or any of these books.

Richard Branson made a good point in his book that news and internet estimates of net worth are usually wildly off in both directions. I tried my best to make this list as accurate as possible. I put more weight on the two net worth sources I trust: Forbes Net Worth Billionaire List and Fortune. If I had any doubt if people were billionaires, I put their books in a separate list in a section at the bottom.

If you know of a book by a billionaire not on this list, leave a comment. I will keep updating this page. 

If you go through any of the following links to buy a book, I will get a commission at no extra cost to you. It really helps support the life of this site and hosting fees.

Contents

  • All Books Written By Billionaires:
    • Billionaires That Lost It All
      • Billionaires That Lost Everything And Got It Back
    • Books About Billionaires But Not Written By Billionaires
    • Avoid These Books by Billionaires
  • My Favorites
    • My Least Favorites
  • People That Barely Fell Short of the Billion Dollar Mark
  • Books By People Who Can’t Be Verified as Billionaires
  • Books Written By Billionaires In Languages Other Than English
  • Takeaways

All Books Written By Billionaires:

  1. My Life and Work by Henry Ford (founder of Ford Motors)
  2. Today and Tomorrow by Henry Ford
  3. The International Jew by Henry Ford
  4. Edison As I Know Him by Henry Ford
  5. Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio (net worth of $17 Billion according to Forbes)
  6. Big Debt Crises by Ray Dalio
  7. Made in America by Sam Walton (founder of Walmart)
  8. Business @ the Speed of Thought by Bill Gates (founder of Microsoft)
  9. The Road Ahead by Bill Gates
  10. Am I Being Too Subtle?: Straight Talk From a Business Rebel by Sam Zell
  11. Random Reminiscences of Men and Events by John D. Rockefeller
  12. John D. Rockefeller: The Autobiography of an Oil Titan and Philanthropist by John D. Rockefeller
  13. Quotations by John D. Rockefeller
  14. Attack and Win in Business by John D. Rockefeller
  15. The Colorado Industrial Plan by John D. Rockefeller
  16. John D. Rockefeller on Making Money: Advice and Words of Wisdom on Building and Sharing Wealth by John D. Rockefeller
  17. Dear Father, Dear Son: Correspondence of John D. Rockefeller and Jr. by John D. Rockefeller
  18. Zero To One by Peter Thiel (tech investor)
  19. Lean In For Graduates by Sheryl Sandberg (female billionaire, one of the first employees at Google and Facebook)
  20. Lean In: Work, Women and The Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg
  21. Lean In for Grads by Sheryl Sandberg
  22. The Art of Being Unreasonable: Lessons in Unconventional Thinking by Eli Broad (net worth of $7.3 Billion)
  23. Jimmy: An Autobiography by Jim Pattison (net worth of $6.9 Billion)
  24. Birth: When the Spiritual and the Material Come Together by Shari Arison (female billionaire)
  25. Activate Your Goodness: Transforming the World Through Doing Good by Shari Arison
  26. The Doing Good Model: Activate Your Goodness in Business by Shari Arison
  27. The Link: How Doing Good Connects Us to Ourselves, Each Other…and Everything! by Shari Arison
  28. From Red Tape To Red Carpet And Then Some by Gina Rinehart
  29. Shoe Dog: A Memoir by Phil Knight (founder of Nike)
  30. The Wanda Way: The Managerial Philosophy and Values of One of China’s Largest Companies by Jianlin Wang (net worth of $25 Billion)
  31. Start Small Finish Big: Fifteen Key Lessons to Start – and Run – Your Own Successful Business by Fred Deluca (founder of Subway, $3 Billion)
  32. Always Fresh by Ronald Joyce (founder of Tim Horton, a doughnut chain, net worth of $1.39 Billion according to Forbes)
  33. Simply Rich by Rich Devos (founder of Amway)
  34. Ten Powerful Phrases for Positive People by Rich DeVos
  35. Believe! by Rich DeVos
  36. Compassionate Capitalism by Rich DeVos (this may be confusing since another billionaire wrote a book of the same name)
  37. Hope From My Heart by Rich DeVos
  38. The Essays of Warren Buffett
  39. The Virgin Way: Everything I Know About Leadership by Richard Branson
  40. Screw It Let’s Do It: Lessons In Life, Like A Virgin by Richard Branson
  41. Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson
  42. Screw Business As Usual by Richard Branson
  43. Business Stripped Bare by Richard Branson | Book Summary
  44. Reach for the Skies by Richard Branson
  45. Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won’t Teach You at Business School by Richard Branson
  46. Finding My Virginity by Richard Branson
  47. What I Know For Sure by Oprah Winfrey – My Book Summary Of This Book
  48. The Snowball (biography of Warren Buffett)
  49. Leading By Design: The Ikea Story by Ingvar Kamprad (Net Worth of $33 Billion according to Forbes)
  50. The Gospel of Wealth by Andrew Carnegie
  51. Eat More Chikin by S. Truett Cathy (the founder of Chick-Fil-A, Net Worth of $6.2 Billion according to Forbes.)
  52. Wealth: Is It Worth It? by S. Truett Cathy
  53. How did you do it, Truett? by S. Truett Cathy
  54. It’s Better to Build Boys than Mend Men by S. Truett Cathy
  55. It’s Easier to Succeed Than to Fail by S. Truett Cathy
  56. Measure What Matters by John Doerr
  57. The Generosity Factor: Discover the Joy of Giving Your Time, Talent, and Treasure by Ken Blanchard (author of One Minute Manager) and S. Truett Cathy (this is a mini-parable explaining the benefits of generosity.)
  58. Netscape Time: The Making of the Billion-Dollar Start-Up That Took On Microsoft by Jim Clark (a.k.a. James H. Clark – net worth $1.3 billion, founder of three billion dollar tech companies)
  59. Built from Scratch by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank (Home Depot)
  60. How to Lead: Wisdom from the World’s Greatest CEOs, Founders, and Game Changers by David M. Rubenstein
  61. The American Story: Conversations with Master Historians by David M. Rubenstein
  62. Winners Never Cheat by Jon Huntsman
