Must-Read Books Recommended By Billionaires

Every year for the Wolrd Book Day, Branson compiles a list of books he thinks all should read during their lifetime. The list consists of children’s books, fiction and non-fiction literature. Here are the top five books that the billionaire highly recommends to everyone who wants to grow and expand the worldview:

1. “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain;
2. “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams;
3. “Black Box Thinking: The Surprising Truth About Success” by Matthew Syed;
4. “Cosmos: A Personal Voyage” by Carl Sagan;
5. “Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think” by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler.

Warren Buffett in his interviews often mentions his love for literature. However, he reads not to get an author’s opinion but to learn new facts. So journalists periodically ask for his personal recommendations. The following are the five books that Buffett loves the most:

1. “The Intelligent Investor” by Benjamin Graham;
2. “Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits” by Philip Fisher;
3. “Jack Welch and the G.E. Way: Management Insights and Leadership Secrets of the Legendary CEO”  by Robert Slater;
4. “Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street” by John Brooks;
5. “Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe” by Graham T. Allison.

The journalist Brad Stone in his book “The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon” listed the literature that has influenced Bezos and his success. Below see the five books out of many others that the founder of Amazon encourages to read his colleagues and employees:

1. “The Remains of the Day” by Kazuo Ishiguro;
2. “Sam Walton: Made in America” by Sam Walton;
3. “Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies” by James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras;
4. “Data-Driven Marketing: The 15 Metrics Everyone in Marketing Should Know” by Mark Jeffery;
5. “The Black Swan” by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

In 2015 Mark Zuckerberg created a Facebook page where every two weeks during the year he tried to write about different interesting books. At the end of the year, he collected a decent list of literature that is worth attention. Here are five of them:

1. “The Beginning of Infinity” by David Deutsch;
2. “World Order” by Henry Kissinger;
3. “The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves” by Matt Ridley;
4. “Enlightenment Now” by Steven Pinker;
5. “Orwell’s Revenge” by Peter W. Huber.

When people ask Elon Musk how did he learn to build the rockets, he always answers, “I read books.” Even though Musk never named his favorite literature, he still loves discussing them.

1. “The Lord of the Rings” by John R. R. Tolkien;
2. “Benjamin Franklin: An American Life” by Walter Isaacson;
3. “Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies” by Nick Bostrom;
4. “The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress” by Robert A. Heinlein;
5. “Our Final Invention” by James Barrat.