33 thinkers, books, and ideas connected to this field.
American journalist and author who wrote Hetty: The Genius and Madness of America's First Female Tycoon — a biography of Hetty Green — and other business and history books.
David L. Stearns's 2007 academic history of the creation of the BankAmericard and its evolution into Visa — covering the technology, governance, and organizational innovations that built the world's largest payment network.
Joel Glenn Brenner's 1999 investigative business history of the Mars and Hershey corporations — the only book written with any internal access to the famously secretive Mars organization.
David Sheff's 1993 investigative account of Nintendo's rise to US market dominance — covering the ruthless third-party licensing terms, the retailer strong-arming, and the internal dynamics of one of Japan's most secretive companies.
Steven Levy's 2011 comprehensive history of Google from founding through the early 2010s, based on extraordinary access to Google's founders, executives, and engineers.
American journalist and author who wrote Emperors of Chocolate after securing rare access to the notoriously secretive Mars family company.
British sports journalist at the Wall Street Journal and co-author of The Formula with Joshua Robinson — the comprehensive business history of Formula 1.
American sports journalist and co-author with Jonathan Clegg of The Formula: The Untold Story of How a Team of Misfits Built the Most Successful Formula One Car in History — a comprehensive business history of Formula 1.
Donald Katz's 1994 insider account of Nike at the height of its 1990s cultural dominance — covering the Air Jordan peak, the Michael Jordan relationship, and the internal culture of a company that had become a global phenomenon.
Duff McDonald's 2009 biography of Jamie Dimon, tracing his rise from Sandy Weill's protégé to CEO of JPMorgan Chase through the 2008 financial crisis.
A business history of the Michelin company — documenting a century of the French tire and guide company that became one of the most valuable family businesses in Europe — covering the founding by the Michelin brothers through its global expansion.
John D. Rockefeller's memoir — a carefully managed self-presentation by the world's richest man, emphasizing his religious values, his philanthropy, and his view of Standard Oil as a beneficial force.
Michael Moritz's 2009 updated account of Apple's history — expanding The Little Kingdom to cover Apple's Jobs-less years, its near-death experience, and Jobs's return and the iPod revolution — with the perspective of Moritz having become a major VC in the interim.
American biographer — author of Titan, Alexander Hamilton, Washington, and Grant — Pulitzer Prize winner (2011 — Washington: A Life) — the most commercially successful serious American biographer.
Frederick Allen's 1993 investigative history of the Coca-Cola company, covering its founding through the New Coke debacle with detailed reporting on the company's competitive practices, advertising, and corporate politics.
Ben Eidelson's deep-dive podcast covering technology company histories, with a focus on fintech and infrastructure companies, modeled on the Acquired format.
Julie Strasser and Laurie Becklund's 1993 account of Nike's founding and early years from the perspective of Rob Strasser — offering a less flattering view of Phil Knight than Shoe Dog and centering the Jordan deal from inside the marketing department.
Bryan Burrough's 2009 group biography of the four Texas families who struck it rich in the Texas oil boom — Clint Murchison, Sid Richardson, H.L. Hunt, and Roy Cullen — and how they parlayed oil money into political power, cultural influence, and business empires.
Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg's 2023 comprehensive business history of Formula 1, covering the commercial transformation from amateur gentleman racing to a multi-billion dollar global media property.
Michael Moritz's 1984 account of Apple Computer's founding and early years — written from direct access to Jobs, Wozniak, and other key figures — which is the most detailed account of Apple's founding available from a contemporary observer.
Herbert Lottman's business biography of the Michelin brothers and the company they built — covering how Andre and Edouard transformed a small rubber goods manufacturer into a global tire empire through relentless innovation and the brilliant marketing invention of the Michelin Guide.
Robert Tolf's business history of the Nobel family — specifically their creation of one of the world's first vertically integrated oil companies in Baku in the 1870s — which made them the dominant force in Russian oil before John D. Rockefeller's influence reached Europe.
Nadège Forestier and Nazanine Ravai's out-of-print account of Bernard Arnault's acquisition of LVMH — written contemporaneously with the events — providing an insider view of the deals, the personalities, and the French business world reactions.
A companion volume to Bryan Burrough's Texas oil history — focusing specifically on the independent wildcatters who drilled speculative oil wells outside the major companies' established fields — and the personality type that made them successful.
Andrew Carnegie's autobiography — one of the canonical texts of American self-made entrepreneurship, describing his rise from Scottish immigrant poverty to the world's richest man.
19th-century American financier and stock manipulator — former cattle drover who made and lost fortunes on Wall Street through manipulation of Erie Railroad stock and eventually died penniless.
Sol Price's membership discount retail chain (1954-1982) — the institutional forerunner of warehouse retail, from which both Costco and Sam's Club are directly descended.
Paul Barrett's narrative history of Gaston Glock's rise from Austrian curtain-rod manufacturer to dominant American handgun maker — a story of outsider advantage and relentless entrepreneurship.
Edward Renehan's biography of Jay Gould — the most reviled of the Gilded Age robber barons — presenting a more complex portrait than the standard villain narrative.
Jerry Shields's biography of Daniel Ludwig — once the world's wealthiest man — who built a global shipping empire in total obscurity and launched the catastrophic Jari Project in the Amazon.
The autobiography of Ettore Bugatti's daughter L'Ebe — a portrait of the Bugatti family and the obsessive craft culture that produced some of the most beautiful automobiles ever made.
David Landes's comparative study of great family business dynasties — examining why some (Rothschild, Michelin) survived across generations while others collapsed.
Flamboyant Gilded Age financier and partner of Jay Gould — co-conspirator in the Erie War and the Black Friday gold corner attempt (1869), shot by a rival suitor for his mistress.