Top 16 Best Books By Ceos Updated 04 /2024

CEOs' stories and thoughts can help you learn a lot about how to build, grow, and lead a global business in the 21st century.

Filling your shelves with books written by CEOs can give you a lot of good business advice. In their stories and opinions, CEOs give us a good look at real-world business conditions from people who have been there and done that. This book is for people who want to learn more about business.

It's possible to find a lot of great books written by CEOs, like biographies and philosophy books, as well as self-help books, opinion books, and other types of books. Adding these books to your library can help you learn more about business and become a better entrepreneur and investor.

Hit Refresh by Satya Nadella

To Find Microsoft's Soul and Imagine a Better Future for All People (2017)

To make Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) seem relevant again, Nadella was given a job that seemed impossible. Nadella talks about how he thinks about immigrants, corporate values, and the future of technology in this video.

Nadella has a thought that shows how he thinks about the world and how to run a business. That thought is, "I like having new ideas." He can teach you that ideas are important in business and technology, and if he can, he should.

How Google Works by Eric Schmidt (2017)

Ex-CEO and ex-Senior Vice President of Products tell us how one of the world's most profitable companies, Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG), works from inside the company.

Schmidt and Rosenberg talk about how they had to forget everything they had learned about management in order to work at Alphabet. To get and keep "smart creatives," for example, they had to learn how to do that.

In addition, the two argue that the only way to stay in business in today's markets is to make better products to please more powerful customers. To learn more about how one of the most successful companies in history works, you should read How Google Works.

The Ride of a Lifetime by Bob Iger

When I was CEO of the Walt Disney Company for 15 years, I learned some things (2019)

Iger talks about how he went from being a TV weatherman to being the CEO of the world's most famous and successful entertainment company. During Iger's time as CEO of the Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS), the company bought Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm (Star Wars), and 21st Century Fox.

Disney's success at the box office and in the world of entertainment is shown by Iger, who is the CEO of the company. Iger talks about how he took the risk of buying undervalued companies like Lucasfilm and Marvel and made a lot of money from them.

The Ride of a Lifetime shows how important it is for businesses to have good relationships with their customers. Iger says that the relationships he built with Star Wars creator George Lucas and 21st Century Fox chairman Rupert P. Murdoch helped Disney buy 21st Century Fox and Lucasfilm, which are both owned by Disney. Besides that, the CEO of Disney, Bob Iger, talks about how his friendship with Apple CEO Steve Jobs led to Disney buying Pixar and the revival of Disney animation.

The Ride of a Lifetime gives an interesting look at how the entertainment industry and big businesses work. Iger talks about how he used values like integrity and honesty to make it in a very tough business world.

The Bezos Letters by Karen Anderson (2019)

During this episode, we're going to look at the best Jeff Bezos has written to Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) shareholders in recent years. From their research, the Andersons came up with 14 Growth Principles that Jeff Bezos used to build his business empire.

If you want to learn more about one of the best business minds of the modern era, The Bezos Letters is a great book to read. Anyone who wants to make money in retail, e-commerce, technology, marketing, or investments should read the letters written by Jeff Bezos to his staff.

As a person in our time, Bezos is one of the most important people we have. Investors and entrepreneurs need to know what he thinks.

Losing My Virginity by Sir Richard Branson

How I Survived, Had Fun, and Made a ton of money by doing business my own way (2011)

In the world of business, Richard Branson is one of the most well-known and interesting people. In spite of that, he started out with nothing more than a mail list.

If you need a story of business success that is both inspiring and colorful, Branson has one for you. He talks about how he built a successful airline in the face of the powerful British Airways, for example.

Branson's story shows that old-fashioned courage, ingenuity, and risk-taking can work in the modern world. Even if you think Branson is a fraud, his story is sure to make you laugh and be inspired.

Zero to One by Peter Thiel

Notes on Starting a Business, or How to Make the Future Better (2014)

In 2012, PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) and Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel taught a class at Stanford University about how to start a business. To make Zero to One, the two people who worked on it used the notes from that class.

Zero to One is a different kind of business book because it shows a CEO's philosophy instead of telling stories. Thiel has a lot of interesting ideas, including the controversial ones that "competition is bad," and monopolies are good.

When a business leader is so honest, it is both refreshing and thought-provoking.

Besides philosophy, Thiel gives concrete advice on how to plan a business and what it takes to be successful.

If you want to learn more about how a successful CEO thinks, Zero to One is a great book. Before you invest or start a business, think about what Peter Thiel thinks about business and the future of technology.

To use Thiel's ideas in your business, you need this book.

Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh

A Way to Make Money, Feel Good, and Do Good (2013)

When Tony Hsieh started the Zappos shoe and fashion store, it was a huge hit. He sold it to Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) for $1.2 billion.

When Hsieh wrote Delivering Happiness, he told business owners to make their company's culture their number one goal. To that end, Hsieh says that founders should put employee happiness and growth at the top of their lists.

Hsieh says that founders should make great customer service the goal of the whole company. This is a twist on traditional business thinking. Yet, Hsieh says that businesses should not use traditional customer service methods.

Instead, entrepreneurs need to learn about behavioral science and apply its ideas to customer service, not just make money. Because he wants executives to think of customers as people, not just customers, Hsieh places a lot of emphasis on behavioral science.

In Hsieh's view, the main goal of the company is to meet the needs of its customers. Delivering Happiness is Hsieh's way of putting that vision into words.

If you want to learn about customer service in a new way, Delivering Happiness is a good book. It explains a new way of thinking about customer service that was created by someone who has done well in one of the most competitive markets today.

The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz

When There Aren't Any Simple Answers, It's Hard to Start a Business (2014)

Founder of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, Ben Horowitz, is a big fan of hip-hop. He has a different way of thinking about business planning and new businesses.

It's important to think about what you should do if there's a problem, says Horowitz. They don't teach this at business school or in business books. Think about and plan for things that you didn't expect, says Horowitz.

A company called Andreessen Horowitz has invested in some of the biggest names in technology. These include Lyft (NYSE: LYFT), Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA), Groupon (NASDAQ: GPN), and Slack (NYSE: WORK). When Horowitz wrote his book, he used the things he learned from those companies and their founders.

From that, Horowitz comes up with a new way of looking at management. You will come across things that you didn't expect, so you need to be ready for them.

However, very few business courses or books teach people how to think about or prepare for the unexpected, which can happen. Horowitz tries to fix that.

Taking People with You by David Novak

Getting Big Things to Happen Is the Only Way (2013)

He thinks business is more about people than money or market share. This is what Novak did as CEO of Yum! Brands, which owns Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Pizza Hut.

Under Novak's leadership, Yum! Brands grew at a rate of 13% for ten years in a row. A program called "Taking People with You" is to blame for Novak's growth rate.

As a part of the program, Novak tried to help every Yum! employee become better both as a person and as a worker. It's a good way to teach people and show them how to lead by example. Among other things, Novak helped Taco Bell shift managers fill orders and set up education programs for workers, such as.

Philosophy isn't the only thing in Taking People with You. There are step-by-step guides to business planning, team building, and goal setting. For someone who wants to learn how to be successful in business, taking people with you is worth reading.

The Impact Equation by Chris Brogan

Are you making things happen, or are you just making a big fuss? (2012)

Smith and Brogan ask a very important question: how can a brand or company get attention in today's media-saturated world?

How do the co-CEOs of Owner Media Group and Breather try to answer that question? The formula is called The Impact Equation, which is a data-based way to build and connect with a group.

The Impact Equation is a good way for entrepreneurs who want to use social and digital media to learn about modern publicity.

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