  63. Barefoot to Billionaire: Reflections on a Life’s Work and a Promise to Cure Cancer by Jon Huntsman Sr. (Net Worth of $1 Billion according to Forbes, after giving away $1.2 billion)
  64. Ralph Lauren by Ralph Lauren
  65. The Gospel of Wealth by Andrew Carnegie
  66. Driven from Within by Michael Jordan
  67. For the Love of the Game: My Story by Michael Jordan
  68. I Can’t Accept Not Trying: Michael Jordan on the Pursuit of Excellence by Michael Jordan
  69. I’m Back!: More Rare Air by Michael Jordan
  70. The Entrepreneur: 25 Golden Rules for the Global Business Manager by William Heinecke (net worth of $1.7 Billion according for Forbes)
  71. The Entrepreneur: Twenty-One Golden Rules for the Global Business Manager by William Heinecke (it seems to be an older version of the same book)
  72. How To Win At The Sport of Business by Mark Cuban
  73. Onward by Howard Schultz (Starbucks)
  74. Steering Clear by Peter George Peterson (COE of Lehman Brothers, 1.6 Billion net worth)
  75. Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built A Company One Cup At a Time by Howard Schultz
  76. Bloomberg by Michael Bloomberg (Made his money from Bloomberg terminals)
  77. The Business of Happiness by Ted Leonsis
  78. Bailout Riches!: How Everyday Investors Can Make a Fortune Buying Bad Loans for Pennies on the Dollar by Bill Bartmann
  79. Pizza Tiger by Thomas Monaghan (founder of Domino’s)
  80. How To Be Rich by J. Paul Getty (Fortune named him the richest living American in 1957.)
  81. How to be a Successful Executive by J. Paul Getty
  82. As I See It: The Autobiography of J. Paul Getty
  83. My Life and Fortunes, the Autobiography of One of the World’s Wealthiest Men by J. Paul Getty (apparently he wrote two autobiographies?)
  84. The Joys of Collecting by J. Paul Getty (this is more about his priceless art collecting hobby)
  85. Ernest and Julio: Our Story
  86. Charles Schwab’s Guide To Financial Independence by Charles R. Schwab (net worth of $5.3 Billion)
  87. You’re Fifty, Now What? by Charles Schwab
  88. How to be Your Own Stockbroker by Charles Schwab
  89. Reinventing the Market by Charles Schwab
  90. Margin of Safety by Seth Klarman (investor)
  91. Dream No Little Dreams by Clayton L. Mathile
  92. The Essays of Warren Buffett by Lawrence Cunningham (a curation of Warren’s shareholder letters)
  93. Poor Charlie’s Almanack by Charlie Munger (Warren Buffett’s partner)
  94. Call Me Ted by Ted Turner (media business)
  95. The First Billion Is The Hardest by T. Boone Pickens
  96. Boone by T. Boone Pickens
  97. Fooling Some of the People All of the Time by David Einhorn (investor)
  98. Soros on Soros by George Soros (probably the densest and most difficult of them all. This guy was born with a genius mind for macro-economists far beyond my comprehension.)
  99. Direct from Dell by Michael Dell
  100. The Startup of You by Reid Hoffman
  101. The Science of Success by Charles G. Koch (net worth of $42 billion. #7 richest man in the world according to Forbes. charles koch net worth
  102. Good Profit: How Creating Value for Others Built One of the World’s Most Successful Companies by Charles G. Koch
  103. Better India: A Better World by Narayana Murthy
  104. Compassionate Capitalism: How Corporations Can Make Doing Good an Integral Part of Doing Well (2004) by Marc Benioff (net worth $3.9 Billion+)
  105. The Business of Changing the World: Twenty Great Leaders on Strategic Corporate Philanthropy (2006) by Marc Benioff
  106. Behind the Cloud: The Untold Story of How Salesforce.com Went from Idea to Billion-Dollar Company-and Revolutionized an Industry by Marc Benioff
  107. Trailblazer: The Power of Business as the Greatest Platform for Change by Marc Benioff
  108. Habit of Labor: Lessons from a Life of Struggle and Success by Stef Wertheimer
  109. Man at a Machine by Stef Wertheimer
  110. What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence by Stephen A. Schwarzman
  111. Red Zone: Cars, Cows, and Coaches by Red McCombs
  112. Big Red: Memoirs of a Texas Entrepreneur and Philanthropist by Red McCombs
  113. The Education of an American Dreamer: How a Son of Greek Immigrants Learned His Way from a Nebraska Diner to Washington, Wall Street, and Beyond by Peter G. Peterson
  114. Finding America’s Voice: A Strategy for Reinvigorating U.S. Public Diplomacy (2010) by Peter G. Peterson
  115. Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It (2005) by Peter G. Peterson
  116. Gray Dawn: How the Coming Age Wave Will Transform America–and the World (2000) by Peter G. Peterson
  117. Will America Grow up Before it Grows Old: How the Coming Social Security Crisis Threatens You, Your Family and Your Country (1996) by Peter G. Peterson
  118. Facing Up: How to Rescue the Economy From Crushing Debt & Restore the American Dream (1993) by Peter G. Peterson
  119. Sharing the Wealth by Alex Spanos
  120. I Love Capitalism!: An American Story by Ken Langone ($3.4 Billion according to Forbes)
  121. How to Smell a Rat: The Five Signs of Financial Fraud by Ken Fisher
  122. The Only Three Questions That Count: Investing by Knowing What Others Don’t by Ken Fisher (I highly disagree with many points in this book; I prefer Warren Buffett’s style and Ken’s father’s book Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits)
  123. The Little Book of Market Myths: How to Profit by Avoiding the Investing Mistakes Everyone Else Makes by Ken Fisher
  124. Plan Your Prosperity: The Only Retirement Guide You’ll Ever Need, Starting Now–Whether You’re 22, 52 or 82 by Ken Fisher
  125. Debunkery: Learn It, Do It, and Profit from It — Seeing Through Wall Street’s Money-Killing Myths by Ken Fisher
  126. Markets Never Forget (But People Do): How Your Memory Is Costing You Money—and Why This Time Isn’t Different by Ken Fisher
  127. The Ten Roads to Riches: The Ways the Wealthy Got There (And How You Can Too!) by Ken Fisher
  128. Beat the Crowd: How You Can Out-Invest the Herd by Thinking Differently by Ken Fisher
