246 Books Billionaires Read

"Beautifully written and filled with such wisdom." - Arianna Huffington

"[The author] open sourced Bridgewater’s methods in [this book] and the results were good evidence that collectives can operate at higher levels when they are open and honest about and can see past their cognitive flaws." - Bryan Johnson

"[Ray Dalio]'s a great guy and has a great book out you all need to get called Principles. It’s a major key!!" - Diddy

"Greg Penner, our chairman, asked me to read it." - Doug McMillon

"The book's buzz and the reaction of the people has been overwhelming." - Gary Vaynerchuk

"As with most non-fiction, the meat was in the beginning." - Naval Ravikant

"It really puts in perspective how bizarre human beings are. It’s an awesome overview of our species." - Joe Rogan

"Best book I've read in [2015]." - Naval Ravikant

"Basically one of the things we've created here is we've imagined ideas that we all share." - Lex Fridman

One of Peter Attia's answers to "any books you feel would make your reading list?"

"The brainy book I seem to be sharing or talking about the most lately." - Ashton Kutcher

"A great book about [how] we’ve evolved and why we have anxiety." - Whitney Cummings

"Andy Grove, who built himself from nothing to run Intel, stopped what he was doing to teach us his magic. And not through some ghostwriter either — Andy wrote this book himself. What an incredible gift." - Ben Horowitz

Keith Rabois recommended this book on a Medium blog post.

Sahil Lavingia recommended this book on Notion.

Balaji Srinivasan recommended this book in "The Almanack of Balaji Srinivasan."

Justin Kan recommended this book on Twitter.

"The saga of how one of the great founders of our time launched his company, grew it, got it back, and rejuvenated it." - Adam Grant

"The quietest of the entrepreneurs who created the modern computer business finally tells his story.'" - Malcolm Gladwell

"An autobiographical thriller, and Michael Dell is the gangster protagonist." - Matthew McConaughey

"Tells his story, that of his iconic company and the grit required to compete in the ever-growing technology industry." - Satya Nadella

"A fast-paced tale of launching a public company, taking it private, and then taking it public again." - Walter Isaacson

One of Shah Rukh Khan's favorite novels.

"Loved [this book]. Read often." - Joe De Sena

"Something I’ve read multiple times to get me in the mindset of not letting anything stand in my way" - Peter Diamandis

"[I read this book when] I was 15, and I gave [it] to a lot of people because it shifted how I looked at certain things." - Gabby Reece

"When I read [this book] in my teens, Dagny Taggart’s character spoke to me on a level I’d never experienced with any other novel." - Amelia Boone

"My favorite book." - Bob Metcalfe

"A great book on strategy." - Ben Horowitz

"[One of] four good books that I would highly recommend reading if you're gonna build a B2B software company." - Aaron Levie

One of Max Levchin's answers to "what's your favourite business book you'd advise to young entrepreneurs?"

"[A] business classic." - Tim O’Reilly

"A must-read for entrepreneurs." - Caterina Fake

"Taught me why it’s so hard to come up with a second hit." - Guy Kawasaki

"I always recommend [this book] as my top business book." - Naval Ravikant

Tim Ferriss mentioned this book on Twitter.

"An amazing book on mental models." - Ramit Sethi

"If it’s knowledge and not credentials you’re after, [read this book]." - Shane Parrish

"The one best book I've ever read." - Tai Lopez

"Nobody asked me, but if you only read one book as a founder read [this book]." - Courtland Allen

"Best cyberpunk novel ever written. Slightly dated but very prescient." - Naval Ravikant

"Such a good book but you can’t give it to someone now. I've tried; it doesn’t work. You have to read it before you’ve been on the internet." - Seth Godin

"It's a tough call because I prefer other books of [this author]. But [this book] is so important within the history of science fiction." - Adam Savage

"I love [this book]." - Brandon Stanton

One of Ryan Shea's 4 answers to "what is the book (or books) you’ve given most as a gift?"

"[One of my ten favorite books] I might think of if I were asked the question at an interview this minute." - Nolan Bushnell

One of Peter Attia's answers to "any books you feel would make your reading list?"

"Entertaining more than anything. I read [this book], I was like: I would never work for this guy. But entertaining and some good lessons." - Matt Mullenweg

"A bit dark but it does cover a lot of useful territory on what building an organization is like." - Andrew Ng

"Reflects 2000-2003." - Keith Rabois

One of Max Levchin's answers to "what's your favourite business book you'd advise to young entrepreneurs?"

