Success Stories
An Annotated Bibliography of
Famous Entrepreneurs

Adams, Russell B. King C. Gillette: The Man and His Wonderful Shaving Device. Boston: Little, Brown, 1978.

• Gillette first developed his product in 1895, which resulted into a Fortune 500 company.

Bartlett, Donald L. And James B. Steele. Empire: The Life, Legend, and Madness of Howard Hughes. New York: W. W. Norton, 1979.

• This book was compiled from Hughes own personal letters and FBI reports.

Bender, Marilyn & Altschul, Selig. The Chosen Instrument: Pan Am, Juan Trippe, the Rise and Fall of an American Entrepreneur. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1982.

• Biography of Juan Trippe, who built Pan American Airways in the 1920s, the 
  most powerful international airline of that time.

Butcher, Lee. Accidental Millionaire: The Rise and Fall of Steve Jobs at Apple Computer. New York: Paragon House, 1988.

• Traces the power struggles within the company after the new president 
  John C. Sculley fired Jobs.

Clayton, Lawrence A. Grace: W.R. Grace & Company: The Formative Years, 1850-1930. Ottawa, Illinois: Jamison Books, 1985.

• Traces early years of W.R. Grace and Company founded by Irish immigrant 
  William Grace.

Colby, Gerard. Du Pont Dynasty. Secaucus, New Jersey: Lyle Stuart Inc; 1984.

• The author gathered information from Dupont family interviews for this 
  monumental biography of one of the more influential first families of 
  America. 

Cray, Ed. Chrome Colossus: General Motors and Its Times. New York:
McGraw-Hill Book Co; 1980.

• Founded by William C. Durant, General Motors became the largest, most profitable industrial empire. This books focuses on the six men who developed the company into what it is today. 

Cray, Ed. Levi's. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1978. 

• The story of the company that began in 1853 and became an American institution because of its tried and true style of clothing.

Dalzell, Robert F. Enterprising Elite: The Boston Associates and the
World They Made. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 

• During 1815 to 1861 Francis Cabot Lowell and his friend Patrick Tracy Jackson built the first modern factory in the United States. They developed a new industrial system referred to as the Waltham System. 

DeLamarter, Richard Thomas. Big Blue. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1986.

• The strategies and power that IBM used to become number one. 

Fernandez, Ronald. Excess Profits: The Rise of the United Technologies. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1983.

• It began in 1925 as Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company and grew to become a leading military industrial corporation. 

Foster, Lawrence G. Robert Wood Johnson: The Gentleman Rebel. Lillian Press, 1999.

• The story of famed philanthropist Robert Johnson who rose from factory worker
  To founder of Johnson & Johnson, the healthcare company.

Ghanem, Skukri Mohammed. OPEC, The Rise and Fall of an Exclusive Club. New York: KPL Limited, 1986.

• Traces the rise and fall of the famous company founded in 1960.

Hall, Mark. Sunburst: The Ascent of Sun Microsystems. Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1980.

• In less than five years Sun Microsystems was among those listed on the Fortune 500.

Hammer, Armand. Hammer. New York: G.P. Putnam and Sons, 1987.

• An autobiography of the entrepreneurial giant who had already amassed a fortune by the time he was 21 from his ventures in mines, pharmaceuticals, chemicals. Recounts the exciting and extraordinary life that he led.

Heller, Robert. The Decision Makers. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1989.

• The men and the million-dollar moves behind great corporate success stories. 

Holbrook, Stewart Hall. The Age of the Moguls. Garden City, N.Y: Doubleday, 
1953.

• Brief portraits of Rockefeller, Schwab, The Duponts.

Iacocca, Lee A. Iacocca. New York: Bantam Books, 1984.

• The autobiography of the CEO of Chrysler Corporation who changed
  The course of automotive history when he introduced the Mustang in the 
  1960s.

Jackson, Tim. Inside Intel. New York: Dutton, 1997.