  129. Battle for Investment Survival by Ken Fisher
  130. 100 Minds That Made the Market by Ken Fisher
  131. How Google Works and The New Digital Age by Eric Schmidt, Chairman of Alphabet (formerly Google), 138th richest man in the world. (What I find interesting about him is that he doesn’t consider himself an entrepreneur. He considers himself a manager that helped Larry and Sergie create their dream of Google. You don’t have to be a CEO or founder guys!)
  132. Get Smarter: Life and Business Lessons by Seymour Schulich (Net worth of $1.5 billion according to Wikipedia)
  133. Grinding it Out by Ray Kroc (founder of McDonald’s)
  134. PAPA: The Story of Papa John’s Pizza by John H. Schnatter (Net worth of $1 billion according to Forbes)
  135. The Art Of the Deal by Donald J. Trump
  136. Midas Touch: Why Some Entrepreneurs Get Rich-And Why Most Don’t by Donald Trump & Robert Kiyosaki
  137. Think Like A Champion by Donald Trump
  138. Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again Donald Trump
  139. The America We Deserve by Donald Trump
  140. Trump: The Way to the Top: The Best Business Advice I Ever Received by Donald Trump
  141. Trump 101: The Way to Success by Donald Trump (2006)
  142. Trump University Wealth Building 101: Your First 90 Days on the Path to Prosperity by Donald Trump (2007)
  143. Trump Never Give Up: How I Turned My Biggest Challenges Into Success by Donald Trump (2007)
  144. Think BIG and Kick Ass in Business and Life by Donald Trump (2007)
  145. Why We Want You to Be Rich: Two Men, One Message by Donald Trump & Robert Kiyosaki
  146. Customers Come First: From One Small Shop to a Worldwide Network of Stores by Masatoshi Ito
  147. The Heart Of Doing Business: Memoirs Of An Entrepreneur by Masatoshi Ito
  148. Am I Being Too Subtle?: The Adventures of a Business Maverick by Sam Zell (Net worth of $5 Billion according to Forbes)
  149. Lui Che-woo: Creating Value: The Journey of a Self-Made Billionaire: The Authorized Biography by Lui Che woo by Lui Che-woo (Net worth of $15 Billion according to Forbes)
  150. Against All Odds: An Autobiography by James Dyson (Net worth of $4.3 Billion according to Forbes)
  151. A History of Great Inventions by James Dyson
  152. Design by James Dyson
  153. Whatever the Odds The Incredible Story Behind DLF by Kushal Pal Singh (also known as K.P. Singh, Net worth of $5.3 Billion according to Forbes)
  154. Lim Goh Tong: My Life Story (Net worth of 4.2 billions dollar according to Forbes when he died, richest Malaysian at the time)
  155. Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard (Net worth of $1 Billion according to Forbes, founder of Patagonia, more of his books are in the Honorable Mention section)
  156. The Responsible Company: What We’ve Learned From Patagonia’s First 40 Years by Yvon Chouinard
  157. Billions to Bust and Back: How I Made, Lost and Rebuilt a Fortune by Thor Bjorgolfsson
  158. Run Your Business, Don’t Let It Run You: Learning and Living Professional Management by Clay Mathile
  159. In for a Penny: A Business Adventure by Peter Hargreaves (founder of Subway, Net worth of $2.9 Billion)
  160. Powerhouse Principles: The Ultimate Blueprint for Real Estate Success in an Ever-Changing Market by Jorge Perez ($2.8 Billion)
  161. Threshold Resistance: The Extraordinary Career of a Luxury Retailing Pioneer by Alfred Taubman ($3.1 Billion)
  162. A Passion to Win by Sumner Redstone (chairman of Viacom, Net worth of $5.4 Billion according to Forbes) – Read My Book Summary
  163. Making It Big by Binod Chaudhary (from Nepal, net worth of $1.32 Billion according to Forbes) binod chaudry billionaire book
  164. Mochtar Riady: My Life Story (from Indonesia, the founder of Lippo Group; net worth of $1.83 Billion according to Forbes) mochtar riady billionaire book
  165. Everything is Possible: Life and Business Lessons from a Self-Made Billionaire and the Founder of Slim-Fast by S. Daniel Abraham (net worth of $2.1 Billion according to Forbes)
  166. Peace is Possible: Conversations with Arab and Israeli Leaders from 1988 to the Present by S. Daniel Abraham
  167. The Z Factor: My Journey as the Wrong Man at the Right Time by Subhash Chandra (net worth of $4.4 Billion according to Forbes)
  168. A Passion to Build: a Memoir of David M. Consunji (net worth of $3.5 Billion)
  169. Dave Says Well Done!: The Common Guy’s Guide to Everyday Success by Rex David “Dave” Thomas (founder of Wendy’s)
  170. My Life & the Principles for Success by H. Ross Perot (net worth of $4.1 Billion)
  171. Ross Perot: My Life by H. Ross Perot
  172. A Business Handbook: Advice I Gave My Son by H. Ross Perot
  173. United We Stand: How We Can Take Back Our Country by H. Ross Perot
  174. Not for Sale At Any Price: How We Can Save America for Our Children by H. Ross Perot
  175. Save Your Job, Save Our Country by H. Ross Perot
  176. The Dollar Crisis by H. Ross Perot
  177. Intensive Care by H. Ross Perot
  178. Ross Perot Speaks Out: Straight Talking Answers to Today’s Tough Questions by H. Ross Perot
  179. Simple Fly Fishing: Techniques for Tenkara and Rod and Reel by Yvon Chouinard
  180. 180° South: Conquerors of the Useless by Yvon Chouinard
  181. Climbing Ice by Yvon Chouinard
  182. Out Where the West Begins: Profiles, Visions, and Strategies of Early Western Business Leaders by Philip Anschutz
  183. Out Where the West Begins, Volume 2: Creating and Civilizing the American West by Philip Anschutz
  184. Oil of Russia: Past, Present & Future by Vagit Alekperov
  185. Vertically Integrated Oil Companies of Russia: Formation Methodology and Realization by Vagit Alekperov
  186. The New Normal: Great Opportunities in a Time of Great Risk by Roger McNamee (tech investor)
  187. Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe by Roger McNamee
  188. Scale: Seven Proven Principles to Grow Your Business and Get Your Life Back by Jeff Hoffman (founder of Priceline.com)