"I like this one, but it’s not for very new entrepreneurs." - Luis von Ahn

"Have been waiting for it to come out so that I can recommend it to everyone." - Sam Altman

"No brainer pick up for every entrepreneur and investor." - Anthony Pompliano

"A great book on strategy." - Ben Horowitz

"We've all read Grove." - Balaji Srinivasan

"A great one -- had no idea Nike had such a long history." - Alexis Ohanian

"[One of the] best books I read in 2017." - Anthony Pompliano

"Loved [this book]." - Austen Allred

"All entrepreneurs should read." - Bill Gurley

"Great inspirational [book]." - Jason Calacanis

Most Recommended Books reached out to Kathryn Minshew directly.

"Gives an overview of entrepreneurship and innovation." - Andrew Ng

"I learned a lot reading it." - Ben Horowitz

"A must read." - Bryan Johnson

Chris Dixon recommended this book on Twitter.

"If you really understand something that the rest of the world is confused about, and it’s an important truth, [this book] says here are all the ways you might want to make that work." - Eric Weinstein

Keith Rabois recommended this book on a Medium blog post.

"The book I’ve recommended most." - Peter Attia

"Learn about the inner mindset and external state of someone who was absolutely brilliant." - Naval Ravikant

"One of my favorite books." - Tim Ferriss

Noah Kagan recommended this book in the "Tools of Titans" book.

Sahil Lavingia recommended this book on Notion.

"[One of] the 10 best nonfiction books of all-time." - James Clear

"A very good book." - James Altucher

"This book will have you asking yourself many provocative and useful questions." - Patrick O'Shaughnessy

"Changed how I see the world." - Shane Parrish

Tom Bilyeu recommended this book on his website.

Recommended on Dave Ramsey's website.

"The great management book." - Jason Calacanis

One of Max Levchin's answers to "what's your favourite business book you'd advise to young entrepreneurs?"

"As a business person, I love [this book]." - Frank Blake

"It’s too good. [...] Definitely a must read." - Tracy DiNunzio

Michael Hyatt recommended this book on his website.

"The most important venture capitalist of our era reveals a key to business innovation and success." - Walter Isaacson

"Deserves to be fully embraced by every person responsible for performance, in any walk of life. [The author] makes Andy Grove a mentor to us all." - Jim Collins

"Does a good job overall - worth reading." - Marty Cagan

Jocko Willink covered this book in "Jocko Podcast" Ep. 23

"To learn that the act of killing fellow humans can be raised to an art." - Neil deGrasse Tyson

"Another [book] I have to mention." - Dave Camarillo

Ryan Petersen mentioned this book on Twitter.

"Has to get onto my list." - Fred Wilson

Lex Fridman mentioned this book on Instagram.

"Encouraged the better side of ourselves." - Lex Fridman

"One of my favorite recent books." - Jack Kornfield

Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post.

"Traces the history of violence and how we are in the safest time ever." - A.J. Jacobs

"[I recommend] anything [by this author]. He’s one of the clearest thinkers and communicators of our time." - Chris Anderson

"So good. I've found it to really rock people's preconceived notions on a number of topics." - Anthony Pompliano

"I absolutely loved the book. Sure, the characters are extreme and one-dimensional - but to me, that was the point." - Tim Urban

"I know, it's a cult. I'm not going to take it too far, but I did enjoy it." - Emma Watson

"By the end of the book, I decided to drop out of school. I never returned. It was the best decision of my life." - Kevin Kelly

"Defiant in its pursuit of one’s artistic goals, meaning you don’t compromise; you stay truthful to what you’re exploring." - Vince Vaughn

"The protagonist’s audacious self-confidence and refusal to compromise his artistic vision—which was to say, himself—was a fascinating thing to survey." - Jesse Williams

"Healthy selfishness is a great thing." - Noah Kagan

"Gives one specific tactic for innovating quickly." - Andrew Ng

"Great." - Ben Horowitz

"You need to read [this book]." - Jason Calacanis

"[I was] lucky enough to have a front-row seat at the birth of these ideas." - Mike Maples, Jr.

"[This book] isn't just about how to create a more successful entrepreneurial business, it's about what we can learn from those businesses to improve virtually everything we do." - Tim O’Reilly

Chris Dixon recommended this book on Twitter.

"The most brilliant and enlightening book I've read in years." - Naval Ravikant

Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.

