The Very, Very Rich and How They Got That Way (Harriman Classics): The spectacular success stories of 15 men who made it to the very very top

The Very, Very Rich provides revealing insights into the intriguing world of big money, recounting the spectacular success stories of 15 men who made it to the very, very top. In 1972, Max Gunther invited readers to take a journey with him through a gallery of America's most prominent millionaires. The inhabitants framed here are by no means merely ordinary millionaires though, as the minimum qualifying standard to be considered for inclusion is ownership of assets valued at $100 million or more (the equivalent of $500 million today). This classic is now nearly 40 years old but its value endures, since the key steps on the route to wealth do not change with time. These secrets can be learned from, adapted and applied by anyone today. Read more... Abstract: Max Gunther provides revealing insights into the intriguing world of big money as he recounts the spectacular success stories of 15 men who made it to the very, very top. Read more... Annotation. NOTE: THIS EDITION OF THE BOOK IS ONLY AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE TO PEOPLE LIVING OUTSIDE THE UK AND BRITISH COMMONWEALTH COUNTRIES If you want to get rich, no matter how inexperienced you are in investment, this book can help you. Its message is that you must learn neither to avoid risk nor to court it foolhardily, but to manage it - and enjoy it too. The 12 Major and 16 minor Zurich Axioms contained in this book are a set of principles providing a practical philosophy for the realistic management of risk, which can be followed successfully by anyone, not merely the 'experts'. Several of the Axioms fly right in the face of the traditional wisdom of the investment advice business - yet the enterprising Swiss speculators who devised them became rich, while many investors who follow the conventional path do not. Max Gunther, whose father was one of the original speculators who devised the Axioms, made his first capital gain on the stock market at the age of 13 and has never looked back. Now the rest of us can follow in his footsteps. Startlingly straightforward, the Axioms are explained in a book that is not only extremely entertaining but will prove invaluable to any investor, whether in stocks, commodities, art, antiques or real estate, who is willing to take risk on its own terms and chance a little to gain a lot. contents Introduction: What the Axioms Are and How They Came to Be The First Major Axiom: On Risk The Second Major Axiom: On Greed The Third Major Axiom: On Hope The Fourth Major Axiom: On Forecasts The Fifth Major Axiom: On Patterns The Sixth Major Axiom: On Mobility The Seventh Major Axiom: On Intuition The Eighth Major Axiom: On Religion and the Occult The Ninth Major Axiom: On Optimism and Pessimism The Tenth Major Axiom: On Consensus The Eleventh Major Axiom: On Stubbornness The Twelfth Major Axiom: On Planning [The 16 Minor Axioms appear within each of the chapters on the Major Axioms] In this book you will meet three dozen impatient people. They weren't satisfied with the slow, plodding, money-saving route to financial security, the safe route that most of us feel stuck with. They wanted instant wealth - and they got it. As Max Gunther points out, our folklore frowns on the idea of quick money. Our cultural heros have generally been plodders, as in the fable about the race between a tortoise and a hare. "In the fable, the hare loses. The stories in this book are not fables. They are true. In these stories, the hares win."They are a richly varied lot, these happy hares. Gunther opens with a few dazzling millionaire legends, such as the man who invented Monopoly. You'll then meet such fascinating characters as:- Sam Wyly, who made it in the computer industry- Harvey Shuster, who beat the stock market- Dan Renn, who grew rapidly rich by applying salesmanship to another man's idea- Howard Brown, who deliberately decided to be rich and became a multi-millionaire within three years.- A group of men who made fast fortunes on fads such as the Hula Hoop and the Frisbee.- Jean Nidetch, who organised the fabulously successful Weight WatchersThese stores illustrate that the dream of quick money isn't such a ridiculous dream after all. Maybe you've been harboring this kind of dream yourself. You've squelched the dream because you've been brainwashed by too many stories about tortoises beating hares. Everybody tells you your dream is laughable, impractical. All right, get ready for a revelation. Read this delightful collection of tales about hares who won. When you've read them, maybe you'll decide to run with them Subtitled }The Secrets Of Overnight Success{. In this book you will meet three dozen impatient people. They weren't satisfied with the slow, plodding, money-saving route to financial security, the safe route that most of us feel stuck with. They wanted instant wealth - and they got it.As Max Gunther points out, our folklore frowns on the idea of quick money. As in the fable about the race between a tortoise and a hare. "In the fable, the hare loses. The stories in this book are not fables. They are true. In these stories, the hares win."They are a richly varied lot, these happy hares. Gunther opens with a few dazzling millionaire legends, such as the man who invented Monopoly. You'll then meet fascinating characters such as: Harvey Shuster, who beat the stock market; Howard Brown, who decided to be rich and became a multi-millionaire within three years; and a group of men who made fast fortunes on fads such as the Hula Hoop and the Frisbee.These stores illustrate that the dream of quick money isn't such a ridiculous dream after all. Read these tales about hares who have won and when you have, maybe you'll decide to run with them In this book you will meet three dozen impatient people. They weren't satisfied with the slow, plodding, money-saving