Get a beautiful checklist of these billionaire productivity hacks for free.

Billionaires That Lost It All

When I see people rise up quickly to become millionaires in the lime-light but do so in flamboyant, excessive ways, I wonder … but will they stay millionaires? Lately, there have been a lot of young people who have done just that through social media, like Rice Gum or Tai Lopez. While 99% of the world has bought into the idea that they’re gods, history proves differently. I believe time will tell. If you give anyone a couple decades, you’ll find out who stood the test of the time.

The same applies to billionaires. There have been a few who have reached this point and fallen back down. Therefore, I haven’t deemed the books written by the billionaires who fall into this category worthy to be placed into the main list. Their overall strategy failed them, so we shouldn’t take their advice point blank. Nonetheless, we can still learn from their failures so we don’t make the same ones.

That’s why I prefer the advice of Warren Buffet. He’s a billionaire who has consistently stayed rich for over six decades, but preaches the values and qualities of being a good person and living a life beyond money. His whole motto revolves around sacrificing any extra money that can be made if it means a potential loss of reputation or potential catastrophic loss of money.

O X Da Questão by Eike Batista: This book is written in Portuguese. In 2012, he was the richest person in Brazil with a net worth of $30 Billion. Due to risky investments, he loss all of his money and plunged to a negative billion dollar net worth. Many of his cars, including a white Lamborghini Aventador were seized.

Billionaires That Lost Everything And Got It Back

Losing your billion is tough. One billionaire, Adolf Merckle, even killed himself because of this. But it takes mental fortitude to not give up and continue. Two billionaires come to mind who have done this:

Donald Trump is the one billionaire I know who plunged into multiple billions into debt, but managed to pick himself back up and make it back. He details the story in his books. Rather than giving up, he persevered and even ended up becoming President of the United States.

Another book that documents this is Billions to Bust and Back: How I Made, Lost and Rebuilt a Fortune by Thor Bjorgolfsson.

Sam Wyly’s books are also included here:

  • 1,000 Dollars and an Idea: Entrepreneur To Billionaire
  • Texas Got It Right!
  • The Immigrant Spirit: How Newcomers Enrich America
  • Immigrants Enrich Us
  • The Wyly Family: Coming to America

Sam was once a billionaire but is now bankrupt.

Books About Billionaires But Not Written By Billionaires

This list includes books that were:

  • recommended by billionaires.
  • written by people directly related to billionaires.
  • were written about billionaires, but not by the actual billionaire.

Keep in mind that for some famous billionaires, like Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, or Jack Ma, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of books written about them. I will not list them all here because most aren’t worth your time. Anyone can write these and slap their name on them and most have horrible ratings because of this. If you just search their name on Amazon, you’ll find them yourself. 

  • DREAM BIG: How the Brazilian Trio behind 3G Capital – Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Telles and Beto Sicupira – acquired Anheuser-Busch, Burger King and Heinz by Cristiane Correa
  • The Billionaire Who Wasn’t: How Chuck Feeney Secretly Made and Gave Away a Fortune (not written by Chuck himself. It’s a biography)
  • Getting There by Zoe Gillian Segal
  • Carlos Slim: The Richest Man in the World/The Authorized Biography by Jose Martinez
  • How I Did It: Lessons From The Front Lines of Business (Pulls from multiple columns of the Harvard Business Review and features multiple billionaires including Kevin Plank and Eric Schmidt)
  • Coco Chanel: An Intimate Life by Lisa Chaney – This one is written about a female founder of a multi-billion dollar fashion company, Chanel. It is put here because it is questionable whether or not she actually hit a billion dollar net worth during her lifetime and it wasn’t written by her. Having said that, she did create an incredible company. The book seems to be more about her personal life than business success though.
  • Life Is What You Make It by Peter Buffett (Warren Buffett’s son)
  • Showing Up For Life: Thoughts on the Gifts of a Lifetime by Bill Gates Sr. (father of Bill Gates)
  • Elon Musk’s biography
  • Charlie Munger: The Complete Investor (not by Charlie, but quoting a lot of his best stuff)
  • Laws of Success by Napoleon Hill (studied 200+ of the richest people in the world in-person for 20+ years, including Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, and more)
  • Awaken the Millionaire Within You: Lessons from Carlos Wizard Martins by Carlos Wizard Martins (Net worth of $1 billion in 2014 on Forbes but he sold his company for $700 million and isn’t a billionaire anymore).
  • Forrest Mars, Jr. (27th richest man in the world, owner of a candy company, net worth $11+ billion) recommends these books according to Fortune (click the link).
  • The Everything Store by Brad Stone (It’s about Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com)
  • A Passion For Success by Kazuo Inamori (Net worth of $900 million according to Forbes)
  • John L. Gokongwei Jr.: The Path Of Entrepreneurship by Marites A. Khanser (Net worth of $6.2 Billion)
  • The Martha Rules: 10 Essentials for Achieving Success As You Start, Build, or Manage a Business by Martha Stewart (She may have hit a billionaire at some point. Now, it seems she’s dipped below that, especially after giving away to charity.)
  • Steve Jobs
  • How To Get Rich by Felix Dennis (his net worth was estimated around $100 million when he was alive)

These books were recommended by the billionaire Forrest Mars (9+ billion net worth) :

  • General and Industrial Management by Henri Fayol
  • Elementsof Administration by Lyndall F. Urwick
  • The Principles of Organization by James D. Mooney

“Forrest has the best management system I’ve ever come across. It permits decentralization and encourages initiative–but keeps firm control at the top.” -former Mars Executive, according to Fortune article.

