Titan

A biography has to be really good to make read you all 800 pages. To me, this was one of those books. Since reading it earlier this year, I’ve since found out it is the favorite book of a lot of people I respect. I think something about the quality of the writing and the empathic understanding of the writer that the main lessons you would take away from someone like Rockefeller would not be business, but life lessons. In fact, when I went back through and took notes on this book, I filled out more cards for Stoicism than I did for Strategy, Business or Money. I found Rockefeller to be strangely stoic, incredibly resilient and, despite his reputation as a robber baron, humble and compassionate. Most people get WORSE as they get successful, many more get worse as they age. Rockefeller did neither of these things, he grew more open-minded the older he became, more generous, more pious, more dedicated to making a difference. Does that excuse the “awful” things that he did? Well, the things he did really weren’t that awful so yes. (By that I mean I’d certainly choose him over the robber barons of this age like Zuckerberg or Murdoch.)

This is how a creative and intense person wrestled with the emergence of an industry. By owning the oil refining stage, he figured he could protect oil from the otherwise inevitable boom-and-bust cycle that would tear up investments made in the industry. It was a business feat to put together Standard Oil, and this history makes it clear what kind of person it took to achieve that feat.

I am trying to gain insight into what made one of the most successful people in recent history successful. I believe in learning about people like him, both the good and the bad, and thinking critically about how I want to live my life.

Another book that I liked very much this year was "Titan", the biography of the original John D. Rockefeller. That's one of the best business biographies I have ever read.

Very compelling biography on John D. Rockefeller, a must read.