Forbes‘ Greatest Business Stories of All Time

Robert Morris: America‘s First Financier Cyrus McCormick‘s Reaper and the Industrialization of Farming John D. Rockefeller and the Modern Corporation J. P. Morgan Saves the Country Henry Ford and the Model T Charles Merrill and the Democratization of Stock Ownership David Sarnoff, RCA, and the Rise of Broadcasting Walt Disney and his Family-Entertainment Empire John Johnson: Finding the Black Consumer David Ogilvy and the Creation of Modern Advertising Ray Kroc, McDonald‘s, and the Fast-Food Industry Betting the Company: Joseph Wilson and the Xerox 914 American Express and the Charge Card Mary Kay Ash and her Corporate Culture for Women Intel‘s Microprocessor and the Computer RevolutionWalton, Wal-Mart, and the Discounting of America William McGowan and MCI: A New World of Telecommunications The Turnaround at Harley-Davidson Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and the Leveraged Buyout William Gates and the Dominance of Microsoft A Byron Preiss Visual Publications book What do Bill Gates, Henry Ford, J. P. Morgan, Mary Kay Ash, and Walt Disney have in common? Uncompromising vision, a willingness to take risks, and exceptional business acumen. Not only did these individuals amass great fortunes, they revolutionized the business world and helped shape society as we know it. While most of us have a general knowledge of these and other legendary figures, few know the details of their exceptional careers. Daniel Gross and the Editors of Forbes magazine, one of the world‘s foremost business publications, present twenty fascinating stories. You‘ll meet the personalities behind some of the best-known name brands in history, including McDonald‘s, Harley-Davidson, RCA, Merrill Lynch, Xerox, Wal-Mart, and Standard Oil, among others. Forbes Greatest Business Stories of All Time draws on a wealth of sources to offer this priceless collection. The book brings to life extraordinary achievements, many of them forgotten or little known: how Robert Morris, the preeminent merchant of the eighteenth century, financed the American Revolution with his personal credit; how Ray Kroc used a shrewd real estate strategy to turn a faltering hamburger franchise operation into a fast-food empire; and how Mary Kay Ash built a billion-dollar direct sales cosmetics company by preaching a message of economic empowerment to women. Covering industries ranging from oil to cosmetics, from the eighteenth century up to the present, Forbes Greatest Business Stories of All Time celebrates larger-than-life ambition, inspired leadership, wheeling and dealing, and hard work. These tales are as entertaining as they are informative-an essential tool for business enthusiasts and anyone interested in how our modern commercial culture was built.