Avoid These Books by Billionaires

Let’s be honest. One of the key reasons we read these is to earn more money. Therefore, there are quite a few books by billionaires that I didn’t feel fit to include in the main list because their topic is far off from any advice on earning money. They will go in this list:

  • Simple Fly Fishing: Techniques for Tenkara and Rod and Reel by Yvon Chouinard
  • 180° South: Conquerors of the Useless by Yvon Chouinard
  • Climbing Ice by Yvon Chouinard
  • Peace is Possible: Conversations with Arab and Israeli Leaders from 1988 to the Present by S. Daniel Abraham
  • Peter G. Peterson’s books on politics
  • H. Ross Perot’s books on politics

My Favorites

So far, I’ve read quite a few of them and gained some incredible insights. I love doing this because a lot of millionaire advice is contradictory.

I love doing this because a lot of millionaire advice is contradictory. One of the reasons behind this is that millionaires surprisingly are sometimes still struggling to figure things out and sometimes have naive interpretations on how they did it.

I loved these for many reasons. Some of them included that they were conversational, easy to understand, and had advice applicable to life as well as business. Here they are in no particular order:

  • Made in America by Sam Walton
  • What I Know For Sure by Oprah Winfrey
  • Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
  • The Essays of Warren Buffett
  • Zero To One by Peter Thiel
  • The Virgin Way by Richard Branson (or any book by Branson, really)
  • The Startup of You by Reid Hoffman
  • Principles by Ray Dalio
  • How to be a Billionaire by Martin Fridson

My Least Favorites

  • The Science of Success by Charles Koch because it was short and filled with corporate lingo. I still got a lot out of it though.
  • Business @ The Speed of Thought by Bill Gates because it was too dry and focused on specific business organization tactics with a touch of strategy. Plus, you can tell Bill isn’t the best writer. Note: Bill is one of my favorite people, but I think I should still be honest here.
  • The Only Three Questions That Count by Ken Fischer (or any of his books). Probably my least favorite. Few people will understand the book unless they’re into money management and fund investing. But the real reason I disliked it was that most of the advice given I didn’t agree with, wasn’t logical, had holes, and went against the entire Buffett philosophy of investing. I have a feeling he made his money by getting tons of investors to give him money and taking a hefty management fee. I liked what he says in his books about giving back and charity.

People That Barely Fell Short of the Billion Dollar Mark

  • High Output Management by Andrew S. Grove ($400 million net worth in 2008. Likely, an inflated number)
  • Life as I Have Known It Has Been Finger Lickin’ Good by Harland Sanders (While people would love to believe that Colonel Sanders started when he was old and became a billionaire starting KFC, he didn’t make the mark by his death.)
  • Decisions by Jim Treliving (estimated net worth of 700 million)
  • Mary Kay Way by Mary Kay Ash (her company has now made her son a billionaire but it isn’t verifiable that she made the mark during her lifetime)
  • Miracles Happen by Mary Kay Ash
  • Mary Kay: You Can Have It All: Lifetime Wisdom from America’s Foremost Woman Entrepreneur by Mary Kay Ash
  • Mary Kay on People Management by Mary Kay Ash
  • Only the Paranoid Survive by Andrew Grove (former CEO of Intel)
  • Father, Son & Co.: My Life at IBM and Beyond by Thomas Watson Junior (he made $346,590 in 1955, which is around $3.1 million inflation-adjusted)

Books By People Who Can’t Be Verified as Billionaires

  • A Business and Its Beliefs: The Ideas That Helped Build IBM by Thomas J. Watson Jr. (This man was in charge of managing billions for IBM as his job but that doesn’t mean he earned billions.)
  • Relentless by Ted Rogers
  • Billionaire: Secrets to Success by Bill Bartmann (note: he was only a billionaire temporarily)
  • Bouncing Back: The Life of Bill Bartmann
  • 9 Steps to Achieve Any Goal by Bill Bartmann
  • 21 Secrets to Success and Happiness by John Templeton (one of the best investors in history)
  • Golden Nuggets by John Templeton
  • Templeton Plan by John Templeton

Books Written By Billionaires In Languages Other Than English

  • Chairul Tanjung Si Anak Singkong by Tjahja Gunawan Diredja (net worth of $4.9 Billion according to Forbes) – written in Indonesian.
  • One win nine losses by Tadashi Yanai [Japanese], $19 Billion Net Worth
  • Throw Away Your Success in a Day by Tadashi Yanai [Japanese]
  • Notes of a Manager by Tadashi Yanai [Japanese]

Takeaways

There’s too many to mention. I’m better off doing an article focusing on billionaire patterns I’ve learned.

One common thing is to prepare and hold your ground for lawsuits. A lot of these people had to battle in the court. It just ends up happening at some point when you get to that size and a lot of people want to sue you for money.

Be prepared to trust your gut and fight back if you believe you were right. Martha Stewart and Richard Branson’s stories stand out in particular. Remember: bad stuff happens and that’s okay.

Did I miss any books by billionaires? Please let me know in the comments because I’d love to add them to the list and read their books.
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80 thoughts on “188 Books Written By Billionaires (A Constantly Updated, Complete List)”

  1. Ken says:
    January 7, 2021 at 7:24 pm

    Hey Will, thanks for creating this list! It is super helpful.