• As president of Intel, Andy Grove, helped create a computer giant . Their 
  microprocessors became industry standards and help develop the company into a successful operation. 

Katz, Donald. Just Do It: The Nike Spirit in the Corporate World. Holbrook,MA: Adams Media Corporation, 1994. 

• Nike Corporation began with Phil Knight who made the start-up into a $4 billion company that endorses such sports stars as Michael Jordan, Pete Sampras, and Charles Barkley. 

Kelinfield, Sonny. The Biggest Company on Earth. New York: Holt, Rinehart 
Winston, 1981.

• The author, a financial analyst for the New York Times, writes this prize winning Series on an in-depth look at the American Telegraph and Telephone Company.

Keller, David Neal. Cooper Industries 1833-1983. Athens, Ohio: 
Ohio University Press, 1983.

• Traces the history of Cooper Industries including the history of engines and hand tools from their development in the early 19th century. 

Kirk, Donald. Korean Dynasty: Hyundai and Chung Ju Yung. N.Y: M.E. Sharpe, 1994.

• A study of Asian business techniques from one of the largest Korean
  conglomerates.

Louis, J.C. The Cola Wars. New York: Everest House, 1980.

• Exposes the battle between Coca-Cola and Pepsi Company and their struggle for dominance. 

Lowe, Janet. Welch: An American Icon. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2001.

• As Chairman of General Electric, John Welch brought the company into the global marketplace, but his management style often brought with it company scandals and discontented employees. 

Lyons, Nick. The Sony Vision. New York: Crown Publishers, 1976.

• An insightful look at how scientists and inventors Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka made Japanese products to be known as products of excellence and quality. 

Marcus, Stanley. Minding the Store: A Memoir. Boston: Little, Brown, 
1974.

• Stanley Marcus built his famous Neiman- Marcus family business upon the theory tat a satisfied customer is the most powerful advertising.

Meyer, Michael. The Alexander Complex: The Dreams That Drive the Great Businessmen. New York: Random House, 1989.

• Profiles of six business empires including Ted Turner, Ross Perot, and Steve Jobs, distinguished by vision, leadership ability, and character.

Montgomery, M.R. In Search of L.L. Bean. Boston: Little, Brown and Company,
1984.

• Leon Leonwood Bean founded the company in 1912 as a mail-order business
  secializing in hunting shoes and outdoor wear.

Nader, Ralph. The Big Boys: Power and Position in American Business. 
New York: Pantheon Books, 1986.

• Brief biographies of nine corporate leaders telling how they manage and how they get to the top of their field.

Oliver, Thomas. The Real Coke, the Real Story. New York: Random House, 
1986.

• Coca- Cola Company began in 1885 in the backyard of druggist John Pemberton. The book attempts to answer the reason why in 1985, the taste changed after years as being deemed the perfect taste by millions the world over.

Payne, Darwin. Initiative in Energy: Dresser Industries Inc. 1880-1978.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1979.

• A company history of a company that provides products and services needed to develop the worlds energy and natural resources. 

Pendergrast, Mark. For God, Country, and Coca-Cola: The Unauthorized History of the Great American Soft Drink and the Company That Makes It. N.Y: Collier Books, 1993.

• Dr. John Stith Pemberton invented coke in Atlanta, Georgia in 1885. Little did he know his creation would become the world’s most popular soft drink.

Petsinger, Thomas, Jr. Oil & Honor: The Texaco-Pennzsoil Wars. New York: G.P. Putnams Sons, 1987.

• The story of 11 billion dollar battle for Getty Oil. 

Presley, James. A Saga of Wealth: The Rise of the Texas Oilmen. N.Y: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1978.

• A biography of Patillo Higgins, James Hogg and Senator J. Gates and the oil companies they started Sun, Shell, Standard and Gulf.

Sakiya, Tetsuo. Honda Motor: The Men, the Management, the Machines. New York: Harper and Row, 1982.

