12 results for "Biography"

The accidental billionaires: sex, money, betrayal and the founding of Facebook

Mezrich, Ben
The New York Times bestseller and inspiration for the Oscar-winning movie, The Social Network Eduardo Saverin and Mark Zuckerberg - an awkward maths prodigy and a painfully shy computer genius - were never going to fit in at elite, polished Harvard. Yet that all changed when master-hacker Mark crashed the university's entire computer system by creating a rateable database of female students. Narrowly escaping expulsion, the two misfits refocused the site into something less controversial - 'The Facebook' - and watched as it spread like wildfire across campuses around the country, and their popularity exploded in the process. Yet amidst the dizzying levels of cash and glamour, as Silicon Valley, venture capitalists and reams of girls beckoned, the first cracks in their friendship started to appear. And what began as a simple argument spiralled into an out-and-out war. As Facebook rose to stratospheric heights by bringing people together - its very success tore two best friends apart.
Arrow 2010 260 pages

The accidental billionaires: sex, money, betrayal and the founding of Facebook

Mezrich, Ben
Eduardo Saverin and Mark Zuckerberg - an awkward maths prodigy and a painfully shy computer genius u were never going to fit in at elite, polished Harvard. Yet that all changed when master-hacker Mark crashed the university's entire computer system by creating a rateable database of female students. Narrowly escaping expulsion, the two misfits refocused the site into something less controversial - 'The Facebook' - and watched as it spread like a wildfire across campuses around the country, along with their popularity. Yet amidst the dizzying levels of cash and glamour, as silicon valley, venture capitalists and reams of girls beckoned, the first cracks in their friendship started to appear, and what began as a simple argument spiralled into an out-and-out war. The great irony is that Facebook succeeded by bringing people together - but its very success tore two best friends apart.
Arrow 2010 260 pages

Retail gangster: the insane, real-life story of Crazy Eddie

Weiss, Gary
"A biography of the spectacular rise and fall of Eddie Antar, better known as "Crazy Eddie," whose home electronics empire changed the world even as it turned out to be one of the biggest business scams of all time Back in the fall of 2016 we heard the news about the passing of Eddie Antar, "Crazy Eddie" as he was known to millions of people, the man behind the successful chain of electronic stores and one of the most iconic ad campaigns in history. Few things evoke the New York of a particular era the way "Crazy Eddie! His prices are insaaaaane!" does. The journalist Herb Greenberg called his death the "end of an era" and that couldn't be more true. What's insane is that his story has never been told. Before Enron, before Madoff, before The Wolf of Wall Street, Eddie Antar's corruption was second to none. The difference was that it was a street franchise, a local place that was in the blood stream of everyone's daily life in the 1970s and early '80s. And Eddie pulled it off with a certain style, an in your face blue collar chutzpah. Despite the fact that then U.S. Attorney Michael Chertoff called him "the Darth Vader of capitalism" after the extent of the fraud was revealed, one of the largest SEC frauds in American history after Crazy Eddie's stores went public in 1984, Eddie was talked about fondly by the people who worked for him. They still do--there are myriads of ex-Crazy Eddie employee web pages that still attract fans, and the Crazy Eddie fraud scheme is now taught in every business school across the United States. Many years have passed since the franchise went down in spectacular fashion but Crazy Eddie's moment has endured the way that iconic brands and characters do--one only need Google the media outpouring that accompanied his death. Maybe it's because it crystallized everything about 1970s New York almost perfectly, the merchandise and rise of consumer electronics (stereos!), the ads (cheesy!), the money (cash!). In Retail Gangster, investigative journalist Gary Weiss takes readers behind the scenes of one of the most unbelievable business scam stories of all time, a story spanning continents and generations, reaffirming the old adage that the truth is often stranger than fiction"--
Hachette Books 2022 316 pages

One tough mother: taking charge in life, business, and apple pies

Boyle, Gert
When a heart attack claimed Gert Boyle's husband in 1970, the forty-six-year-old housewife and mother of three found herself at the helm of Columbia Sportswear, a small outerwear manufacturer in Portland, Oregon, that was struggling financially. With no business experience whatsoever, Boyle was faced with the challenge of running Columbia, which had been founded in 1937 by her father — a Jewish immigrant who had fled Hitler's Germany. Boyle and her son Tim persevered, turning a company that in 1970 had forty employees and less than 800,000 in annual sales into the leading seller of skiwear in the United States, with more than 2000 employees and over a billion in annual sales. Along the way, thanks in part to a creative marketing campaign that billed her as "one tough mother," Boyle established herself as an industry icon, and the first woman ever inducted into the International Sporting Goods Hall of Fame. One Tough Mother presents an honest and often irreverent account of Boyle's journey from a childhood in Nazi Germany to incredible success in America. She offers insights into succeeding in business and in life, and shares many of the advertisements and strategies that have made her so recognizable.
Carroll & Graf 2007 198 pages

Media man: Ted Turner's improbable empire

Auletta, Ken
Ted Turner revolutionised television. Grasping cable's potential in its infancy, he transformed a tiny UHF station in Atlanta into a cable superstation; invented the world's first 24-hour cable news channel, CNN, and transformed the MGM film library into lucrative cable networks. Although Turner sold his company to Time Warner and was ousted, he is still influential. roller-coaster career won a National Magazine Award for Best Profile in 2001. In researching the book he received the active cooperation of Turner himself, including fifteen hours of taped interviews. Media Man is a captivating view of a daring entrepreneur, a pioneering company and the industry they helped create.
Norton 2004 205 pages

Dossier : the secret history of Armand Hammer

Epstein, Edward Jay
When Armand Hammer died at the age of 92, he was chairman of the Occidental Petroleum Company, lauded for his financial support of cancer research and for his art collection. But behind the facade of respectability lay a lifetime of fraud, both personal and professional. Now, the bestselling author of The Assassination Chronicles reveals the true story of this manipulative and corrupt man. of photos.
Random House 1996-10-01 418 pages

On a roll

Jonas, Howard
An enterprising kid from the Bronx, Howard had one simple - but smart - idea that revolutionized telecommunications. He pioneered what is now an over-a-billion-dollar-a-year-industry, successfully fought off AT&T's aggressive attempts to pull the plug on his operation - then took his own start-up company public, to net over $100 million for himself. And it all began with a hot dog stand, as Jonas relates in this effervescent account of how he became the milionaire nextdoor. "Mr. Jonas enjoys playing David to any Goliath in sight." - The Economist "An Edisonian visionary" - New York Mag. "Score one for the little guy." - Forbes "The advice should prove illuminating and the adventure inspirational to anyone following, or contemplating, a similar self-made journey." - Howard Rothman "Readers won't fail to admire the author's drive, and some will enjoy his humorous approach..." - Publisher's Weekly This book is an entertaining, enlightening, occasionally intense first-person glimpse at Howard's take on life. Look at the world through his eyes and you're guaranteed to see things differently. For readers who enjoyed: Trump: The Art of the Deal (9780345479174) The Warren Buffett Way (9780471743675) Over the Top (9780785271192) Rich Dad, Poor Dad (9780446567404)
IDW 2011 294 pages

Tiny Rowland: a rebel tycoon

Bower, Tom
This is an account of the life and career of the entrepreneur, Tiny Rowland, the head of Lonrho and the owner of "The Observer". It is a story of empire-building, unresolved mystery, commercial skulduggery, financial acumen, and confrontations with a succession of governments in Europe, America and Africa. The book reflects not only the fortunes of an individualist, but the ambitions, machinations and limitations of an array of power-brokers in the City, Whitehall, Wall Street and elsewhere in the world.
Heinemann 1993 659 pages