    Reply
    1. Will says:
      January 8, 2021 at 2:24 pm

      My pleasure

      Reply
  2. Ansh says:
    October 23, 2020 at 3:32 pm

    Great list! You also need to add “ Scale: Seven Proven Principles to Grow Your Business and Get Your Life Back” by Jeff Hoffman who is the Billionaire founder of Priceline website!

    Reply
    1. Will says:
      November 13, 2020 at 10:14 pm

      This was a tough call since just because he founded it doesn’t guarantee he had enough ownership percent when he exited (which couldve been early on) to become a billionaire. My research doesn’t show much evidence against or for, but enough to add him to the list for now.

      Reply
  3. Ahmed says:
    October 11, 2020 at 7:01 pm

    Thanks for your effort, we do appreciate that
    Could you please sort them off by business such as real estate, stock market etc.. ?
    Thanks again.

    Reply
    1. Will says:
      October 18, 2020 at 7:27 pm

      I’d consider that if there’s enough demand – a lot of work for just one person

      Reply
  4. dave lee says:
    June 29, 2020 at 1:41 am

    david rubeinstein

    Reply
  5. Dave says:
    June 27, 2020 at 3:44 pm

    Book by stephen schwarzman

    Reply
    1. Will says:
      August 11, 2020 at 10:50 pm

      Thanks for the tip! Will add

      Reply
  6. Dave says:
    June 27, 2020 at 3:42 pm

    stephen schwarzman

    Reply
  7. Arzenixc says:
    May 5, 2020 at 3:44 am

    Alekperov, Vagit. Russian Oil: A Top Manager’s View

    SOURCE: Oil of Russia: Past, Present & Future > Other Works by Vagit Alekperov > Alekperov, Vagit. Russian Oil: A Top Manager’s View[Neft Rossii: vzglyad top-menedzhera]. Moscow, 2001.

    Reply
    1. Will says:
      February 6, 2021 at 1:09 pm

      Thanks, I’ll add

      Reply
  8. chad pit says:
    November 15, 2019 at 7:04 am

    Vertically Integrated Oil Companies of Russia: Formation Methodology and Realization by Vagit Alekperov

    Reply
    1. Rodgers says:
      July 13, 2020 at 3:39 pm

      measure what matters by John Doerr, from KPCB

      Reply
      1. Will says:
        August 9, 2020 at 9:20 pm

        I can’t believe I missd that one! Thanks!

        Reply
  9. chad pit says:
    November 15, 2019 at 7:00 am

    Vagit Alekperov:
    .Oil of Russia: Past, Present & Future Hardcover

    Reply
  10. chad pit says:
    November 15, 2019 at 6:56 am

    Tadashi Yanai:
    .One win nine losses November
    .Throw Away Your Success in a Day

    PS:
    Both books are in Japanese , as far as i know.

    Reply
    1. Will Chou says:
      March 30, 2020 at 6:03 pm

      Thanks!! Added

      Reply
  11. chad pit says:
    November 15, 2019 at 6:40 am

    Out Where the West Begins by Philip Anschutz

    Reply
    1. Will Chou says:
      November 30, 2019 at 12:32 pm

      added

      Reply
  12. chad pit says:
    November 4, 2019 at 12:22 pm

    John H. Schnatter is not a billionaire any more

    Reply
    1. Will Chou says:
      November 5, 2019 at 11:22 am

      Thanks for the info! I’m debating keeping him on since he was at one point.

      Reply
  13. chad pit says:
    November 3, 2019 at 3:52 pm

    Trailblazer by Marc Benioff

    Reply
    1. Will Chou says:
      November 10, 2019 at 10:44 am

      Added. Thank you!!

      Reply
  14. chad pit says:
    November 3, 2019 at 3:37 pm

    T. Boone Pickens is not a billionaire

    Reply
    1. Will Chou says:
      November 5, 2019 at 11:22 am

      I’m debating keeping him on since he was at one point.

      Reply
  15. chad pit says:
    November 3, 2019 at 3:35 pm

    Run Your Business, Don’t Let It Run You: Learning and Living Professional Management by Clay Mathile

    Reply
    1. Will Chou says:
      November 10, 2019 at 10:45 am

      Added thanks!!!

      Reply
  16. chad pit says:
    November 3, 2019 at 2:33 pm

    Thomas Monaghan is not a billionaire.

    Reply
    1. Will Chou says:
      November 10, 2019 at 10:41 am

      How sure are you? Are you basing it off those celebritynetworth websites? What if those are made up numbers from anonymous people

      Reply
  17. chad pit says:
    November 3, 2019 at 1:16 pm

    .Michael Jordan books
    .barefoot to billionaire by Jon M Huntsman

    Reply
    1. Will Chou says:
      November 10, 2019 at 10:51 am

      Thank you! I added Michael’s books. Jon’s is already there

      Reply
  18. Don says:
    April 25, 2019 at 8:15 pm

    Big debt crises by Ray Dalio

    Reply
    1. Will Chou says:
      May 1, 2019 at 3:02 pm

      Oh, yeah. Thanks, I’ll add it.

      Reply
  19. Sheckelberg says:
    September 13, 2018 at 3:10 am

    Thanks for the work you’ve put into this Will. Though you bash Tai Lopez I truly believe his mantra of, if you want to learn anything, go straight to the top. As far as reading goes, no book on business written by some shmuck is going to be as good as going directly to the SOURCE and hearing billionaires talk about how they succeeded in their own words.

    You’ve given me a lifelong reading list, thanks!!!

    Reply
    1. Will Chou says:
      September 13, 2018 at 12:35 pm

      Glad you found value

      Reply
  20. Wade Hampton says:
    August 1, 2018 at 9:08 am

    “I Love Capitalism” ~ by Ken Langone. A must-have on this list!