"I think three or four of my top 20 books of all time are all [this author's. This is my favorite one.]" - Nick Szabo

"It argues compellingly that everything is not only going to be OK in the future, it is surely going to be Fucking Great. That much, I agree with." - MMM

"[The author] has the ability to combine thinking from many fields - most notably science, technology, psychology, & a heavy dose of microeconomics." - Bill Gurley

"[One of the] best books I read in 2017." - Anthony Pompliano

One of the books on Scott Adams' "Persuasion Reading List."

"Fine book but it didn’t need to be an entire book. A blog post would have gotten the point across." - Naval Ravikant

Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post.

"I started reading [this book] and I became increasingly convinced of my own fickleness and inability to actually act rationally in life." - Bryan Johnson

"If you liked 'Predictably Irrational' or 'Stumbling on Happiness' or any of those pop-psychology books, well, this is the Godfather of all of their work." - Derek Sivers

One of Sam Altman's answers to "What are some of the best books you recommend for a young startup founder?"

Keith Rabois recommended this book on a Medium blog post.

"[Part of] my biz book canon." - Ryan Petersen

"[One of the] biographies of people who have 'built skyscrapers' (my term)." - Peter Attia

Keith Rabois recommended this book on a Medium blog post.

"After working with Steve for over 25 years, I feel this book captures with great insight the growth and complexity of a truly extraordinary person." - Ed Catmull

"[Gives a] fresh perspective on Steve Jobs’ journey from inspiring but immature entrepreneur into an inspired and mature company-builder." - Jim Collins

"For B2B, I recommend [this book]." - Andrew Ng

"Helps us understand that it is a myth — an incorrect myth, a false myth — to believe that we can start with an idea for a few people and ride it from early adopter to early majority to late majority to laggard." - Seth Godin

"[One of] four good books that I would highly recommend reading if you're gonna build a B2B software company." - Aaron Levie

"Entrepreneurs should read this book when they are cranking out their 'conservative' sales projections." - Guy Kawasaki

"All entrepreneurs should read." - Bill Gurley

Chris Dixon recommended this book on Twitter.

"Anybody who can write a book on Einstein and that an idiot like me can understand the physics [was] a miracle." - George Raveling

This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.

Ed Zschau mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.

Scott Belsky mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.

"A really important concept to grasp." - Tim Ferriss

"I love [this book]." - Nick Ganju

"Really good." - Ann Miura-Ko

"An amazing book." - Joe Rogan

"Offers us a new and remarkably simple way of looking at our world." - Simon Sinek

"Helped rid me of the nagging incompleteness in my understood connection between the successes and failings of ancient and modern civilizations." - Jesse Williams

"The main [book by this author]." - Stewart Brand

"Gave a big eye opening on why certain people of the world are more advanced than others and behave a certain way, as opposed to just genetics and this person is smarter because of this or that." - Patrick Arnold

"Also does pandemics." - Margaret Atwood

"Reminds us that we can reach within ourselves to achieve greatness." - Alicia Keys

"Important..." - Arianna Huffington

"Offers a vital and sharp message, for women and men." - Jim Collins

"Besides having written a great book, [this author's] comely face is comforting during airplane turbulence." - Mindy Kaling

"Whatever change we’ve been able to achieve is because the cultural meme we picked was inspired by [this book]." - Satya Nadella

Tony Robbins mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.

Josh Waitzkin recommended this book in the "Tools of Titans" book.

"Read this book & love the idea!" - Kathryn Minshew

Tom Bilyeu recommended this book on his website.

Mark Manson recommended this book on his website.

"Enjoyed the shit out of it. Highly recommend." - Tim Urban

"An urgent must read, a seminal work that will surprise you on every single page." - Seth Godin

"A fascinating, eye-opening read that will help you not just recognize your own unique gifts, but find the strength to challenge conventional wisdom to bring them to life." - Arianna Huffington

One of 4 books Tony Hsieh recommended in Inc.com

Whitney Wolfe Herd mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.

"[One of the] best books I read in 2017." - Anthony Pompliano

Most Recommended Books reached out to DJ Vlad directly.

Dwayne Johnson said he was reading this book in an interview with Andy Warhol.

"I really love [this book]." - James Altucher

"It's fucking great." - Joe Rogan

"I started applying [a lesson from this book] to my own life." - Shaun White

"Talks about the concept of 10,000 hours." - Will Smith

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recommended this book on Twitter.

Scott Belsky mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.

"A terrific book!" - Sunny Hostin

"I really like [this book]." - Edward Norton

"Great; it’s fine." - Nick Kokonas

James Altucher mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.

"Marvelous." - Art De Vany

Ryan Shea recommended this book on Twitter.