route to financial security, the safe route that most of us feel stuck with. They wanted instant wealth - and they got it. As Max Gunther points out, our folklore frowns on the idea of quick money. As in the fable about the race between a tortoise and a hare.'In the fable, the hare loses. The stories in this book are not fables. They are true. In these stories, the hares win.'They are a richly varied lot, these happy hares. Gunther opens with a few dazzling millionaire legends, such as the man who invented Monopoly. You'll then meet fascinating characters such as: Harvey Shuster, who beat the stock market; Howard Brown, who decided to be rich and became a multi-millionaire within three years; and a group of men who made fast fortunes on fads such as the Hula Hoop and the Frisbee. These stores illustrate that the dream of quick money isn't such a ridiculous dream after all. Read these tales about hares who have won and when you have, maybe you'll decide to run with them. Content: Editor's Note 1. The Golden Gallery 2. From Croesus to Crassus to Cornfeld 3. How To Get Rich Without Really Trying: William Benton 4. The Salesmanship Route: W. Clement Stone 5. Can Fortune Building be Taught? 6. The Stock Market: Playing It: Joseph Hirshhorn 7. The Stock Market: Selling It: Bernard Cornfeld 8. The Scatterseeds Approach: Howard Hughes 9. Diggers and Drillers: J. Pail Getty 10. Do You Need Luck to Make a Million? 11. The Technology Route: The Jack-of-All-Trades Approach: William Lear 12. The Technology Route: The Specialist's Approach: Edwin Land 13. Who Says It Can't Be Done? 14. The Magic of "OPM": 1. The Borrowing Route: Daniel Ludwig 15. The Magic of "OPM": 2. The Equity Route: James Ling 16. Real Estate: Building Big: Conrad Hilton 17. Real Estate: Building Small: Levitt family 18. The Psychology of the Rich 19. The Promoters: Of Ideas: Glenn Turner 20. The Promoters: Of Things: Jeno Paulucci 21. Other People's Wor: Ray Kroc 22. The Mostly Late Blooomers 23. Advice from the Rich 24. Fortune Makers of the Future Bibliography and Supplemental Reading Max Gunther's classic text brought back into print. Luck. We can't see it, or touch it, but we can feel it. We all know it when we experience it. It's an obvious description of obvious events. But does it go deeper than this? And if it goes deeper, does it do so in any way which we can harness to our own and others' advantage? Taking us on a richly anecdotal ride through the more popular theories and histories of luck - from pseudoscience to paganism, through mathematicians to magicians - Max Gunther arrives at a careful set of scientific conclusions as to the nature of luck, and the possibility of managing it. Based entirely on drawing out the logical truths hidden in some examples of outrageous fortune (and some of the seemingly absurd theories of its origins), he presents readers with the concise formulae which make up what he calls "The Luck Factor"--The five traits that lucky people have in common - and shows how anyone can improve their luck Max Gunther's lost classic brought back into print.Most people imagine that you're born lucky or you get lucky. Max Gunther shows you how you get lucky.The fact is that some people really are luckier than others and not by accident. Lucky people arrange their lives in characteristic patterns. They tend to position themselves in the path of onrushing luck; they tend to go where events are moving fastest and where they can find their lucky break. Lucky people take risks but not silly ones. They stick with a cause, a job, or a partner, but not when all hope is lost. In short, they move with life, not against it.This book gives you thirteen different techniques by which you can discover and take advantage of life's good breaks, while minimising the effects of its bad ones. Annotation The Very, Very Rich provides revealing insights into the intriguing world of big money, recounting the spectacular success stories of 15 men who made it to the very, very top. In 1972, Max Gunther invited readers to take a journey with him through a gallery of America's most prominent millionaires. The inhabitants framed here are by no means merely ordinary millionaires though, as the minimum qualifying standard to be considered for inclusion is ownership of assets valued at $100 million or more (the equivalent of $500 million today). This classic is now nearly 40 years old but its value endures, since the key steps on the route to wealth do not change with time. These secrets can be learned from, adapted and applied by anyone today Most people imagine that you're born lucky or you get lucky. Max Gunther shows you how you get lucky. The fact is that some people really are luckier than others and not by accident. Lucky people arrange their lives in characteristic patterns. They tend to position themselves in the path of onrushing luck; they tend to go where events are moving fastest and where they can find their lucky break. Lucky people take risks but not silly ones. They stick with a cause, a job, or a mate, but not when all hope is lost. In short, they move with life, not against it. This book gives you thirteen different techniques by which you can discover and take advantage of life's good breaks, while minimising the effects of its bad ones "By drawing out the logical truths hidden in some examples of outrageous fortune (and some of the seemingly absurd theories of its origins), he presents readers with the concise formulae which make up 'The Luck Factor' - the five traits that lucky people have in common. He then goes on to show how anyone can use this approach to improve their own luck."--Back cover Offers advice on investment strategy and risk management, clears up common misconceptions about the stock market, and discusses economic forecasts and long-range planning. Singles out the five traits that characterize exceptionally lucky people and outlines a practical program for developing them in oneself