    Reply
    1. Will Chou says:
      August 5, 2018 at 7:12 pm

      Thanks so much for alerting me! I’ll add it

      Reply
  21. Beginner Tuts says:
    April 4, 2018 at 12:59 pm

    my favorite book ” The Heart Of Doing Business”

    Reply
    1. Will Chou says:
      April 4, 2018 at 8:56 pm

      Interesting. Thanks for telling me. Why this book?

      Reply
      1. Rob says:
        July 23, 2018 at 8:29 am

        Dream Big by Jorge Lemann – Warren buffett’s partner in buying Heinz, Buger King, Tim Hortons and others.

        https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Big-Sonho-Grande-Anheuser-Busch/dp/8543100836/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1532348763&sr=8-1&keywords=jorge+lemann

        Reply
        1. Will Chou says:
          July 23, 2018 at 10:25 am

          Thanks very much, I’ll add it

          Reply
  22. Jonathan Kis-Lev says:
    February 9, 2018 at 8:10 am

    Love it. Thank you so much!

    Reply
    1. Will Chou says:
      February 9, 2018 at 1:47 pm

      You’re welcome!

      Reply
  23. Angelo says:
    December 19, 2017 at 9:53 am

    What would help (if you somewhere find the time in between reading all these books), is if you add a link to the page where people can buy them (Use your mind and make it a referral link!). That way people can order them easily.

    Great list by the way!

    A book to add to the list: Jack ma – Alibaba (Founder Alibaba)

    Reply
    1. Will Chou says:
      December 21, 2017 at 4:54 pm

      Yes, I’m aware of this and I will add them soon.
      There is a link for the first book on the list already, which takes you to the Amazon page. If you search and/or buy any books from that URL, I get a commission at no extra cost to you. I’m aware of affiliate links but was wary. But this is a sign that you (and maybe other readers) don’t feel bad when they see an affiliate link.

      Reply
      1. Angelo says:
        December 26, 2017 at 4:00 pm

        I definately don’t since I still got to pay the same price, and I have an easy way to thank you for creating the list!

        Reply
        1. Will Chou says:
          December 26, 2017 at 4:55 pm

          Thanks, Angelo. I will keep that in mind.

          Reply
  24. Ben says:
    August 10, 2017 at 6:43 pm

    “Principles” by Ray Dalio

    Reply
    1. Will Chou says:
      August 11, 2017 at 12:14 pm

      Thanks. Added

      Reply
  25. Dong Kaizen says:
    June 30, 2017 at 2:27 am

    Will, maybe you should publish the Chinese book list that I send to you. It may benefit someone

    Reply
    1. Will says:
      July 3, 2017 at 12:29 pm

      Can you send that list again? I must have lost the list you sent in a comment.

      Reply
  26. Dong Kaizen says:
    June 21, 2017 at 8:39 am

    Here are book of other billionaires
    1)Gokongwei’s biography, John L. Gokongwei Jr.: The Path of Entrepreneurship by Gokongwei net worth $6.2 billion
    2)A passion to build: a memioir of David M. Consunji by David M. Consunji net worth 3.5 $billion
    3)Awaken the millionaire within you: Lessons from Carlos Wizard Martins by Carlos Wizard Martins (net worth $1 billion in 2014, he is not on Forbes list any more because he sell his company for $900 million). This book is one of the best book I have ever read

    Reply
  27. Dong Kaizen says:
    June 18, 2017 at 11:56 pm

    here is the book written by billionaires but haven’t translate to English, I wish somebody will translate them or I will hire people to translate them when i get richer

    Chairul Tanjung Si Anak Singkong by Chairul Tanjung (net worth 4.8 billion)

    Reply
  28. Dong Kaizen says:
    June 18, 2017 at 11:45 pm

    Here are even more amazing books, sorry today it seem like I update to many book

    Dream No Little Dreams by Clayton L. Mathile (he worth 3.8 billion dollar https://www.forbes.com/profile/clayton-mathile/?list=rtb)

    Whatever the Odds The Incredible Story Behind DLF by Kushal Pal Singh (he worth 5.3 billion dollar https://www.forbes.com/profile/kushal-pal-singh/?list=rtb)

    Lim Goh Tong: My life story (he was worth 4.2 billions dollar when he died in 2007, he was richest Malaysian at that time)

    Reply
    1. Will says:
      June 20, 2017 at 12:36 pm

      Thanks for the Forbes links. They help me verify and it’s the most credible source, though not always completely accurate.

      I suggest using Amazon’s author feature as well. You can click into the author name and see if they wrote any other books.

      Reply
  29. Dong Kaizen says:
    June 18, 2017 at 11:35 pm

    here are one of the amazing book I read also. It is written by Eike Batista. (In 2012 he is the richest person in Brazil and he is worth 30 billion dollar. Up to now due to risky investment in oil businesses he loss all of his money and stay in debt by a billion dollar. However his book definitely still worth a read about how he made it from nothing to 30 billions dollar). It is written in Portuguese but Google Translate do very good job when it come to translate from Portuguese to English .This is the link to download that book http://lelivros.love/book/download-o-x-da-questao-eike-batista-em-epub-mobi-e-pdf/
    After download a book you can convert it in to doc and use google translate to read it

    Reply
  30. Dong Kaizen says:
    June 18, 2017 at 11:07 pm

    Can you read Chinese or Do you want me to share books that are written by Chinese billionaires which are written in Chinese?. Some of these books have been Translated to English but most haven’t. If you like it, I will share those books with the link that you can verify their net worth. Some of these books are the best book I have ever read in my life. Good day, Will. See you soon

    Reply
    1. Will says:
      June 19, 2017 at 10:21 am

      I can’t read but please let me know about them.

