63 Books Billionaires Read
This is the list we get asked about all the time (it even made it to Forbes!)
Since we have the reading lists of 600+ really successful individuals, what books do the top 1% among them read? Well, we put them all here!
Sidenote: To save you scrolling time, we only added books recommended by 3+ billionaires.
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63 Books Billionaires Read
Play Nice But Win
A CEO's Journey from Founder to Leader
by Michael Dell
Recommended by 4 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Eric Schmidt, Howard Schultz, Malcolm Gladwell, Marc Andreessen, Ray Dalio, Walter Isaacson, Matthew McConaughey, Adam Grant, Jamie Dimon, Sheryl Sandberg
Principles
Life and Work
by Ray Dalio
Recommended by 4 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Arianna Huffington, Ben Greenfield, Bryan Johnson, Diddy, Doug McMillon, Drew Houston, Dustin Moskovitz, Gary Vaynerchuk, Howard Marks, Kevin Systrom, Lex Fridman, Mark Cuban, Naval Ravikant, Reed Hastings, Tim Ferriss, Tony Robbins, Austen Allred, Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Tom Bilyeu, Marty Cagan, James Clear
Sapiens
A Brief History of Humankind
by Yuval Noah Harari
Recommended by 4 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Joe Rogan, Naval Ravikant, Lex Fridman, Peter Attia, Ashton Kutcher, Whitney Cummings, Ray Dalio, Vinod Khosla, James Cameron, Demis Hassabis, Keith Rabois, Daniel Ek, Sam Kass, Sebastian Junger, Bill Gurley, Karlie Kloss, Kishore Biyani, Ryan Shea, PewDiePie, Melinda Gates, Anthony Pompliano, Changpeng Zhao, Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Chris Evans, Mark Manson, Simon Mayo, Penn Jillette, James Clear
"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!"
Adventures of a Curious Character
by Richard P. Feynman
Recommended by 3 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Peter Attia, Naval Ravikant, Tim Ferriss, Ev Williams, Brian Armstrong, Noah Kagan, Sahil Lavingia, James Clear
Measure What Matters
How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs
by John Doerr
Recommended by 3 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Walter Isaacson, Dustin Moskovitz, Jim Collins, Sheryl Sandberg, Marty Cagan
Shoe Dog
A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
by Phil Knight
Recommended by 3 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Alexis Ohanian, Bill Gurley, Brian Armstrong, Jason Calacanis, Kathryn Minshew, Ryan Shea, Tobi Lütke, Vlad Tenev, Anthony Pompliano, Austen Allred, Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Trung Phan, Blake Randall
Snow Crash
A Novel
by Neal Stephenson
Recommended by 3 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Tobi Lütke, Naval Ravikant, Ev Williams, Seth Godin, Adam Savage, Brandon Stanton, Ryan Shea, Nolan Bushnell, Austen Allred, Cameron Winklevoss, Fred Wilson, Jensen Huang
The Hard Thing About Hard Things
Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
by Ben Horowitz
Recommended by 3 billionaires:
The Innovator's Dilemma
When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail
by Clayton M. Christensen
Recommended by 3 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Steve Jobs, Mark Cuban, Ben Horowitz, Drew Houston, Aaron Levie, Ev Williams, Max Levchin, Tim O’Reilly, Caterina Fake, Guy Kawasaki, Bill Gurley, Marc Andreessen, Blake Scholl, Chris Dixon, Steve Blank
The Moment of Lift
How Empowering Women Changes the World
by Melinda Gates
Recommended by 3 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
The Mythical Man-Month
Essays on Software Engineering
by Frederick P. Brooks Jr.
Recommended by 3 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
21 Lessons for the 21st Century
by Yuval Noah Harari
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
A Full Life
Reflections at Ninety
by Jimmy Carter
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Abundance
The Future Is Better Than You Think
by Peter Diamandis
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
AI Superpowers
China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order
by Kai-Fu Lee
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Yuval Noah Harari, Arianna Huffington, Chris Anderson, Peter Diamandis, Ryan Shea, Tim O’Reilly, Balaji Srinivasan
Atlas Shrugged
by Ayn Rand
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Steve Jobs, Shah Rukh Khan, Joe De Sena, Peter Diamandis, Ev Williams, Gabby Reece, Travis Kalanick, Brian Armstrong, Amelia Boone, Bob Metcalfe, John Carmack, Mark Cuban, Ray Dalio, Austen Allred, Blake Scholl, Fred Wilson, Phil Jackson, Rand Paul, Russell Brunson, Paul Krugman, Patrick Bet-David
Becoming Steve Jobs
The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader
by Brent Schlender
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Marc Andreessen, Peter Attia, Keith Rabois, Brian Armstrong, Ed Catmull, Jim Collins
Business Adventures
Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street
by John Brooks
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Capital in the Twenty-First Century
by Thomas Piketty
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Deep Learning
by Ian Goodfellow
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Designing Brand Identity
An Essential Guide for the Whole Branding Team
by Alina Wheeler
Also recommended by:
Patrick Collison, John Collison, David Friedberg, Patrick Bet-David
Einstein
His Life and Universe
by Walter Isaacson
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Charlie Munger, Ray Dalio, George Raveling, Sam Altman, Ed Zschau, Scott Belsky
Future Forward
Leadership Lessons from Patrick McGovern, the Visionary Who Circled the Globe and Built a Technology Media Empire
by Glenn Rifkin
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
High Output Management
by Andrew S. Grove
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Marc Andreessen, Tobi Lütke, Ben Horowitz, Keith Rabois, Drew Houston, Brian Chesky, Brian Armstrong, Ron Conway, Balaji Srinivasan, Sahil Lavingia, John Doerr, Justin Kan
Homo Deus
A Brief History of Tomorrow
by Yuval Noah Harari
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Naval Ravikant, Vinod Khosla, Raoul Pal, Mark Manson, Tai Lopez, Penn Jillette
Keeping At It
The Quest for Sound Money and Good Government
by Paul A. Volcker