"This may well be the most important book of the year if not the decade." - Arianna Huffington

"The fascinating thing about [this book] is there's philosophy, there's wisdom, but there's plots." - Lex Fridman

"It is my #1, #2, and #3 book recommendations of 2021." - David Friedberg

Mark Manson recommended this book on his website.

"How today’s America resembles the Dutch and British empires of the past in terms of its monetary overextension." - Balaji Srinivasan

"It is, and should at the top of the reading list for CEOs and investors." - Michael Mauboussin

"Contains great lessons for investors because it highlights the importance of capital allocation." - Patrick O'Shaughnessy

"A business-y thing." - Sam Hinkie

"Concludes that innovation is the ultimate source of dramatic improvements in the human condition." - Satya Nadella

"Turned evolutionary biology on its head and was written like a great detective story." - Matt Ridley

"Explains more about life (including human behavior and myself) than anything else I’ve read. " - Nick Szabo

"Had a profound influence on me pretty early on." - Phil Libin

"An explanation of evolution since the beginning of life that explains things from the perspective of individual genes." - MMM

"It just seemed to explain everything." - Bob Metcalfe

"Influenced my books." - David Deutsch

"A great book." - Joe Rogan

"Wide-ranging, speculative look at the world today and where it is going -- fascinating big think." - Fareed Zakaria

"Writes about [how] everything is great because physical things are so inexpensive that even the poorest of the poor could live like kings of just a few years prior." - Steve Jurvetson

"I’ve recommended [this book] to thousands and thousands of people." - Tim Ferriss

"[I read this book and] I am blown away and a little sad because I feel like, 'God damn, I went through all this education. No one ever taught me any of this stuff.'" - George Raveling

Scott Belsky mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.

"The [biography of Benjamin Franklin] I read." - Brandon Stanton

Ed Zschau mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.

"[Suggests] that the very best companies set an audacious, very long-term goal that shines a light towards 'an envisioned future.'" - Bill Gurley

Patrick Bet-David recommended this book on his website.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recommended this book on Twitter.

Patrick Bet-David recommended this book on his website.

"A very smart and important book." - Fareed Zakaria

"When a new power arises in the world, it results in a clash with the dominant power. This important and fascinating book extracts lessons for how we can avoid such a confrontation." - Walter Isaacson

"Read every page… Twice." - Anthony Scaramucci

"The most timely and important book I read [in 2018]." - David Sacks

Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.

"A hopeful book about the potential for human progress when we work off facts rather than our inherent biases." - Barack Obama

"Terrific book." - Michael Batnick

"Didn't finish it. Good book but not as seminal as Sapiens." - Naval Ravikant

Raoul Pal recommended this book on Twitter.

"Badass book." - Tai Lopez

Penn Jillette mentioned this book in a New York Times interview.

Mark Manson recommended this book on his website.

One of the books on Scott Adams' "Persuasion Reading List."

Recommended on Dave Ramsey's website.

"The one book we encourage startup founders to read. [...] It's critically important for anyone in business." - Paul Graham

Derek Sivers mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.

"One of the first books that really helped me achieve my management style and what’s helped me really be successful." - Ken Block

Most Recommended Books reached out to DJ Vlad directly.

"Pretty great." - Jason Calacanis

Keith Rabois recommended this book on a Medium blog post.

"Not to be missed by anyone who wants to understand how ideas change the world." - Daniel Kahneman

"A great book." - Tim Ferriss

"A great book." - A.J. Jacobs

"Our marketing bible." - Andrew Wilkinson

Sahil Lavingia recommended this book on Notion.

"[This book] convinced me to start a company. Thanks for helping create Reddit." - Alexis Ohanian

"Please read [this book]. It's such a great book." - Jeff Atwood

"Amazing book." - Austen Allred

"About the PC Gaming industry." - Trung Phan

"Will transform your understanding of how to gain power—and how to use it for good." - Adam Grant

"Can light a flame bright enough to outshine the glinting fangs and tiki torches." - Russell Brand

"Love this book and its messages." - Kat Cole

Keith Rabois mentioned this book on Twitter.

Most Recommended Books reached out to Daniel Pink directly.

"The best book I have read [in 2019]." - Michael Mauboussin

"[One of] the best books I read [in 2019]." - Ryan Holiday

"The big lesson I took away from [this book] is that you don’t need to come up with all the ideas yourself." - Shane Parrish

Tai Lopez recommended this book on Twitter.

Gary Keller recommended this book on YouTube.

