Titans Of Fortune Publishing: 60 books

Daniel Keith Ludwig wore cheap shoes and eyeglasses, carried a plastic raincoat when it rained, flew economy class, and carried his own bags. Neighbors thought he was a mid-level manager. He was not. Ludwig was one of the wealthiest men, one of the few billionaires in the 1950s. He was reclusive and...

William Randolph Hearst was a man of mythical proportions and staggering contradictions. And he was a fascinating character so much so that he appears in various fictional works from John Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath" and F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Last Tycoon" to Orson Welles' "Citizen...

Microsoft founder Bill Gates writes: "Genuine pioneers don't stop after just one discovery or innovation. They are driven to build on their accomplishments and to follow them into new frontiers." He was speaking about Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com which ushered in the brave new world of...

Mary Kay Ash is the quintessential example of a Phoenix rising from the ashes. After 10 years at World Gift Co., a direct sales organization, Ash resigned when an underling she had trained was promoted ahead of her--because he was a male. Ash, a 45-year-old unemployed divorcee with three children, was...

A biographical profile of Charles Lindbergh, the American Lone Eagle. Lindbergh was not ready for stardom, and therein lies the story, like a quintessential Greek tragedy where the hero suffers a serious misfortune which is connected to his actions, demonstrating humankind's vulnerability to suffering...

Biographical profile of EstéeLauder who combined charm, gall and a ferocious ambition to create one of the great empires in cosmetics and perfumes. Estéee was never able to shed her roots in Queens, NY, and perhaps this is what made her such a successful entrepreneur, one who mingled and rubbed elbows...

Mary Kay Ash is the quintessential example of a Phoenix rising from the ashes. After 10 years at World Gift Co. a direct sales organization Ash resigned when an underling she had trained was promoted ahead of her--because he was a male. Ash a 45-year-old unemployed divorcee with three children was at...

New Enhanced Digital EditionHenry Ford an American folk hero to many was a man with several faces. He was a genius who revolutionized the automobile industry irrevocably altered American culture and commerce developed mass production and helped the middle class emerge in America. He was also an anti-Semitic...

Biographical profile of Cornelius Vanderbilt entrepreneur shipping and railroad magnate and one of the wealthiest and best known tycoons in American history. Uneducated and coming from a poor background Vanderbilt built an empire beginning with sailboats before graduating to steamships. His shipping...

Daniel Drew was a robber baron in every sense of the term. He loved to be hated. He was into money for the game. Making money was great, but making it while stabbing someone in the back was better, and if the victim was his partner, electrifying. Yet, he could defraud someone one day and somehow wheedle...

Jack Warner epitomized the great Hollywood studio chief. He was admired as much as he was feared, engaged in battles with some of Hollywood's greatest legends from Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney to Olivia de Havilland and Bette Davis. Under his tutelage Warner Bros. gave us some of the most memorable...

Biographical profile of George Eastman, founder of the Eastman Kodak Co. and inventor of the Kodak and Brownie cameras that revolutionized photography. In roughly 30 years beginning in 1880, Eastman changed the world of photography. Instead of cameras the size of microwave ovens, and the need for a tent,...

Kelly Johnson designed the Blackbird, a plane that flew non-stop from London to Los Angeles in less than four hours, outracing the sun and landing four hours before it had taken off, a remarkable feat--and this was more than 35 years ago. Johnson was the innovative genius behind Lockheed's "Skunk...

Biographical profile of Charles Lewis Tiffany, jeweler, silversmith and founder of Tiffany & Co., one of the world's foremost producers of fine jewelery. Known as the "King of Diamonds," Tiffany developed the English standard for sterling silver, and created America's first retail catalog....