• Discusses the underlying Japanese politics, culture, and economics that 
  Helped shape Honda Motors. 

Sampson, Anthony. The Seven Sisters: The Great Oil Companies and the World They Shaped. New York: The Viking Press, 1975.

• The story behind the legendary seven sisters; Exxon, Gulf, Shell, Texaco, BP, Mobil, and Socal that have dominated the world oil. 

Schoenberg, Robert J. Geneen. New York: W.W. Norton, 1985.

• Under the leadership of Harold S. Geneen ITT Iternational Telephone and
  Telegraph Company achieved record earnings. 

Silver, A. David. Entrepreneurial Megabucks: The 100 Great Entrepreneurs of the Last 25 Years. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1985.

• Brief business biographies of entrepreneurs who meet the following criteria;
  have created 20 million within five years, other successful business 
  ventures, charitable contributions. Compiled from the Forbes 400 and the
  Venture 100.

Smith, Sally Bedell. In All His Glory: The Life of William S. Paley, The  Legendary Tycoon and His Brilliant Circle. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990.

• Biography of the head of CBS (Columbia Broadcasting Systems). 

Sobel, Robert. Car Wars: The Untold Story. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1984.

• Traces the rise of the car industry from the 1950s to the competition with 
  Europe and Japan. 

Sobel, Robert. ITT: The Management of Opportunity. New York: Times Books, 
1982.

• Relates the history of the worlds largest conglomerate ITT, which was founded in 1920 by the West Indies businessman Sosthenes Behn.

Spanos, Alex. Sharing the Wealth: My Story. Washington,DC: Regnery Publishing, 
2002.

• What began as an $800 loan grew to become a business empire. Alex Spanos is the owner of the San Diego Chargers as well as A.G. Spanos Companies, the leading builder of apartment communities in the country. 

Stearn, Gerald E. Gompers. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1971.

• Biography of Samuel Gompers, the founder and leader of the American 
  Federation of Labor.

Strasser,J.B. and Laurie Becklund. Swoosh: The Unauthorized Story of 
Nike and the Men Who Played There. New York: Harper Business, 1993.

• Inside scoop on Nike by the wife of one of its founders. 

Tobias, Andrew B. Fire and Ice: The Story of Charles Revson, the Man
Who Built the Revlon Empire. New York: Morrow, 1976.

• An interesting and entertaining account of Charles Revson, the cosmetic king, who was known for his notoriously flamboyant and lavish lifestyle. Behind this glamorous faade was a man known for his ruthless treatment of his employees. 

Trump, Donald J. Trump: The Art of The Deal. New York: Random House, 
1987.

• Written by the successful business entrepreneur who has mastered the art of making deals. Trump offers his own formulas for success. 

Wall, Joseph Frazier. Andrew Carnegie. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh
Press, 1989.

• Biography of the philanthropist and steel magnate.

Wang, An. Lessons, An Autobiography. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1986.

• Wang arrived in America at the age of twenty five to build the highly 
  successful company called Wang, whose foundations were based upon
  the principles of simplicity, balance, moderation, and community 
  responsibility.

Watson, Thomaas J. Father Son & Co; My Life at IBM and Beyond. New 
York: Bantam Books, 1990.

• The story of Thomas Watson, the founder of IBM and his son, Peter Petre, who took over the position as head of IBM in 1956.

Weinberg, Steve. Armand Hammer: The Untold Story. Boston: Little,
Brown, 1989.

• The story of the controversial figure that played an active role in world affairs.

Wilson, Derek A. Rothschild: The Wealth and Power of a Dynasty. New York: Charles Scribner and Sons, 1988.

• A chronicle of three generations of the greatest bankers in the world.

Wright, J. Patrick. On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors. New York: Avon, 1979.

• In 1973, John Z. Delorean resigned from his position as Vice President al Motors and literally shocked the business world. This book if a startling expose on the reasons behind De Loreans resignation.

   

  Updated 03/04/2008