# Who are some great businessmen whose lives are interesting and informative **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 30, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-great-businessmen-whose-lives-are-interesting-and-informative/657069 "2013-04-30T03:00:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-great-businessmen-whose-lives-are-interesting-and-informative/657069/1 "2013-04-30T03:00:44Z")
I regret the fact that I am not very good at business, but I enjoy reading about people who are great at business. So who are some great businessmen whose biographies or life stories are worth reading? I consider Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jay Gould (railroad tycoon) to be two really impressive businessmen. They both built fortunes out of nothing, and both seemed expert and knowing when to buy and when to sell. People like Bill Gates for example, meh. He created one company and who knows how much of Microsoft’s success was just luck due to timing. A businessman who can succeed in various different fields, who knows when to invest and when to sell, who doesn’t have family seed capital, etc. is more impressive to me. Someone who can succeed in both boom and bust times, and who does well in various kinds of fields (real estate, manufacturing, communications, transportation, etc) is more interesting. ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-great-businessmen-whose-lives-are-interesting-and-informative/657069/2 "2013-04-30T03:31:01Z")
Warren Buffet Richard Branson - came from money, but I still think most would consider him self made ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-great-businessmen-whose-lives-are-interesting-and-informative/657069/3 "2013-04-30T03:49:06Z")
[Titan, the Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.](http://www.amazon.com/Titan-The-Life-John-Rockefeller/dp/1400077303/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367293670&sr=8-1&keywords=titan) by Ron Chernow [My Years with General Motors](http://www.amazon.com/Years-General-Motors-Alfred-Sloan/dp/0385042353/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367293637&sr=8-1&keywords=my+life+at+general+motors) by Alfred P. Sloan ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-great-businessmen-whose-lives-are-interesting-and-informative/657069/4 "2013-04-30T03:52:24Z")
> [@DataX](#): > > Warren Buffet > Richard Branson - came from money, but I still think most would consider him self made What about Warren Buffet’s life is interesting besides his money making abilities? ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-great-businessmen-whose-lives-are-interesting-and-informative/657069/5 "2013-04-30T04:00:34Z")
[Kelly Johnson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Johnson_(engineer)) Maybe not exactly what you’re looking for, but very interesting nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-great-businessmen-whose-lives-are-interesting-and-informative/657069/6 "2013-04-30T04:11:28Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > What about Warren Buffet’s life is interesting besides his money making abilities? I think most of it comes from his money making abilities, but he seems down to earth - has a relatively simple business philosophy - and if the OP is looking for someone who has been successful (granted as an investor) in different areas - Bufffet is hard to ignore. Not necessarily the best pick for the Title the OP used, but I think it meets the rest of his post. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-great-businessmen-whose-lives-are-interesting-and-informative/657069/7 "2013-04-30T04:19:47Z")
[Andrew Grove](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Grove) Hid from the Nazis during WWII, fled to the US from Hungary in 1956, went to City College then UC Berkeley, was with Intel since it’s infancy and later became Chairman and CEO. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-great-businessmen-whose-lives-are-interesting-and-informative/657069/8 "2013-04-30T04:29:38Z")
[They don’t have to have died rich, right?](http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005787) ---
**Author:** ![santorum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/22d042/32.png) [@santorum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/santorum)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-great-businessmen-whose-lives-are-interesting-and-informative/657069/9 "2013-04-30T05:07:57Z")
[Be my guest. Conrad Hilton](http://www.amazon.com/Be-My-Guest-Conrad-Hilton/dp/0130715980) ---
**Author:** ![48Willys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/db5fbb/32.png) [@48Willys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/48Willys)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-great-businessmen-whose-lives-are-interesting-and-informative/657069/10 "2013-04-30T06:39:49Z")
R.G. LeTourneau, I read three books about him many moons ago. He was an earth moving contractor for a while. He invented much of the earth moving equiptment used today, such as the turnapull. He was known as “the dean of earthmoving”. He gave much of his earnings to christian charities, and he started a college. Diverse enough for you? ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-great-businessmen-whose-lives-are-interesting-and-informative/657069/11 "2013-04-30T07:53:10Z")
At our MBA school, one American was singled out as one of the two best managers in the 20th century (the other’s Matsushita.) Of course, I’m talking about a professional, a CEO, but he should count as a businessman. His book is entitled simply, “Management” by Harold Geneen. One interesting story is that of Fred Smith, a former airline pilot, who founded Fedex. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-great-businessmen-whose-lives-are-interesting-and-informative/657069/12 "2013-04-30T10:05:49Z")