      Reply
  31. Dong Kaizen says:
    June 17, 2017 at 2:17 am

    some new book up date
    Am I Being Too Subtle?: The Adventures of a Business Maverick by Sam Zell (net worth 4 billion)
    Lui Che-woo: Creating Value: The Journey of a Self-Made Billionaire: The Authorized Biography by Lui Che woo (net worth 15 billion)
    PAPA: The Story of Papa John’s Pizza by John H. Schnatter (net worth 1 billion)

    Reply
    1. Will says:
      June 18, 2017 at 7:06 pm

      You are the MAN, Dong. I got all your comments. I will have to read these. I’ll vet these and add those I can verify to the list. How do you find these? You’re amazing.

      Reply
      1. Dong Kaizen says:
        June 18, 2017 at 10:40 pm

        Thank you, Will. So happy that you have the same passion with me. I really love to read book written by billionaire like you do. You are the one who very kind to share those book to people, Your list is probably the best list on the Internet.And there are many more book that I haven’t see in your list. Here are some more (If they are not billionaire right now, they are at list was a billionaire when I found them on Internet)

        The Entrepreneur: 25 Golden Rules for the Global Business Manager by William Heinecke (net worth 1.8 billiona, according to Forbes 2017 link: https://www.forbes.com/profile/william-heinecke/?list=rtb)

        Reply
        1. Dong Kaizen says:
          June 18, 2017 at 10:56 pm

          Here are even more books written by billionaire recently
          Billions to Bust and Back: How I Made, Lost and Rebuilt a Fortune by Thor Bjorgolfsson (Thor Bjorgolfsson net worth 1 billion last year, can not find him on Forbes list right now)

          In for a Penny: A Business Adventure by Peter Hargreaves net worth 2.9 billion https://www.forbes.com/profile/peter-hargreaves/?list=rtb

          Threshold Resistance: The Extraordinary Career of a Luxury Retailing Pioneer by alfred taubman (He was worth 3.5 $billion when he die in 2015)

          Powerhouse Principles: The Ultimate Blueprint for Real Estate Success in an Ever-Changing Market by Jorge Perez (net worth $2.8billion https://www.forbes.com/profile/jorge-perez/?list=rtb)

          Start Small Finish Big: Fifteen Key Lessons to Start – and Run – Your Own Successful Business by Fred Deluca founder of Subway (he was aslo worth 3.5 $billion when he die in 2015)

          There are still many more book and I will gradually update it on your blog, Will. Thank you again for your kindness to sharing this list

          Reply
          1. Will says:
            June 20, 2017 at 1:00 pm

            Thank YOU. I was planning on going straight down the entire list of billionaires and see if they had written books comprehensively but never got around to it yet. Thanks for doing some of the work for me.

            Reply
        2. Will says:
          June 20, 2017 at 12:20 pm

          Yes, I plan on reading all of them. It is ridiculous how no one has thought to do this before. You will come out so much better after reading these.

          Reply
  32. Dong Kaizen says:
    June 16, 2017 at 10:09 pm

    here are some more
    against all odds by Jame Dyson (net worth 4 $billion)
    let my people go surfing by Yvon Chouinard (net worth 1 $billion)
    Everything is possible by S. Daniel Abraham (net worth 1 $billion)

    Reply
  33. Dong Kaizen says:
    June 16, 2017 at 9:59 pm

    Here are some of the new book:
    The Z factor written by Subhash Chandra (Net worth: 4 $billion)
    Creating Value: The Journey of a Self-Made Billionaire written by Lui che woo (Net worth 15 $billion)
    Am I being too subtle written by Sam Zell (net worth: 4 $billion)

    Reply
  34. GW says:
    June 2, 2017 at 12:37 pm

    one more:
    The King of Shaves Story: How I Built a Great Business in Tough Times by Will King

    Reply
  35. GW says:
    June 2, 2017 at 12:34 pm

    I would like to suggest:
    Making It Big by Binod Chaudhary (He is a billionaire from Nepal)
    Mochtar Riady: My Life Story (One of top business magnate from Indonesia, the founder of Lippo Group)
    The Mary Kay Way: Timeless Principles from America’s Greatest Woman Entrepreneur

    Reply
    1. Will says:
      June 4, 2017 at 3:55 pm

      Thanks for these suggestions, GW. I will have to vet them thoroughly before it’s confirmed they’re billionaires. Howd you find out about these?

      Reply
  36. dara says:
    May 13, 2017 at 10:02 am

    buddy you should also have mentioned books written by henry ford

    Reply
    1. Will says:
      May 13, 2017 at 11:44 am

      You’re right. Thanks for mentioning it. Added.

      Reply
  37. Dong says:
    March 10, 2017 at 2:37 am

    you miss the book A Passion to Win by Sumner Redstone 5.3 Billion Forbes

    Reply
    1. Will says:
      March 10, 2017 at 12:13 pm

      You are the man, Dong! I will add that and definitely have to read that.

      Reply
  38. Robert says:
    January 30, 2017 at 3:33 am

    You can add “Get Smarter” by Seymour Schulich to the list (1.75b net worth).

    Also “A Passion For Success” by Kazuo Inamori to the honorable mentions section (900m net worth).

    Reply
    1. Will says:
      January 31, 2017 at 9:44 pm

      Thanks so much Robert! Added. How did you find these? This is amazing!

      Reply
      1. Jason says:
        March 13, 2018 at 6:15 am

        Do you have a blog/ youtube? notes. Which have you read?

        Reply
        1. Will Chou says:
          March 13, 2018 at 11:26 am

          This is my blog. My youtube is youtube.com/willyoulaugh
          I’ve read about 15 or so of these so far. I have filmed a few videos and podcasts on what I learned from them.

          Reply
  39. Arsene TWIZERIMANA says:
    January 7, 2017 at 5:51 pm

    thank you a lot .i am going to try to read some of these books and i hope they will help me to improve my understanding about personal development and business development as well as risk taking.

    Reply
    1. Will says:
      January 8, 2017 at 4:16 pm

      Thanks for reading and good luck Arsene!

      Reply

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