Patrick Bet-David recommended this book on his website.

"A book about the dynamics of how large-scale, highly random systems behave." - Ben Horowitz

Peter Mallouk mentioned this book on Twitter.

"Quite powerful, albeit often redundant." - Keith Rabois

"This was up there with Black Swan and [the author's] other classics." - Chris Dixon

Ryan Shea recommended this book on Twitter.

"I’m fascinated by the discussion of how Jobs developed what became known as the Reality Distortion Field. Apparently Jobs had a lifelong battle with reality and won." - Scott Adams

"I've read 3 business books in my life. If you call [this book] a business book." - Gary Vaynerchuk

"[When I read this book] I was so blown away. I had underlined about three-quarters of the book." - George Raveling

"Really did a good job of capturing the way that an innovation leader’s mind works." - Chris Fussell

Scott Belsky mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.

Ed Zschau mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.

Eric Weinstein tweet about books that mattered enough to him.

Tristan Harris mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.

Charles Poliquin recommended this book in the "Tools of Titans" book.

"[The author has] a great curiosity and [...] a great love for things." - Walter Isaacson

Daniel Pink mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.

"I read [this book] right when I started Toms. There’s so many things that I took from [it] that allowed Toms to have this incredible growth." - Blake Mycoskie

"A great book, probably in my all time top 100." - Paul Graham

"Cast as a letter to his son. It’s not some deep ruminations and things. It’s about how you make your way through this world." - Walter Isaacson

"[The author] didn’t mean to write his autobiography. He wanted to write a note to his family about what he’d learned in his experiments." - Cory Booker

"One of the very first books that I read." - Brandon Stanton

"[This] is I think the most compelling of books." - Vince Vaughn

"I'm so drawn to [the author]'s view of society back then, and to his sarcasm." - Jennifer Lawrence

"Was not written to be a young adult book. It’s an adult book. But it sort of drifted there because the protagonist is a teenager." - Gretchen Rubin

"I love [this book]. I read it at four different times in my life. Teenager and later." - Larry King

"It was the first 'anti-hero' I had ever encountered and I thoroughly fell for Holden Caulfield." - Kathie Lee Gifford

"Things to do to pass the time before Friday night’s event at Ulta in New Jersey? Re-read [this book]." - Sarah Jessica Parker

"A great book." - Tim Ferriss

"[The author] took an extraordinary risk to his own reputation domestically in America in the medical profession by [releasing this book]." - Malcolm Gladwell

"A great book." - Charles Poliquin

Keith Rabois recommended this book on a Medium blog post.

"A great book." - Ramit Sethi

"A really good book. [Shows] a checklist is profoundly helpful." - Michael McCullough

"It's like this book was written just for me. I came away with so many 'aha!' moments that have helped me better understand myself." - Ryan Hoover

"This book is tremendous. Highly recommend!" - Anthony Pompliano

"A fascinating look into how Adlerian psychology applies to modern life. Keep an open mind when reading this book." - Jodie Cook

"The concepts it presents are provocative and go against a lot of the dominant narratives of the current cultural milieu." - Ali Abdaal

"Strongly recommended." - David Friedberg

"An early look and experience with timeless truths (and gotchas) from systems building with teams" - Alan Kay

"Arguably the only classic book in our field. If you haven't read it, shame on you." - Jeff Atwood

"Recommend you consider buying a copy if you’re looking for a peak into the future." - Anthony Pompliano

"The future convergence of networks and governments, from one of the most brilliant thinkers alive." - Naval Ravikant

"The negotiation stories with Steve Jobs alone make this book worth the read." - Tim Ferriss

"Leadership gold—you won’t forget the stories or the lessons." - Brené Brown

"We recently read [this book] in the 'This Week in Startups' book club." - Jason Calacanis

Karlie Kloss said this book really inspired her to become a better boss.

"One of the best leadership books I've read." - Alexis Ohanian

"[Details] the evolution of the modern-American media conglomerate." - Saagar Enjeti

Keith Rabois recommended this book on a Medium blog post.

One of Sam Altman's answers to "What are some of the best books you recommend for a young startup founder?"

"Even if you’ve never watched a down of football, you’ll get something out of this book." - Ryan Holiday

"Keep your lockers / desks clean and it'll reflect in other parts of your life." - Noah Kagan

"Changed my life!" - Justin Kan

"Explores how companies can nurture a value-based culture to become powerful platforms for change." - Susan Wojcicki

"I love this book and have already used it as the basis for several [Mad Money] segments." - Jim Cramer