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Lean In
Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
by Sheryl Sandberg
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Alicia Keys, Arianna Huffington, Jim Collins, Oprah Winfrey, Mindy Kaling, John Doerr
Life 3.0
Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
by Max Tegmark
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Lights Out
Pride, Delusion, and the Fall of General Electric
by Thomas Gryta
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Mindset
The New Psychology of Success
by Carol S. Dweck
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Tobi Lütke, Tony Robbins, Josh Waitzkin, Ev Williams, Dustin Moskovitz, Kathryn Minshew, Mark Manson, Tom Bilyeu
Mountains Beyond Mountains
The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World
by Tracy Kidder
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Donald Knuth, Jeff Dean, Rainn Wilson, Patrick O'Shaughnessy
New Power
How Power Works in Our Hyperconnected World--and How to Make It Work for You
by Jeremy Heimans
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
On Immunity
An Inoculation
by Eula Biss
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Open
An Autobiography
by Andre Agassi
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Originals
How Non-Conformists Move the World
by Adam Grant
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Tim Urban, Ray Dalio, Seth Godin, Arianna Huffington, Tony Hsieh, Whitney Wolfe Herd, Anthony Pompliano, Kat Cole, Sheryl Sandberg, Jodie Cook
Outliers
The Story of Success
by Malcolm Gladwell
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Charlie Munger, DJ Vlad, Dwayne Johnson, James Altucher, Joe Rogan, Shaun White, Will Smith, Jay-Z, Patrick Bet-David
Poor Charlie's Almanack
The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger
by Charlie Munger
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Naval Ravikant, Marc Andreessen, Patrick Collison, Tim Ferriss, Drew Houston, Ramit Sethi, Daniel Ek, John Collison, Shane Parrish, Tai Lopez, Courtland Allen, Patrick Bet-David
Showing Up for Life
Thoughts on the Gifts of a Lifetime
by Bill Gates Sr.
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Steve Jobs
by Walter Isaacson
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Scott Adams, Ray Dalio, Gary Vaynerchuk, George Raveling, Chris Fussell, Scott Belsky, Ed Zschau
Stranger in a Strange Land
by Robert A. Heinlein
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Stress Test
Reflections on Financial Crises
by Timothy F. Geithner
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Tao Te Ching
by Lao Tzu
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Rick Rubin, Naval Ravikant, Michael Gervais, Josh Waitzkin, Brian MacKenzie, Stewart Brand, Jason Nemer, Soman Chainani
The Age of Napoleon
The Story of Civilization, Book 11
by Will & Ariel Durant
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
The Art Of War
by Sun Tzu
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Jocko Willink, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Evan Spiegel, Dave Camarillo, Lex Fridman, Ryan Petersen, Travis Kalanick, Vlad Tenev, Fred Wilson, Patrick Bet-David
The Better Angels of Our Nature
Why Violence Has Declined
by Steven Pinker
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Lex Fridman, Jack Kornfield, Stewart Brand, Eric Schmidt, A.J. Jacobs, Ben Silbermann, Chris Anderson, John Arnold, Anthony Pompliano, Mark Manson, Penn Jillette
The Black Swan
Incerto, Book 2
by Nassim Taleb
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Edward Norton, Nick Kokonas, James Altucher, Art De Vany, Ev Williams, Ryan Shea, Pavel Durov
The Checklist Manifesto
How to Get Things Right
by Atul Gawande
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Tim Ferriss, Malcolm Gladwell, Charles Poliquin, Keith Rabois, Ramit Sethi, Michael McCullough, Vinod Khosla
The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World
From Marathon to Waterloo
by Edward Shepherd Creasy
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
The Gene
An Intimate History
by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
by Douglas Adams
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Shah Rukh Khan, Naval Ravikant, Seth Rogen, Tim Ferriss, Evan Goldberg, Sahil Lavingia, Jack Edwards, Zack D'Aleo
The Master and Margarita
by Mikhail Bulgakov
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
by Robert A. Heinlein
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
The New Jim Crow
Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
by Michelle Alexander
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
The Rational Optimist
How Prosperity Evolves
by Matt Ridley
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Naval Ravikant, Jordan Peterson, Marc Andreessen, Nick Szabo, Mr. Money Mustache, John Arnold, Bill Gurley, Anthony Pompliano, Rupert Murdoch
The Ride of a Lifetime
Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company
by Robert Iger
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Tim Ferriss, Brené Brown, Brian Chesky, Jason Calacanis, Karlie Kloss, Alexis Ohanian, Saagar Enjeti
The Rise and Fall of American Growth
The U.S. Standard of Living since the Civil War
by Robert J. Gordon
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Tools and Weapons
The Promise and the Peril of the Digital Age
by Brad Smith
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
When Breath Becomes Air
by Paul Kalanithi
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Melinda Gates, Anthony Pompliano, Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Peter King, Shauna Niequist, James Clear
Why Nations Fail
The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty
by Daron Acemoglu
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Why We're Polarized
by Ezra Klein
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Zero to One
Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
by Peter Thiel
Recommended by 2 billionaires:
Also recommended by:
Andrew Ng, Ben Horowitz, Bryan Johnson, Dustin Moskovitz, Eric Weinstein, Keith Rabois, Kishore Biyani, Luis von Ahn, Marc Andreessen, Matt Mullenweg, Max Levchin, Ryan Petersen, Sam Altman, Lee Stranahan, Nassim Taleb, Chris Dixon, Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Tom Bilyeu, Brian Dean, Rupert Murdoch