Andrew Carnegie: > **[Andrew Carnegie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Carnegie)** > > Andrew Carnegie (Scots: \[kɑrˈnɛːɡi\], English: /kɑːrˈnɛɡi/ kar-NEG-ee;\[note 1\] November 25, 1835 – August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in history. He became a leading philanthropist in the United States, Great Britain, and the British Empire. During the last 18 years of his life, he gave away around $350 million (roughly $5.9 bil Carne... ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-great-businessmen-whose-lives-are-interesting-and-informative/657069/13 "2013-04-30T11:16:41Z")
“Although a shrewd and determined businessman, Westinghouse was a conscientious employer and wanted to make fair deals with his business associates.” > **[George Westinghouse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Westinghouse)** > > George Westinghouse Jr. (October 6, 1846 – March 12, 1914) was an American entrepreneur and engineer based in Pennsylvania who created the railway air brake and was a pioneer of the electrical industry, receiving his first patent at the age of 19. Westinghouse saw the potential of using alternating current for electric power distribution in the early 1880s and put all his resources into developing and marketing it. This put Westinghouse's business in direct competition with Thomas Edison, who m... ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-great-businessmen-whose-lives-are-interesting-and-informative/657069/14 "2013-04-30T12:30:49Z")
Are we allowed to mention business_women_, too? 😉 Not sure if he qualifies as a “business person,” but it can be argued [W. Edwards Deming](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming) had a more positive impact on manufacturing than any other person. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-great-businessmen-whose-lives-are-interesting-and-informative/657069/15 "2013-04-30T13:22:25Z")
The recently passed-away [Jack Tramiel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Tramiel), founder of Commodore computers and later head of Atari Corporation, had a pretty interesting life. Born in Poland, survived German camps in WW2, came to the US and learned how to repair typewriters, then started Commodore as a typewriter service company. He was a ruthless businessman and I’ve happily devoured a couple of books about his days at Commodore. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-great-businessmen-whose-lives-are-interesting-and-informative/657069/16 "2013-04-30T13:32:12Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I regret the fact that I am not very good at business, but I enjoy reading about people who are great at business. > > So who are some great businessmen whose biographies or life stories are worth reading? > > I consider Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jay Gould (railroad tycoon) to be two really impressive businessmen. They both built fortunes out of nothing, and both seemed expert and knowing when to buy and when to sell. > > People like Bill Gates for example, meh. He created one company and who knows how much of Microsoft’s success was just luck due to timing. A businessman who can succeed in various different fields, who knows when to invest and when to sell, who doesn’t have family seed capital, etc. is more impressive to me. Someone who can succeed in both boom and bust times, and who does well in various kinds of fields (real estate, manufacturing, communications, transportation, etc) is more interesting. I find your dismissiveness of Bill Gates odd - he was one of the founders of an industry (software) where one didn’t exist prior to his time. Regardless, you might be interested in reading about [Henry Kaiser](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_J._Kaiser), a mid-century industrialist who had success in: Shipyards Steel Aluminum Health Care (Kaiser Permanente) Real Estate and to a lesser extent, automobiles. He was the man responsible for the [Liberty Ships](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_ships) used in WW2, and had his hand in many large scale projects, such as the Hoover and Grand Coulee dams. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-great-businessmen-whose-lives-are-interesting-and-informative/657069/17 "2013-04-30T13:55:59Z")
No one has mentioned **Steve Jobs** yet in this thread? If not: **Steve Jobs** ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-great-businessmen-whose-lives-are-interesting-and-informative/657069/18 "2013-04-30T13:57:40Z")
> [@DataX](#): > > Warren Buffet > Richard Branson - came from money, but I still think most would consider him self made > [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > What about Warren Buffet’s life is interesting besides his money making abilities? What about Jimmy Buffet? Who else has turned one song into a real business empire? Old joke: What’s the difference between Warran and Jimmy Buffet? One has built an enormous business empire and is fantastically rich, and the other one doesn’t sing “Margaritaville” ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-great-businessmen-whose-lives-are-interesting-and-informative/657069/19 "2013-04-30T14:03:41Z")
Cornelius Vanderbilt. His competition in Atlantic steamshipping against Edward Collins, who was receiving millions in Federal subsidies, alone is a fascinating tale, to say nothing of his railroad empire. ---
**Author:** ![Trom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Trom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trom)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-great-businessmen-whose-lives-are-interesting-and-informative/657069/20 "2013-04-30T14:37:47Z")
[Jesse Livermore](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Lauriston_Livermore) was an interesting guy. He ran away from home at the age of 14 around 1890 and throughout his life made and lost millions of dollars trading stocks and commodities. At one point in his life he was worth $100 million dollars (in 1930 dollars!), which he then proceeded to lose. He struggled with depression and mental illness and ended up taking his own life in 1940. [Reminiscences of a Stock Operator](http://www.amazon.com/Reminiscences-Stock-Operator-Wiley-Trading/dp/1592801943) is a loose biography of Livermore. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-great-businessmen-whose-lives-are-interesting-and-informative/657069.md?page=2)